As Triple H rose to the top of WWE in the early 200s, a criticism often heard were allegations that Hunter’s spot on the card had as much to do with his relationship with Stephanie McMahon as his own talents.

On this week’s episode of Grilling JR, Jim Ross addressed those allegations head on.

“Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t think so,” Jim Ross said of politics being behind Triple H’s booking. “It’s better for this conversation to say, ‘oh yeah man, it blew up the locker room and you’ve never seen any controversy like this, it was not horrible’. No, sorry, let’s rewind that one. I knew he was going to be a star and if you couldn’t figure that out, you were just being unobjective and being a typical paranoid wrestler.

“He was going to take some spots because he was willing to put in the work to see that, that got done. Some of his mannerisms and how he navigated the political waters were not universally accepted by a lot of guys that Triple H’s power base affected.”

• Jim Ross Suffers Nasty Black Eye After Falling (Photo)

Ross went on to discuss why he felt Triple H was a great heel and one of the best workers in the business.

“He was a great heel and he ended up being an excellent worker. Anybody, If people don’t like Paul Levesque’s work, it’s because of politics. You can’t tell me he was a bad worker, that’s b*******. C’mon, If you don’t like him, say you don’t like him. He always had great potential because he was always going to be prepared and educated and I always thought he had great abilities. Some of his best matches were as that heel, that continued to advance and grow,” Ross said.

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.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcript.

The NXT that Triple H spent years developing is no more. NXT 2.0 is a radical departure from his vision.

Stars like Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Keith Lee, Karrion Kross and more are no longer with WWE. The management structure that Triple H spent years to build no longer exists. With William Regal, Samoa Joe and “Road Dogg” BG James and many others getting axed by WWE this week, the ’black and gold era’ of NXT is dead and buried.

Unsurprisingly, WWE’s decision to gut Triple H’s version of NXT are said to be quite upsetting to him, according to Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch.

Keller spoke about Triple H’s reaction to the latest cuts during a recent audio update behind the PWTorch VIP paywall site.

“I’ve talked with people who had said Triple H was building his team that he would bring with him to the main roster. And if his day came to run the main roster he wanted his group of people,” Keller said.

“At some point, it was thought that it would include William Regal and Gabe Sapolsky and Road Dogg and they’re gone.”

Keller added, “NXT just isn’t what it once was. I’ve heard just a little about Triple H’s reaction to all of this and nothing super reportable other than it sounds like he’s bummed out.”

In addition to the releases of Samoa Joe, Road Dogg, and William Regal, numerous others were let go. These include Timothy Thatcher, Danny Burch, Scott Armstrong, Allison Danger, Hideki Suzuki and more. Reports are that morale backstage in NXT is at an all-time low.

H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcriptions.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque has made his first public appearance since undergoing heart surgery following a ‘cardiac event’ back in September.

Triple H appeared on the New Year’s Day edition of NBC’s Nightly News broadcast to discuss WWE’s new NIL initiative to recruit collegiate athletes.

A new era for college sports is underway after the National Labor Relations Board authorized NCAA athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness.

College sports are an $18 billion industry, so there are many new (and lucrative) opportunities for the athletes responsible for generating this money.

WWE’s NIL Program

WWE recently launched the NIL (“Next In Line”) program and signed 15 athletes they believe could be the Superstars of tomorrow.

Triple H Comments

Triple H is the Executive Vice President of WWE’s Global Talent Strategy & Development division. He has a big influence recruiting and developing these athletes.

“To allow college students to sort of monetize and utilize their name, image and likeness it’s opened up an avenue for us,” said Triple H. “This allows them to have that open door to earn money while in college.”

Recent WWE signee Joe Spivak, a football player at Northwestern University, was also interviewed for the segment.

