Triple H has scrapped two longstanding Vince McMahon edicts.
It’s “The Game’s” show now, and he’s certainly making his presence felt. Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Triple H first has done away with the notion that, in a tag team match, the illegal man can only attack a legal competitor in the ring when the referee is done.
The long running Vince McMahon rule stated that WWE producers have been told for years that an illegal competitor can’t successfully attack a legal competitor in a match without it being a DQ.
You can get away with doing the five-second double team spot, however, if it’s a straight up attack on the legal competitor from the illegal one, the referee had to be down. That is no longer the case.
The second rule “The Game” has done away with has been banned by McMahon for years, but was a staple in major matches during the Attitude Era.
(BT Sport)
There was a pin spot where the babyface of the match would look like they had the match won, but someone would pull the referee out of the ring from outside to kill the count.
Vince McMahon reportedly banned the spot because “it makes no sense.” However, as Dave Meltzer points out, nothing in pro wrestling makes sense.
The spot is no longer banned and was returned with Solo Sikoa debuting at Clash At The Castle by assisting Roman Reigns in defeating Drew McIntyre.
WWE announced today that they’ve hired two new people on the executive side of their company, including a former president of an NFL team.
The announcement touted the hires of former Las Vegas Raiders president Dan Ventrelle in the role of EVP, Talent, and Maurice F. Edelson in the role of EVP, Chief Legal Officer.
This past May, Ventrelle departed from the Raiders and claimed that he was fired “as retaliation for informing the [NFL] of alleged complaints claiming [Raiders owner Mark Davis] created a hostile work environment as well as other potential misconduct, which he says Davis dismissed.”
In the role of EVP of talent, Ventrelle will oversee WWE’s talent department and report to chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
The New Hires
(via Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media)
WWE touted that Ventrelle was an integral part of the Raiders’ successful move from Oakland to Vegas and the opening of Allegiant Stadium. He began his tenure with the Raiders as an attorney in 2004 before expanding into other business roles.
“As a lifelong fan, it is an honor to join the world’s premier sports entertainment company,” Ventrelle said. “I am inspired by the vision that Stephanie [McMahon], Nick [Khan] and Paul have for the future and excited to further the commitment to deliver exceptional talent to the WWE Universe.”
“Working with Dan during SummerSlam at Allegiant Stadium last year, we were impressed by his expertise across a number of business and personnel areas,” Levesque said. “We’re excited to welcome him to the company.”
Edelson will report to chairwoman and co-CEO Stephanie McMahon. Edelson was previously an EVP & General Counsel of Time Inc and served as General Counsel since 2015 for The Juilliard School.
“I could not be more delighted to be joining the WWE team at this moment,” Edelson said. “I look forward to contributing to the ongoing success and expansion of the WWE business.”
Triple H Has Made Some Big Changes Since Taking Over WWE
Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been promoted once again. WWE issued a press release on Tuesday announcing Levesque will now serve as the company’s Chief Content Officer.
In a press release sent in to SEScoops, we’ve learned the responsibilities Triple H’s new role entails.
As Chief Content Officer, Levesque will oversee Creative Writing, Talent Relations, Live Events, Talent Development and Creative Services. The role will report to WWE co-CEO Nick Khan.
WWE also touted a 15% spike in Raw viewership since Triple H took over the creative reigns from Vince McMahon, as well as double-digit gains in social media activity.
Triple H issued the following statement regarding his promotion:
“WWE is one of the most prolific producers of premium content in the world and I look forward to this amazing opportunity,” said Levesque. “Having spent my entire career in this business, I’m confident that we have the right pieces in place to continue to grow our audience and deliver for our fans around the world.”
Triple H Making Big Changes to WWE
New WWE President & CFO
Additionally, Frank A. Riddick III has been promoted to be WWE’s new President and Chief Financial Officer. Riddick joined WWE as Chief Financial Officer last year, after serving on the company’s Board of Directors for more than 13 years and previously holding the role of interim CFO.
As President & CFO, Riddick will oversee Financial Planning & Analysis, Strategy, Controllership, Investor Relations, Tax, Data Analytics, Technology, Event Travel and Facilities. He will jointly report to WWE Chairwoman & co-CEO Stephanie McMahon and co-CEO Nick Khan.
