Triple H Explains WWE Is Not A Sport, It’s ‘A Show About A Sport’

WWE

WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H has given his thoughts as to what WWE actually is under his leadership.

WWE made headlines a couple of months ago with the debut of WWE Unreal on Netflix – a docuseries revealing the behind-the-scenes workings of the company and how shows are put together.

The traditional thought in wrestling has always been to ‘protect the business’, which means not exposing those secrets.

That isn’t something that Triple H agrees with.

Speaking with Club 520, HHH was asked about why WWE decided now was the time to release Unreal – he replied:

“Netflix opens up a door for us to be seen in a different way, much like ESPN does. And in this moment in time, with the internet and everything else, people know what we are.

“It’s not 1960, it’s not 1950, we’re not trying to tell people this is real. We’re a show. We’re a show about a combat sport, that is a spectacle in and of itself.

“Everybody knows that these talent are not exactly everything that you see on TV. To some degree they are, to some degree you wanna blur that line, but they know the behind-the-scenes, they know there’s scripts, they know there’s writers, they know all this – it doesn’t take a genius, you don’t have to go searching for it. Everything you do, every podcast talks about the writing of the shows and all that.

“We felt like there was an opportunity for fans of what we do, to let them in a little further, and we find that the more we let them in, the more engaged they are in the product.

“For people that are not fans, the way to get them engaged is to not try to say this is real, it’s by saying, this is really what we are, here’s the spectacle of what we do, but here is the passion, the pride, the heart, the soul, the blood, the sweat, the tears, all of it that goes into making this product. And here’s what these people really put into it, their life’s work going into this to entertain you.

“And we feel that when you see that, and what goes into it, it’s hard not to become engaged and to want to see more, to learn about who these talent are, whether they’re writers, whether they’re producers, whether they’re talent themselves, find out who they are in real-life, what they put into it, and then go explore more, go into the product and see more.

“When you see clips from a movie on the behind-the-scenes and the green screens and all that, it doesn’t make you want to see the movie less. Actually seeing that spectacle makes you wanna see it more.

“So I feel like this is, to some degree, our Drive to Survive for F1 where F1 really had this resurgence because of that show, showing what it really is that makes that whole thing work. When you see what really goes into what we do and making it work, I feel like it’s hard not to be enamored with that and want to learn more.”

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In a separate interview, Triple H gave further thoughts on what WWE is, reiterating that it isn’t a sport – it’s a movie about a sport.

Speaking with Nightcap, he explained:

“I say this a lot of times when people don’t understand, like if we’re talking to network executives, they’re trying to figure out what we are. I say, ‘We are less boxing, more Rocky. We’re not the sport, we’re a movie about the sport.’

“And Rocky is really a love story, it just happens to have boxing as a background and the metaphor for all the things he has to overcome and do. Our business, when you talk about that emotion, you talk about the storytelling, you talk about all those things, that’s really where it resonates. It’s why our business is evergreen.

“Very few people, unless you’re an incredible student of the technical aspects of it, nobody goes back and watches the SuperBowl from five years ago. People will go back and watch WrestleMania 3 to this day. 40 years later, they’re still watching it.

“It’s the story, it’s the spectacle, it’s all those things. That’s where we’re different. We’re a spectacle and storytelling. The athleticism is a huge factor of it, I don’t wanna negate it, the in-ring product, all that stuff, but that ability to speak, that ability to control a crowd, that innate charisma…

“If Conor McGregor comes back and fights in UFC tomorrow he’s the biggest draw they have. And he hasn’t won a fight in what, 10 years? Mike Tyson announces he’s gonna do something, everybody pays attention, because he has that charisma and that innate ability to make you want to pay attention.”

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