Watch Triple H’s appearance on NBC’s Nightly News:

Triple H spoke with Fast Company in December and had this to say about the WWE NIL program:

“We immediately saw it as an amazing recruiting tool for us because it allows us to show athletes a path to WWE, and engage with them in a way where they can learn more about it, we can learn more about them, all while working together, and finding out if it’s a good fit before they’re even finished college, and before they need to make any decisions about what they’re going to do in that next stage of their life.”

After working non-stop for many years, Triple H has had to take an extended break from WWE recently due to his health scare in September. According to his best friend Shawn Michaels, the game has finally started to embrace the time off and he has started realizing that it’s not such a bad thing. Michaels recently had an interview with Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture.

During the talk, HBK was asked if he has been keeping in touch with the WWE vice president and how he has been doing. Replying to it, Shawn discussed how Triple H has worked so much over the last several years and explained that it takes a while to get used to the free time:

“Most of it is me bothering him to be perfectly honest, he has worked so much over the last several years and I don’t think he understood that it becomes your normal. For him to step away for a little bit, look, that takes getting used to. I went through it obviously; I am one of the rare people that was ready to do it and embrace it. But when it just happens out of the blue and you’re not expecting it”

Shawn Michaels Says Triple H Is Adjusting To New Schedule

Shawn Michaels continued to explain how going from a lot of work to nothing is an adjustment. Though according to him, the holidays have helped Triple H realize that the time off is not that bad:

“For him to go a hundred miles per hour to nothing was an adjustment. But I think he is, especially around this time of year, he’s now starting to realize like ‘hey this isn’t too bad.’ I think he’s bordering enjoying himself now to be perfectly honest. It’s a well-deserved break for him, for sure.”

Apart from this, Shawn Michaels also talked about the talents that have left NXT in recent times such as Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and more. He revealed how he feels about their departure. You can check out his comments on the matter here.

H/t to WrestlingInc for the transcribed quotes

Former WWE referee Mike Chioda recently shed some light on the rocky dynamics within the McMahon family.

During a recent Q&A session on his podcast with AdFreeShows, Chioda was asked if Triple H was ever warned against dating Vince McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie. He revealed that Shane McMahon did exactly that – to the detriment of his relationship with The Game.

“Yes, Shane did,” said Chioda. “Shane McMahon did. That’s why the feud fell out, that’s for sure,” Chioda said. “It was a thing from Vince Sr. that came around many years ago. They didn’t want anybody dating talent, none of the kids and none of their family.”

Chioda continued to say that the falling-out between Shane and Triple H had a negative impact on Shane’s standing in WWE.

“I think Shane really had a big part of that and that’s why Shane and Triple H had a falling out for many years, and that’s why Shane was exiled for 10 years. Shane is still not on top of the list. Where is he at now? Is he in the office? Is he running things?”

Shane McMahon departed WWE in 2009. He announced his resignation from the company in October of that year. Shane would not return to WWE until 2016 when he was named the General Manager of Smackdown.

McMahon Family “Torn Apart”

Chioda continued to say that the McMahon family is torn apart. Perhaps they are not torn apart completely but they are definitely severed to some degree.

“It gets more interesting, believe me. It’s sad because when I started working for this company, there was Linda McMahon, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon and now it seems to be all broken apart.”

He continued, “All the money in the world probably can’t fix it. They have all the money in the world, a publicly traded company, which is ok. The family is torn apart at this point I think. Maybe not torn apart all the way, which I hope not, but it’s torn apart.”

In WWE storyline, McMahon has won several titles in the promotion. He is a 1x European Champion and a 1x Hardcore Champion. Upon returning to the WWE in 2016, he won the Smackdown Tag Team Championships along with The Miz once.

At 2018’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia, Shane replaced The Miz in the finals and won the Best in the World tournament.

H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcriptions.

Stephanie McMahon and Triple H’s oldest child has begun in-ring training. According to comments Stephanie made to Talk Sport recently, Vince McMahon’s granddaughter has big ambitions in the sports entertainment business. Not only has she begun in-ring training, apparently she wants to be the boss of the whole company someday.