“I’ve had the great fortune of working closely with the talented people at WWE in a variety of capacities over the past 15 years,” said Riddick. “Along with Steph, Nick and Paul, we look forward to executing our ambitious plans and delivering for our shareholders.”
“We are excited to announce expanded roles for Paul and Frank, which will enhance WWE’s ability to create premium content for our partners around the world and, ultimately, drive our business forward,” said McMahon and Khan.
“I was was going to do something with Gable Stevenson and try to get him launched and get going. When they told me I was like, ‘Okay.'”
Triple H on plans for him at WrestleMania 38.
Triple H added that then-WWE CEO Vince McMahon was counting on an appearance by his son-in-law, who needed “the attraction” of the former World Heavyweight Champion.
However, Stephanie McMahon was reportedly against the idea of Triple H doing anything physical with Steveson, and the idea was later scrapped.
Going Cold
Instead of tangling with Triple H, Steveson appeared at WrestleMania: Saturday, having an in-ring segment with the Street Profits and RK-Bro.
WWE signed Steveson last year, with huge expectations for the Olympic Gold Medalist, who was drafted to Raw last October.
According to recent reports, WWE has gone cold on Steveson, as he’s not shown the level of improvement in training expected of him.
While WWE had plans to fast-track Steveson to the main roster, his name hasn’t come up in creative meetings in months.
Triple H has provided a ‘spoiler’ regarding Bad Bunny’s future in WWE after receiving praise for his Royal Rumble performance. The Game hosted the press conference after the Clash At The Castle PPV. He first offered some praise to the WWE universe.
When asked about the WWE future of the music star, the former world champion noted how Bunny is someone who put in a lot of effort into his performances. Triple H then revealed that he will be meeting with Bad Bunny ‘very very soon’:
“A little bit of a spoiler. He and I are gonna have a conversation very, very soon. It’s already scheduled. We’re gonna go and see what’s available. [He’s The] biggest music star in the world. So let’s go.”
– Triple H
Bad Bunny made his wrestling debut during the WrestleMania 37 event. He teamed up with Damian Priest to defeat The Miz and John Morrison. He then entered the Royal Rumble earlier this year and received praise for both performances.
While Triple H didn’t reveal much detail about the next WWE appearance of Bad Bunny, WWE has the Crown Jewel event scheduled for November 4. It’s possible that the music star will be brought in for the show.
Triple H addressed the media following WWE’s Clash at the Castle premium live event.
The show brought in over 62,000 fans at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It was the company’s first stadium show in the United Kingdom in over thirty years. The crowd was electric the entire night and created an unforgettable atmosphere.
Drew McIntyre and Sheamus received some of the biggest reactions from the crowd. The Celtic Warrior was in a war with Intercontinental Champion Gunther but came up just short but received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Drew had his match against Roman Reigns won but a new member of The Bloodline interfered. The Usos’ younger brother, Solo Sikoa, broke up the cover following a Claymore from McIntyre. Reigns capitalized on the distraction with his third Spear of the match to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship via pinfall. The Game spoke about the WWE Universe during his press conference and how everything a wrestler does is done to get a reaction from the crowd.
“Those people are why we do what we do, everything about what we do. It is what we love. It is why we do it. So, when they give us that passion, we give them that energy back in the ring. I know for me as a performer, it is what drove me.
“Every move we make in that ring, every nuance, every facial expression, every raise of an eyebrow, every chop Sheamus took tonight. Every kick that Gunther took, it is all for them. It is all for you. Every bit of that emotion that we get back, that is passion, the electricity, that connection to our fanbase, it is unlike anything else in this world.”
While WWE spent over a year competing for ratings with AEW, the company has consistently downplayed talks of AEW as rivals. Triple H, in the past, has denigrated AEW and has gone as far as calling them a “pissant company.”
In an interview with BT Sport’s Ariel Helwani, Triple H was asked if it was true that NXT got rebranded to NXT 2.0 because they couldn’t beat AEW in the ratings. The WWE executive Vice President of Talent Relations denied the rumor and again downplayed talks of WWE viewing AEW as a competition.
“People put so much pressure on this, all these competitive wars, it never was that. Look, first of all, they beat our developmental system. Good for them, right?”
– Triple H on AEW
He continued, “It was never that. There was never even a pressure of like you have to beat that like it was never that. It was put on the best product we could.”
