So...anybody want to talk about the comments HHH made about Paige?....She probably has some kids she doesn't know about

https://twitter.com/LocalWWE/status/1216511335938260992

Besides the obvious slut-shaming context, there's also the fact that Paige has been open about not being able to have kids as well. Considering he made those comments right after talking about the well being of talent, it made him look like a clueless putz on top of everything else.

That definitely wasn't Papa Paul's finest hour. Stupid, stupid, stupid comment.

Like, just on the absolute most superficial level, it's a fucking terrible nonsensical joke. It's not like a guy who can knock up somebody on the road and then never see them again. How can a woman not know how many kids she has?

That's one of about a hundred things wrong with all this, but the fact that the joke sucks can hopefully bypass anyone lamenting the decline of western civilization, the rise of political correctness, and "cancel culture."

Good for Renee for stepping up in Paige's defense.

1 hour ago, sek69 said:

Paige has been open about not being able to have kids as well. 

Damn, I knew absolutely nothing about this. That's terrible. 

HHH should know better given that he's married to the literal inventor of feminism

3 hours ago, FMKK said:

HHH should know better given that he's married to the literal inventor of feminism

"feminism is the future of marketing, it's the way brands r going 2 win"

That's the awkward tasteless HHH is renown for in shoot interviews. I don't think he meant it to come out as badly as it did since he was just trying to relate Edge to Paige in a witty way, but what he said was honestly dumb and he knew it the moment he said it.

Silly and I'm glad others have publicly gotten behind their co-worker.

Also, I didn't know she couldn't have kids either.

Someone made a good point that stuff like this is why investors are wary of HHH taking over one day. For all you can say about Vince, he'd never say something like that in a public setting (I 100% believe he'd say in in private though). 

I honestly believe this is a peak at the more casual, looser Hunter. This is his humor. It's him sounding dumb when he tries to get too cute or too clever, because he's just not the quick-witted comeback type.

It's the King of the Ring "bi" comment all over again.

Yeah, that's the type of thing I would've totally expected 1998 Triple H to say in a DX promo, not in a corporate setting.

WWE would have been such a better place the last two decades if Triple H was actually as funny and good as he clearly thinks he is. 

8 hours ago, MoS said:

WWE would have been such a better place the last two decades if Triple H was actually as funny and good as he clearly thinks he is. 

Dwayne Johnson is the guy who is as good and as funny as HHH thinks he is.  Not to play armchair psychologist or anything, but I would bet that deep down, HHH thinks to himself that he should be where The Rock is now.  That he should be the household name who transcends wrestling.

Can't wait for WWE24: The Triple H white wash documentary.

 

Hey, he messed up and copped to it. In an era where most would double down and make things worse, at least he realized the mistake and apologized. 

Yeah fair play to him, he reacted with maturity and did not try to portray himself as the victim, which has long been part of the WWE playbook. 

...so I'm really the only one who didn't think the joke was all that bad?

@Laz Nope. I didn't think it was funny but I didn't find it offensive at all. 

On 1/13/2020 at 6:33 PM, PeteF3 said:

Like, just on the absolute most superficial level, it's a fucking terrible nonsensical joke. It's not like a guy who can knock up somebody on the road and then never see them again. How can a woman not know how many kids she has?

Yeah exactly, that's the joke. Its not a good joke or a funny joke but that is the joke. 

It's an "edgy" dad joke from the guy whose rise to prominence involved pretending to be naked under a trenchcoat while carrying a Super Soaker. It's also similar to a joke from the movie Mafia!, where Christina Applegate is shocked to learn she had a son. 

I think Paul intended to say something like, "she has some problem she doesn't know about." But he reconsidered mid sentence and it came out worse because of the context. The problem wasn't so much the joke itself, I'm sure Paige deals with far worse. The problem is that Triple H is management and it gets dicey when you make personal comments about your employees (ahem, independent contractors). 

The flipside is that Triple H's flippancy is more likely to give you an honest answer than anyone else's pure corporate speak. 

2 hours ago, Laz said:

...so I'm really the only one who didn't think the joke was all that bad?

The joke would've been harmless if it hadn't been aimed at Paige specifically, because of her past miscarriage and the fact she can't have kids. In that context, it was poorly worded by Triple H, although I'm sure that he didn't mean to mock her personal struggles in that regard.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/16/sport/triple-h-paige-wwe-joke-apology-spt-intl/index.html

 

It made CNN....

I didn't think the joke was all that bad. 

Every time I've heard that joke in the past, in various forms, the intention has not been all that vicious, its been that the woman is such a "wild child" that even she forgot if she had a kid or not. It can certainly be interpreted as slut-shaming, but I really think Triple H was referencing Paige's all-around image as "wild" rather than her promiscuity or history of drug abuse specifically. I genuinely dislike Triple H for many reasons, but even I don't think it was a super malicious comment.

But directing that joke towards Paige, who has clearly been trying to leave that "wild child" reputation behind, when you're a corporate figure but even if you're just a colleague, is a stupid move. Paige has been pretty open on Twitter about the guilt and embarrassment she's felt over the years, not just with the sex tape but with all the other drama before her return. It was just an unnecessary snipe that I'm guessing Triple H would and could make in-person and get an uneasy laugh from Paige...but to a reporter? Just woefully inappropriate.

Triple H did make a similar joke about himself during the DX days ("Besides my kids being born, who I dont have, that I know of,,") but at least he was portraying himself as somewhat of a bufoon and it was at his own expense.

Yeah the point wasn't that what he said was horribly offensive, it was just a thoughtlessly dumb thing for a company executive to say in a public setting. It's one of those things that will probably cause the stock price to crater if/when something happens to Vince because this is the guy being groomed to take over.