“We have three daughters, Triple H and I do, they are 15, 13 and 11,” Stephanie said. “Our oldest said when she was eight years old ‘Momma, I don’t want your job. Daddy, I don’t want your job. I want Pop’s [Vince McMahon] job.”

“So, just like her grandfather, she wants to be the boss so we’ll see what happens with my oldest daughter who has already started training in the ring.”

Stephanie continued to say that their youngest daughter is also very interested in getting into the business.

“My youngest daughter is also very interested but she is all about the personality [laughs]. Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to see what she is going to do.”

Stephanie also noted during the interview that her husband is doing great following a cardiac event back in September. Triple H was recently spotted touring the new location for WWE headquarters as well. More on that story below:

Triple H has been seen publicly for the first time since his health issue was revealed.

Back in September, WWE announced that its EVP of Global Talent Strategy & Development suffered a cardiac event. The company said that Triple H’s episode was caused by a “genetic heart issue.”

At the time, WWE noted that Triple H is expected to make a full recovery.

Triple H, Vince & Stephanie Visit the New WWE HQ

TikTok user danielledesma410 has posted footage of “The Game” walking around the new WWE HQ, which is being worked on.

It’s a welcoming sight for wrestling fans to see Triple H moving around after his health scare. Shawn Michaels has been filling in for HHH in the backstage role for NXT 2.0.

Back in October, “HBK” told Sports Illustrated that filling Hunter’s shoes is impossible.

“Trying to step in and fill his role is impossible to do. Everybody here misses him unbelievably, especially me. But I always go back to this—everything in real life takes precedence over everything else. This was a situation where my best friend needed my help and needed me to step in, so I look at this as an opportunity, in a small way, to thank him for everything he did for me earlier in my career.”

It was reported that WWE talent was asked not to contact Hunter about any business dealings while he was recovering. Of course, sending him well wishes was welcomed.

Triple H hasn’t been present at the WWE NXT 2.0 events since he had undergone a procedure for a genetic heart issue in early September. 

Shawn Michaels has been filling in for Triple H while running things backstage at the events. The WWE Hall of Famer spoke to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to promote the Halloween Havoc edition of NXT 2.0 on Tuesday night and during it, spoke about it. 

Michaels views it as a situation to step in for his best friend as a way to pay him back for years of friendship. 

“Trying to step in and fill his role is impossible to do. Everybody here misses him unbelievably, especially me. But I always go back to this—everything in real life takes precedence over everything else. This was a situation where my best friend needed my help and needed me to step in, so I look at this as an opportunity, in a small way, to thank him for everything he did for me earlier in my career.

Taking over the responsibilities here is a drop in the bucket compared to what he did for me all those years back. I’m honored to at least have the opportunity to pay him back a little bit and be there for him. That’s what this whole company does—this whole relaunch has been everyone pulling together, and I’m energized and inspired to keep this NXT territory going strong during his absence.”

For the last few years, Michaels has been the right-hand man of Triple H, who had been overseeing the creative process of the brand, in addition to being a coach and Producer.

Triple H wasn’t initially impressed by Seth Rollins.

Rollins is one of the biggest stars in WWE today. He is a multiple-time world champion under the WWE banner. Things weren’t all rosy for Rollins in the early going, however.

Speaking to WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin on Broken Skull Sessions, Rollins detailed the time Triple H scolded him for not following the WWE ideology.

“Hunter took me aside and was like, ‘Look, I don’t see anything special in you. If you don’t want to play ball and don’t want to work with us, you can go back to Ring of Honor and do things your way, but you need to start doing things our way.'”

Seth Rollins went on to say that he later told Triple H that he wanted to become the first-ever NXT Champion. Rollins got his wish but it may have been his final chance to prove himself.

“Three months later, I’m sitting in a room with Hunter and I’m saying, ‘I want that NXT Championship. I want to be the first one to hold that title. Put it on me and this brand is off and running. If you go in another direction with it, I don’t know where you’re going to be in a couple of years.’ I told him that, ‘I’m the right guy for this. You know that, I know that, let’s bury this hatchet and make this work.’ It was close, it was a lesson I had to learn the hard way. It was one more slip up from, ‘that’s it for you.'”