Triple H on Why NXT changed to NXT 2.0
Many wrestling fans felt that NXT’s shift to NXT 2.0 resulted from not being able to compete with AEW Dynamite’s success. One reason could be that the change happened soon after moving the brand to Tuesday.
However, Triple H expressed that it was a necessary change because they missed the ability to use a developmental system to make new stars.
“It shifted over time during the pandemic, all of that shifted over time and the opportunity for us to change it back to what it truly was, right when you look at a lot of the stars that have come through that system that had either started from zero or very little exposure anywhere and then became massive stars with us, kind of so many people and we lost the ability to take those people and groom them from the ground up. We really had, and it’s the biggest change that’s out there,” said Triple H.
He also shared that he is proud of Shawn Michaels and the NXT 2.0 staff for handling the developmental brand. He added that the decision to rebrand NXT UK to NXT Europe is similar to NXT 2.0 situation and wants to expand the developmental system to different parts of the world like India or South Africa.
Conclusion
Wrestling fans continue to be split on whether they should be a fan of WWE or AEW. However, Triple H is of the mindset that the WWE is operating on what is best for them and thinking about AEW.
He also has a big ambition to focus on making developmental territories worldwide to discover new stars.
What AEW President Tony Khan thinks about Triple H’s comments is unclear. Although, we may hear his thoughts at the All Out post-Press Conference this Sunday.
Vince McMahon had some valuable advice to offer when he retired and handed WWE’s creative reigns over to Triple H earlier this summer.
Triple H spoke with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport this week’s to promote Saturday’s WWE Clash at the Castle premium live event from Cardiff, Wales.
During their discussion, he spoke in-depth about Vince McMahon’s retirement. Even though it’s been a few weeks since Vince left WWE, Triple H said it’s still hard for him to fathom.
“In some manner — it’s even hard for me to picture now that he’s not in the equation. And he’s not, in any way, shape or form, but it’s hard to think about that he’s not there.”
– Triple H on Vince McMahon’s WWE Departure
Triple H says it must have been painfully difficult for Vince McMahon to walk away from WWE after decades of building his empire.
Vince did give him some advice, but most of the advice was centered around, ‘This is what you’ve been preparing for all of these years, working alongside me. You’ve got this.’
“Just be confident in your decision-making, listen to people, be open to ideas and collaborate with other people.”
– Vince McMahon’s advice to Triple H
Triple H maintains that Vince McMahon is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of WWE, but he knows what Vince would encourage him to listen to the people around him. Now that he’s running WWE’s creative team and talent relations departments, he has even more respect for what Vince was able to do.
More of Vince’s Advice to Triple H
Vince told Triple H that he has to chart his own course and not worry about, “What would Vince do?” in certain situations. He knows Triple H will do things differently than he would, but that’s part of being a leader.
“It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong, we use the term in the business ‘chocolate and vanilla.’ I want chocolate, you want vanilla. One of us has to pick a flavor, he would always pick the flavor. Now it’s my turn to pick the flavor,” Triple H stated.
“It’s all good, it’s all ice cream, but it’s my time to pick the flavor and I have to be confident in those decisions and I can’t look back and say, ‘well what would Vince want to have for a flavor?’ Because it just wouldn’t be authentic then.”
Triple H spoke with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport on Thursday to promote Saturday’s WWE Clash at the Castle premium live event from Cardiff, Wales.
During their discussion, Helwani asked Triple H about the possibility of four people returning to WWE. Triple H spoke candidly about each performer:
Sasha Banks
“Time will tell,” he said. There was a communication breakdown between Sasha Banks and WWE, for whatever reason. To start that communication back up, it’s not a difficult process, but it’s a process. She is an unbelievably talented young woman. At the end of the day, it comes down to what she wants to do with her life and her career. He called her one of the biggest stars in the business.
Braun Strowman
The Monster Among Men is rumored to be returning to WWE next week. When asked about Strowman’s future, Triple H said, “We’ll see.” He said Strowman is a polarizing person, but you can’t deny his talent. What he brings to the table, in terms of size and personality, does not come along very often.
Bray Wyatt
Triple H said Bray Wyatt is one of the craziest, most creative people he’s ever been around, and he means that in the best way. He said Bray’s mind never stops thinking about creative plans for his character. Without someone to harness him, it gets off track. “He’s a victim of his own mind,” said Triple H. However, he’s loved working with him.
