Vince McMahon is no longer facing criminal charges for allegedly sexually abusing and trafficking former WWE employee Janel Grant. However, the civil case rolls on, and she's on the cusp of having her day in court.
The billionaire appears unwilling to settle and maintains his innocence, so if this lawsuit does reach the courtroom, McMahon is going to come under a level of scrutiny he's not used to. However, both he and WWE hope to have this battle play out behind closed doors.
That would be a win for McMahon, following his forced retirement and eventual departure from WWE when the company was sold to Endeavor.
In a recent interview with MJ In The Midday, AEW star Bryan Danielson—better known as Daniel Bryan in WWE—was once again asked for his thoughts on what sounds like a complex relationship with his former employer.
Further complicating matters for Danielson is the fact that former WWE executive John Laurinaitis is married to his mother-in-law (you can learn more about his involvement with the lawsuit here).
"I’m not going to answer too much of that," he replied when Vince came up. "There is too much, honestly, click-baity headlines that could come out of that, but also, too many family things that are sensitive to my family specifically, because part of everything that has gone down involves my mother-in-law. I also have a very complicated thought process when it comes to Vince."
Admitting that he struggles to separate the "good parts and bad parts" of McMahon as a boss and human being, Danielson said he's grateful for the career opportunities Vince gave him. He also confirmed that, during their personal interactions, there was no negativity.
"When I’m looking at Vince McMahon, the human being, how he was to me when I was backstage, we’re also talking about a guy who, when my dad passed away, gave me the best hug I had ever gotten," the American Dragon trailed off. "There is his treatment of me as an employee, but there was his treatment of me as a human being, and that’s the part that is hard to rectify with the things they are accusing him of."
"The way he treated me as a human, he treated me very well in a way that is kind of hard to describe to people if they are coming at you from a negative perspective of Vince McMahon," Danielson admitted.
This echoes what many pro wrestlers have said about working with McMahon, though it's what he was doing in his personal life and as an executive that's at the heart of this lawsuit.
There is no single consensus on the billionaire, but Danielson's comments certainly leave us with plenty to think about.