Stephanie McMahon first WWE official to react to Chyna's death

Given the nature of her relationship to WWE, and the deeply personal issues between her and company executive and Vince McMahon's son-in-law, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, industry observers have had an eye out for the company's response since news broke earlier this morning that Joanie "Chyna" Laurer had died.

That response has come from Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, Levesque's wife and a woman Laurer alleged he began seeing while he was still in a relationship with her:

I just heard the tragic news that @ChynaJoanLaurer has passed. She was truly a pioneer in our industry, and she will be missed. #RIPChyna

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) April 21, 2016

Earlier tonight, Stephanie Tweeted out one of her "midnight workout" videos after news started to circulate that Laurer had passed. She was taken to task for that in some internet forums, but did delete that video from Instagram once the news was confirmed.

Then, this Tweet.

It's an early indication that WWE will take the high road, much as the did with Randy "Macho Man" Savage, who was persona non grata with WWE before his passing and embraced after he died.

Despite rumors as to why there was a rift between Savage and WWE, a difference in the case of Chyna is a pornographic film she made which featured parody versions of the McMahon family and other WWE figures - a film Triple H used to justify her not being in the WWE Hall of Fame when asked about it by Steve Austin on WWE Network last year.

Having Stephanie call her a "pioneer in our industry" (in a Tweet re-Tweeted by the main company account) would indicate at least an acknowledging of her role in the history of wrestling.

We'll have to keep watching to see how, or if, they backtrack from Hunter's reasoning for not doing that while she was still alive.