He has no idea where some of Bray Wyatt’s ideas come from. He called him, “Wonderfully crazy.” He said Wyatt has a free-flowing creative mind, as long as you can harness his ideas.
Triple H asked if he could use profanity during the interview, and Helwani said no problem. Triple H said, sometimes you’ll be working with someone that people don’t like. “That guy is an asshole, but he’s my asshole.” He said some people can be difficult to work with, but that’s part of the fun of working with creative, eccentric people.
Sasha Banks: "Time will tell. There was a communication breakdown"
Braun Strowman: "He's a polarising person sometimes, but he's an amazing athlete."
Bray Wyatt: "One of the most crazy creative people I've ever been around."
Triple H said The Rock may be the most recognizable person on the planet. He’s the most-in-demand actor in Hollywood and has a slew of other business projects going on. When you’re in that position, you’re very busy.
However, as busy at The Rock is, there’s one thing he can only get in WWE. “I do know this, because i’ve had this conversation with him..” At no time when The Rock is making a movie can he stand in the middle of the ring and feel the energy of 100,000 people. There’s nothing else on the planet that gives you that rush.
The Rock knows the clock is ticking for one last match. He knows The Rock has the burning desire to take advance of this small window of opportunity. The platform is there: WrestleMania. Los Angeles. Roman Reigns. All the pieces are in place, it just comes down to whether or not The Rock can devote the time to making the match happen.
WWE Clash at the Castle takes place Saturday, September 3rd from Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, UK.
Ric Flair thinks the WWE’s new creative regime led by Paul “Triple H” Levesque will continue to yield significant positive changes.
Triple H took over as head of creative and talent relations following Vince McMahon’s retirement in July 2022. WWE programming has been getting better reviews by industry pundits and fans on social media over the past few weeks.
Flair discussed the new era of WWE on the latest episode of his To Be The Man podcast. He tells co-host Conrad Thompson that he’s enjoying the current product. He is also hearing good things from the WWE locker room.
“I just like the whole show. It’s enjoyable to watch.”
– Ric Flair
Flair says it’s a looser environment behind the scenes and he’s confident Triple H has a good support system to lean on.
Big Change Fans Will Appreciate
(via WWE)
WWE has relied on part-time performers over the past several years. The company’s top champions and box office attractions are not always working full-time schedules.
“I don’t think he’s crazy about the part-time performers.”
– Ric Flair on Triple H
Flair believes Triple H will want WWE’s champions to be available to appear week in and week out.
“He looks at the big picture totally different than other people do, than other people have,” said Flair. “I don’t think he’s crazy about the part-time performers. That would be my take on it. As he knows.. he worked every day until the day he got more involved in the office.”
“Especially in a title role, the title picture, this is just me taking a guess, I think he’s going to work towards having people who are champions working more dates. That would be my guess.”
– Ric Flair
Falling out with Triple H
Conrad asked Ric about the status of his relationship with Triple H. Are they still tight and thick as thieves?
“Well, I don’t think we’re thick as thieves, but I cant tell you this. We had a big falling out over the trademark, ‘The Man’ issue, a big falling out. But, I’d be very surprised if I wasn’t in the top 5 people who reached out to Stephanie when he got sick. Certainly, as soon as I became aware of it, I called her and I called him.”
“He is the first person I called when [Ric’s son] Reid died. So, for whatever people want to make about our relationship or not, I feel like everybody has ups and downs. You have arguments, you have disagreements. But I can guarantee you this, I will be at his funeral, and I’ll guarantee you this, he will be at mine. Everybody else can say what they want to say, make of it what they want to make of it.”
When Flair returned to WWE in 2001, Hunter was just as instrumental as Vince in welcoming him back into the fold. They knew he was battling big self confidence issues and helped rebuilt himself by pushing him to be his best and not rest on his laurels.
Flair said everything he has today in wrestling, as far as his ‘redemption’ post-WCW, is because of Triple H and Vince.
Please credit Ad Free Shows with a link to SEScoops if you use any of the quotes transcribed in this article.Visit AdFreeShows.com to subscribe starting at $9/month.
When Vince McMahon retired from WWE in July, his son-in-law Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque replaced the ex-Chairman as Head of Creative.
As both the Head of Creative and Head of Talent Creative, Triple H has implemented several changes, bringing back several Superstars released under the previous regime.
The change in WWE management has also had an impact on the in-ring action, as the wrestling in ‘World Wrestling Entertainment’ has become more prominent.