Today, Rollins views Triple H as a mentor. At one point, Rollins even used the Pedigree as his finisher. He credits “The Game” with his ability to grow and do things by the book. Along the way, Rollins has also been able to mix in his own style and hasn’t had trouble switching up his character over the years. It’s why he has remained a top star for so long.

Prior to entering the WWE Universe, Rollins competed as Tyler Black in ROH. He even captured the ROH World Title. Rollins appeared to be on his way to TNA Wrestling, but he decided to sign with WWE instead. The rest is history.

Triple H, the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development at WWE, has issued a statement following his heart procedure.

The WWE legend recently needed to undergo surgery following a “cardiac event.” WWE issued the following statement on Sept. 8.

“Paul Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H, underwent a successful procedure last week at Yale New Haven Hospital following a cardiac event. The episode was caused by a genetic heart issue and Paul is expected to make a full recovery.”

Triple H appears to be in good spirits. He issued the following statement.

“I’ve been blown away by the outreach and support from so many people. I’m recovering, doing well, & deeply grateful for all the love in my life. Especially grateful for Shawn Michaels & all the Superstars & crew at NXT! (Steph and the girls loved the snacks). See you soon.”

It was reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Shawn Michaels was in charge of the debut episode of NXT 2.0 in Triple H’s absence. The outlet has also reported that WWE talent have been told that while they can contact “The Game” to send their well wishes, they are not to speak business matters with him during his recovery.

Time will tell when Triple H will be able to resume his duties at the WWE offices. In the meantime, the multiple-time world champion will be resting to ensure his recovery goes according to plan. As WWE’s statement makes note of, he’s expected to make a full recovery.

Talents have been told not to talk about WWE business while speaking to Triple H after his emergency procedure earlier this month according to the latest reports.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently provided some updates on The Game’s health and status. He noted that the former world champion is in good enough shape to take calls:

“Everything remains quiet regarding Paul Levesque [Triple H]. We are told that he’s in good enough shape that he is taking calls. Talent was told that they can call him and wish him well but that they are not to talk any WWE business with him.”

WWE sent out a statement earlier this month announcing that the Executive Vice President underwent a successful procedure following a cardiac event.

End Of Triple H’s NXT?

The timing of this health event was unfortunate for NXT talents as the show’s rebranding brought a lot of uncertainty to the NXT locker room and the absence of Triple H created an environment of trepidation.

Though a small relief for the stars was that Shawn Michaels was the one running things at the development territory in the absence of his best friend.

There is no word yet on how long Triple H may take to recover or when he will be back in office. We will keep you posted on his status.

A new era begins tonight for NXT, WWE’s developmental brand. According to PWInsider, there is a great sense of unease in the locker room as the wrestlers learn what “NXT 2.0” will actually look like.

Talent was already on edge following the last round of releases. The feeling is that people who ‘did everything they were supposed to’ and received praise from coaches were still let go. This has led to trepidation and uncertainty as it relates to job security.

NXT has already undergone a dramatic overhaul in recent weeks. After losing the ratings war against AEW Dynamite, NXT moved to Tuesday nights. Viewership has been acceptable since the move, but the show failed to generate much momentum.

Earlier this month, news broke that Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard would be taking over NXT, with Triple H and his team carrying out their vision and handling the day-to-day operations.

Triple H undergoing an emergency medical procedure only fueled concerns about NXT’s future. Then came a report by Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net about a new wave of NXT production cuts. He described NXT being down to a “skeleton crew.”

Samoa Joe relinquishing the NXT Championship late Sunday night was the latest curveball for WWE’s black and gold (rainbow?) brand.

Tonight’s NXT 2.0 launch will be interesting to watch, from multiple perspectives.

