Yesterday, WWE COO Paul “Triple H” Levesque took part in a conference call as part of the promotion for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.
Firstly, Triple H commented on how he thought NXT TakeOver: New Orleans itself was shaping up:
“I really feel like this one is something special. It’s probably one of the most stacked, loaded cards from top to bottom of established and new talent. It just feels epic across the board with the long term stories that have built. I feel like this one is firing on all cylinders and hopefully everybody will agree after they see it.”
He was then asked about the new NXT North American Championship, and the mindset behind adding another title to the brand:
“The North American Championship is a long term expansion play, much like the UK Championship, it is part of a long term strategy play with the brand and its something that I see growing.”
He also mentioned that there will be some “follow up announcements coming soon based around the UK and that championship”. Could this be the UK-only show that we’ve been teased for so long?
Here are Triple H’s thoughts on the possibility of adding a secondary Women’s Championship to NXT:
“I think time will tell and see where we’re at. I always want to make sure that the quality is there for the brand and that the amount of talent that we have within the pipeline is matching what we are putting out there for the creative. Before I do that I would want to make sure that we had enough depth to it to make sure that it could cover all the bases that it needed to cover. I wouldn’t want to put something out there that wasn’t the right fit immediately for the brand.”
He is making it very clear that he has the future in mind with all the decisions he makes regarding NXT, and isn’t just going to make change that suit the present.
When it comes to NXT talent being called up to the main roster, Triple H stated that Vince McMahon always makes the final decision:
“It’s an on-going process throughout the year. It’s all about fit in the roster. Where something is needed, where an opportunity is needed and where they can fill that role. That final answer comes down to Vince. He’s a busy guy and not always aware of every single person on the massive roster of talent, on the developmental side especially that we have. There’s a process they go through where they’re showing him people and showing him how they can fill those roles and what he thinks, and what his vision of how it wants to go is. As we get closer to WrestleMania they’re looking at the how, the when, and how it all pieces together.”
WWE‘s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative had some very unbiased thoughts on other companies holding events during the WrestleMania period:
“As long as they are quality events then that’s great. If fans of sports entertainment in general come into the New Orleans area for WrestleMania, I think them having the ability to have choice is the best thing. We can’t supply every single thing for every single person, as much as we try. My only concern on it is when it’s not quality or if it’s a bad experience for our fans.”
Triple H was also asked about his increasing role in the presentation of WWE‘s crusiserweight division show 205 Live, but says he only provides an overall oversight as opposed to being hands on creatively:
“It’s a creative addition but one that I enjoy and welcome. There’s a great team that helps to structure that event and I’m the final process in that. What’s nice about that is being able to give them some direction in the long term format, then letting them create that and then just kind of guiding them along that creation. With 205 Live I am not there crossing every T, dotting every I, writing every moment. I’m happy with the direction that 205 Live is going in. I think it seems to be working very well.”
When asked about the development of members of the NXT roster, Triple H mentioned specifically Pete Dunne, and how he has progressed during his time in WWE‘s black and yellow brand.
“The change in him from when I first met him and we started doing stuff, and then got to the UK tournament, to where he is today as a performer; putting things together, his mentality, the way he sees stuff is night and day.”
When asked about what NXT performers over the last year he has been most happy with or surprised by, Triple H praised Adam Cole, Lars Sullivan, The Velveteen Dream, Ember Moon and Shayna Baszler specifically, while saying he has been impressed by the roster across the board.
You can check out the media call in it’s entirety here.
What do you think of Triple H’s comments? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter here, and as always, have a spiffing Rusev Day.
6 years ago by Liam Winnard
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