More Wrestling
Since the “King of Kings” took over as head of WWE’s Creative department, there has been a notable uptake in the amount of wrestling, fans get to see.
Data from Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reveals that in the four weeks of Raw’s since Triple H took over, there has been an increase in the number of minutes dedicated to wrestling per hour.
Raw and Smackdown since Paul Levesque took over WWE creative 4 weeks ago have had more minutes of wrestling on them than almost any episodes in the months prior. pic.twitter.com/B0MZYoOSWk
The most action-packed Raw was the August 1, 2022, episode of the red brand, which saw 26 minutes of wrestling per hour, totaling one hour and 18 minutes of in-ring work over the three hours.
In the data, the show with the lowest amount of wrestling as the April 4, Raw, the night after WWE WrestleMania 38, which averaged 12 minutes of in-ring action per hour, or 36 minutes in total.
For SmackDown, the most action-packed episode was the July 29, 2022, show, the go-home event before Summerslam, which had 25 minutes of wrestling per hour, or 50 minutes in total.
The worst offender was the July 8 episode, the first SmackDown after Money in the Bank 2022, which saw seven minutes of wresting per hour, 14 minutes across the entire show.
WWE fans have been eager to see what this “new era” brings. With Triple H serving as the new head of talent relations, he’s already brought back several performers including Dakota Kai, Io Sky, Hit Row, Karrion Kross and Scarlett. As the head of creative, it’s encouraging that we’re already seeing more in-ring wrestling per week.
In July, Vince McMahon resigned from all duties with WWE, due to the ongoing investigation against him.
McMahon is alleged to have paid millions of dollars to former WWE employees in Non-Disclosure Agreements to cover up alleged affairs.
The former Chairman’s departure has seen Triple H grow in power behind the scenes, replacing McMahon as Head of Creative and replacing John Laurinaitis as Head of Talent Relations.
The Ban
In late 2020, WWE issued a new rule which stated that the company would be taking over talents’ third-party streaming accounts.
Several prominent Superstars were forced to either shut down or change their streaming channels, with AJ Styles, Xavier Woods, Adam Cole and others all being affected.
WWE’s rule was met with a ton of backlash by Superstars, fans and those in the industry.
AEW poked fun at WWE’s rule, with Kip Sabian promoting his Twitch channel during the All Out 2020 Pay Per View.
On Twitter this week, WWE Superstar Drew Gulak confirmed that he has returned to Twitch, and thanked ‘Papa H’ for the chance.
The Broken One began by discussing how plugged in The Game is to pro-wrestling in 2022, comparing him to his current boss, AEW President Tony Khan.
“Triple H is much more tuned in to 2022 pro wrestling, much like Tony Khan is. So I think now you have two guys who really have their fingers on the pulse of pro wrestling. So I think that’s going to benefit everyone.”
Hardy does mention how Vince McMahon seemed to have an antiquated view of the industry as he got older, adding that he isn’t trashing the retired former chairman, but Triple H provides a much fresher look for the future.
“it is a positive thing and another huge positive to Triple H running WWE now, Vince, it is what it is, but his views and his mindset about pro wrestling, were a little bit antiquated, and that’s no slant on him, I’m not trash talking him. It’s just because he’s an older guy.”
Furthermore, Hardy calls Triple H taking over WWE creative a game-changer for the industry, one that will benefit talent, who he knows already has a better relationship with Hunter than they did with Vince.
“This deal with Triple H taking over WWE is a game-changer. I mean, on top of that, it also opens up the door for so many people to go back. There are so many more people that have a better relationship with Triple H than Vince, Triple H, I have already spoken to people that are there, Triple H has already been so much more accessible from the people I’ve talked to there with the current experience. So it’s great.”
Triple H’s run as head of creative is only a few weeks old but fans have already noticed improvements over the weekly television product. We will have to wait and see what long-term affects it has on WWE.
The next WWE Draft is expected to take place in the near future. As Vince McMahon used to say, it’s [almost] “time to shake things up!”
Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen Triple H (WWE’s new head of talent relations and creative) make several changes to the rosters of Raw and SmackDown. We’ve already seen the returns of Bayley, Dakota Kai, Io Sky and Hit Row.
WWE’s internal scheduling for upcoming live events has Superstars feeling that the next Draft is happening sooner than later, according to Fightful Select.
WWE Roster Shakeup
Several Raw wrestlers are scheduled for the first Smackdown following Clash at the Castle on September 9, while SmackDown talent is internally scheduled for Raw episodes on September 4 and 11. This has led to wrestlers speculating that the WWE Draft will be shortly following the Clash at the Castle PPV, scheduled for September 3rd.
According to the Fightful, talent has indicated “there have been other things” that have tipped of the locker room that more changes are coming.
WWE is planning to ‘repackage’ a few wrestlers and the belief is that the character changes will take place once the Draft takes place.
The talent has yet to be “informed explicitly about a draft, much less what brand they’ll end up on if and when it happens.”
Last year’s WWE Draft took place in October. Since bringing it back a few years ago, the Draft has been held on two nights so that way both Raw on the USA Network and SmackDown on FOX get a bump in the ratings.
In the three years since AEW was founded, the promotion has built a stacked roster, featuring some of the most talented stars in wrestling.
Many AEW stars previously worked with WWE, but were laid off as part of the company’s dreaded ‘budget cuts.’
Some never even got a chance to make it to WWE’s main roster, instead being cut during their time as part of NXT.
Go to War
Bobby Fish is one of the former Superstars who was cut from WWE while still part of NXT.
Fish, a former NXT Tag Team Champion, was released by WWE in August 2021, and would make his debut for AEW less than two months later.
As part of NXT, Fish worked closely with Triple H, who was the head of the brand during the former’s tenure with WWE.
During a recent appearance on the “Rewind Recap Relive” podcast, Fish addressed ‘The Game’ now being Head of WWE’s Creative and Talent Relations, and is optimistic (via 411Mania.)
“I can’t really speak firsthand, but to know that there is a chance now with Hunter back doing his thing there that things could return or maybe become something entirely new and different but under him. I just can’t see anything in the wrestling business that he has a hand in that’s not going to be successful. And I’m obviously biased and partial to the man, but I would go to war for him seven days a week.”
“I would go to war for him seven days a week.”
Bobby Fish on his relationship with Triple H.
Under Triple H’s watch, WWE has seen several Superstars return after being released last year.
Karrion Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, Dexter Lumis and Dakota Kai have all returned to WWE since Triple H gained power.
Triple H has brought a number of notable names back to WWE in the short while since he took over creative and talent relations duties, and it appears this trend will continue.
Like Kai, Karrion Kross and Scarlett made their surprise return at SmackDown this week. Fightful Select noted that their comeback also came together very quickly.
In addition to these signing, the site claims that there has been talk among Triple H and other higher ups about ‘bolstering’ the main roster. Both Kross and Scarlett were mentioned in these talks.
The Game is not expected to slow down anytime soon. Several other talents have been discussed for a return and a ‘feeling out process’ has occurred.
In his very first week as the head of creative, Triple H has already held private meetings with several talents in his quest to add depth to the WWE roster.
While the report doesn’t state any names, people like Bray Wyatt and Johnny Gargano are heavily rumored for a potential return now that Vince McMahon has stepped down.
Becky Lynch thinks that Triple H heading WWE creative now is “phenomenal.”
There have been a ton of changes within WWE as of late. Following sexual misconduct allegations, Vince McMahon stepped down as WWE CEO, leaving Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan as co-CEOs.
Soon after, McMahon retired as head of WWE creative after several investigations into those allegations began. In his place, his son-in-law, Triple H, has stepped in to fill the void.
Speaking to ESPN recently, Becky Lynch has offered her take on the regime change. Although she’s saddened by McMahon retiring, Lynch admits that Triple H stepping in is “phenomenal.”
“It is the dawning of a new era. For me, it’s crazy and sad because everything I’ve ever known about WWE has always had Vince in charge, and we wouldn’t have WWE the way it is if it wasn’t for Vince.
“He’s somebody who believed in me and allowed me to do everything that I’ve done. We have the opportunity to change some things that maybe weren’t so great that we didn’t love.
“I think everybody’s very excited and optimistic because we know that the people in charge [are] some of the greatest minds in the business, you know. Having Triple H at the helm of the ship is phenomenal.
“There has been a tendency in the past for creative to change last minute, or we don’t know where we’re going. It’s hard to bring everybody along on this journey if we’re rambling.”
Lynch is currently sidelined with an injured shoulder. She suffered that injury in her matchup with Bianca Belair at SummerSlam. Lynch failed to capture the RAW Women’s Title from Belair at the event.
On this week’s episode of RAW, Lynch confirmed that she suffered the injury, and was subsequently written off TV after an attack by Bayley and her new stable backstage.
This week’s WWE RAW was a highly anticipated broadcast following Triple H’s takeover of WWE creative.
While Triple H technically took over prior to RAW, the creative direction was mostly set heading into SummerSlam. This week’s RAW show marked an opportunity for a statement to be made about the new creative direction for the company, with a reset possibly at hand.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, morale is high among WWE talent following Monday’s broadcast. While there has been much creative frustration backstage at WWE in recent months (and years), a new creative force behind the scenes has reportedly given new hope to some of the talent.
The Fightful report noted that they had heard from multiple talent across brands who have a renewed sense of optimism. It was specifically mentioned that Dakota Kai’s return to the company was seen as a beacon of hope, with some talent noting that maybe their future could improve as well.
“Two particular top talent (s) in WWE said they were excited to not wrestle the same person every week and hoped that was a key (emphasis) move going forward,” Fightful reports.
There was an increased emphasis on women’s wrestling during Monday night’s broadcast, and both Mustafa Ali and Ciampa were also featured on the show; possible a sign of more pushes for underutilized talents.
Fightful also noted that a talent not signed with WWE reached out to say that the emphasis on the women’s division was notable.
Interestingly, the Fightful report went on to say that they had spoken to dozens of talent and not heard from anyone who had concerns about Vince McMahon no longer being in control of creative.
What did you think of Monday night’s WWE RAW? Let us know in the comments section below.
Make sure to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Logan Paul has been impressive in his two matches with WWE, with his most recent match coming at SummerSlam with a win over The Miz. The match featured Paul pulling off a frog splash from the top rope to the outside, sending The Miz through a table.
Triple H appeared on Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, discussing taking over creative for WWE and his successful career.
Although Paul is a big social media influencer, not everyone knew who he was, including Triple H, as he had no clue who he was before he joined WWE.
Triple H was asked to recall his immediate reaction to Logan joining WWE and had a brutally honest answer: “who the f*** is that?”. Triple H went on to speak highly of Paul and how Logan had impressed him massively with how quickly he’s taken to wrestling
Logan signed a multi-year, multi-event deal with WWE back in June. He recently stated that he wants to make more WWE appearances because he’s addicted to wrestling now.
We have some backstage news to pass along regarding what’s changed since Triple H took over WWE creative.
There have already been a few tweaks to the creative process in WWE since Triple H assumed leadership, according to a report at PWInsider. The past few weeks have seen things “loosen up” when it comes to scripting promos and matches.
Talents are reportedly allowed to improvise more. Specifically, it was noted that the Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre match on SmackDown last week.
A solid bit of the match was called inside the ring as opposed to having everything planned out beforehand.
Triple H took over the head of WWE creative after Vince McMahon retired from WWE. McMahon stepped down as WWE CEO after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced, following several investigations into the matter.
McMahon then retired as the head of WWE creative, leaving his son-in-law to take over. There seems to be a general positive reaction to Triple H taking over.
In fact, the USA Network seemed pretty happy with the direction “The Game” wants to go. Monday Night RAW this week was allowed to go for one-hour without any commercials.
The first RAW under Triple H also received generally good reviews after it was all said and done. It will be interesting to see how things progress under the former WWE Champion moving forward.
Talent Losing their Spots?
Things seem to be off to a great start under Triple H, but not everybody is optimistic about the new regime.
According to Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer, there are “definitely” some stars who are worried about losing their spots now that Vince McMahon is no longer with WWE.
With that said there are already talents who are getting featured more under Triple H than Vince McMahon. Mustafa Ali competed on his first Raw in months last night, later tweeting “opportunity” following his loss in the triple threat between himself, The Miz, and AJ Styles.
The Game also brought back Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai at SummerSlam, two top talents that were cut earlier in the year with Vince McMahon still at the helm.
This past weekend WWE invaded the Nissan Stadium in Nashville Tennessee for their annual SummerSlam extravaganza.
The event, which is one of the biggest shows of the year in the wrestling industry, already had a lot of buzz as it was the first premium live event in WWE history that was not run by Vince McMahon following the former Chairman’s unexpected retirement a few weeks ago.
The new head of creative, WWE legend and multi-time world champion Triple H, issued a short statement this morning on his personal Twitter account shouting out the success of SummerSlam and thanking the WWE Universe for kickstarting his era with a bang.
He adds that the weekend was a wonderful demonstration of teamwork across the board before making a special mention for those who participated in the company’s tryouts.
#SummerSlam week was a great demonstration of teamwork across @WWE. Thank you to all who participated in the #WWETryouts and to the greatest talent in the world who put on an unbelievable show @NissanStadium!
SummerSlam saw Roman Reigns retain the Undisputed Universal championship in the main event against Brock Lesnar, The Usos retain the tag team titles over the Street Profits, Bianca Belair retain the Raw women’s championship over Becky Lynch, and Liv Morgan retain the SmackDown women’s championship over Ronda Rousey.
On top of the title matches the WWE Universe saw the return of Bayley, who formed a new faction with Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky.
Triple H taking over the WWE creative not only changes things for WWE but AEW as well. It’s believed that many AEW talents who were previously reluctant to jump ships will now be more open to it.
One such talent in Tony Nese recently talked about this change. He took part in a virtual autograph signing for Captain’s Corner on Facebook.
Nese, who has previously worked under Triple H was asked about his opinion on The Game taking over the main roster creative. He said that a lot of people feel H is the perfect person for the job:
“In working for him, I think it’s awesome, from what I’ve gathered from talking with him, I think he’s perfect for the job and a lot of people feel the same way.
I don’t know too much, that’s past my pay grade.” said Tony Nese on Triple H, “I like his style and I was a fan of the black and yellow NXT. It doesn’t have to be the same type of people as long as the booking style comes back.”
The former WWE star joined the Vince McMahon-owned promotion back in 2016. He first competed in Raw under the cruiserweight division and later moved to 205 under Triple H.
After getting released from his WWE contract in June 2021, Tony Nese joined AEW in October. He has been competing regularly for the company since then.
The SummerSlam will be the first PPV event under the leadership of Stephanie McMahon & Triple H, and The Game is making his presence felt everywhere.
The new creative head of the company took part in the latest WWE tryouts in the spree, alongside people such as Paul Heyman and Big E.
Triple H addressed the potential recruits at the end of the tryouts. He claimed that the things they learned during the tryout will stay with them for their entire career:
“It’s not often you get to witness the future happening right in front of your eyes, somewhere in this group of people is potentially the next Rock, the next John Cena, potentially the next Roman Reigns, the next Becky Lynch, the next Bianca Belair.
The things you learned here if you have a career in this, will last you your entire career,” said Triple H, “But from day one, everyone has been amazing.”
The former world champion also noted that stepping in the ring is the easy part. According to him, stepping to the mic and talking to people they don’t know is the hard part of the process.
The King of Kings later spoke to media for the first time since Vince McMahon’s retirement. He addressed things such as Heyman’s role at the camp and more.
Triple H is back full-time with WWE following his health issues last year. While speaking with the media on Friday at the WWE tryouts in Nashville, Triple H talked about being Head of Creative and Head of Talent Relations for WWE following Vince McMahon’s resignation.
“I appreciate you asking. I feel great. A glitch in the road. Luckily for me, it was caught, right? It took a little bit to get over it, get past it. I’m over it. I’ve got a clean bill of health. I’m a hundred percent.” I’m very aware of it. I’m very aware of what’s important in life and your family and everything else. For more, I approach it a little bit differently now.”
Triple H then joked about how he realized that sleep is good for him and encouraged everyone to try it.
“I’m back, I’m 100%, I’m ready to go, I’m ready to tear through this and put on a big pair of shoes. I have a new appreciation for life. It’s precious, it doesn’t last long. Embrace it, and get everything you can out of it. It can be over in a second. Embrace your family. Embrace your friends.
Tell them you love them, be upfront with it, and the things you love to do in life, embrace that. Work hard because it doesn’t last long. People ask me about my career. Am I sad not wrestling? No, I gave it everything I had. I rode it until the wheels fell off and that’s what you’re supposed to do. Luckily for me, they told me, ‘you shouldn’t do this anymore.’ Sweet, I’m done. I was wrapping it up anyway. To me, there didn’t need to be a perfect out.”
"I have a new appreciation for life, it's precious, it doesn't last long, embrace it, get everything you can out of it!"