Former two-time WWE Champion Drew McIntyre says his WWE return wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Triple H.

McIntyre signed with WWE back in late 2007. After some time in developmental, McIntyre was given a push as the Intercontinental Champion. WWE chairman Vince McMahon even called him “The Chosen One.”

Despite the hot start, McIntyre would soon fall into obscurity. He went from being a serious heel to being a joke character in the 3MB faction. In 2014, McIntyre was released by WWE.

McIntyre built up a ton of momentum outside of WWE. He returned to ICW and made his mark in Impact Wrestling. McIntyre was leaning towards making his way to Japan when Triple H got in touch with him. Here’s what McIntyre told Inside The Ropes.

“I wouldn’t be back in WWE if it wasn’t for Triple H, it’s as simple as that. William Regal put me on the phone with him, we talked for 40 minutes, within that conversation at the beginning I wasn’t sure if I was going to come back, I was honestly leaning more towards Japan and by the end of it, I was 100% coming back. The thing that meant the most to me was not just how far I’d come professionally but how far I’d come as a man and how proud he was of me, and that kind of meant a lot because I have so much respect for him and that’s grown into a friendship today, and he really is somebody who is not just a friend to a lot of people but a father figure to a lot of people, and again the news caught everybody off guard but he’s got a lot of positive energy coming his way right now and he’s going to be fine, which I’m very happy to hear.”

Since making his return to WWE, McIntyre has realized his true potential. First, Drew McIntyre became the NXT Champion. He then transitioned back to the main roster and defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 to capture the WWE Championship.

WWE executive Paul Levesque (Triple H) is recovering from a recent ‘cardiac event.’

According to a statement sent in by WWE, he underwent a successful procedure last week at Yale New Haven Hospital. The episode was caused by a genetic heart issue.

“Paul Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H, underwent a successful procedure last week at Yale New Haven Hospital following a cardiac event. The episode was caused by a genetic heart issue and Paul is expected to make a full recovery.

– WWE Statement on Triple H’s health

Levesque serves as WWE Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy & Development.

SEScoops wishes Paul “Triple H” Levesque a full and speedy recovery.

Triple H recently took part in a live taping of the Herd with Colin Cowherd. During the discussion, he spoke about potentially making an in-ring return.

“If people want it, if it’s the right thing, it has got to be intriguing,” Triple H said (transcriptions via Fightful). “At this point, with as busy as everybody is in WWE from the business side, for me to get ready for WrestleMania, at my age, it’s not something to enter into casually.”

It’s been over 2 years at this point since Triple H wrestled. His last match was on June 29th, 2019. He teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura on a house show in Japan and defeated the team of Robert Roode and Samoa Joe.

“I’d have to train a lot, a couple times a day for three months or so to get ready for that,” he continued. “In-ring training and everything. I’ve already torn most of everything off my body so I want to make sure I’m not ready to do that again. The training would be the tough part with the schedule, but if it was something people wanted and it was intriguing to me, I would love to do it.”

Triple H continued to say that he’d love to do another big WrestleMania match. He’d also like to do a final tour and wrestle matches in cities that he has a long history with, however.

“If I was to do something like that before I called it a day, go to the Garden again. Go to Japan. Go to different countries and have that one more match. Step into those cities where you have 25+ years of memories and opponents and to be able to go out there and do it again in front of them one more time.”

The 52-year-old has had as complete a career as anyone ever has in wrestling. He is a 9x WWE Champion, 5x World Heavyweight Champion, 2x Royal Rumble winner, 1x King of the Ring, 3x tag team champion, 5x Intercontinental Champion, and 2x European Champion in WWE.

Triple H spoke with the media following tryouts held in Las Vegas yesterday. When Triple H was asked if the recruitment policy in the company has changed, he said it has not shifted at all despite reports to the contrary.

“It’s a funny thing, people talk about the shifting of what it is. It never really shifted,” Triple H said (transcriptions via Wrestling Inc.). “So if you go back and look at the hiring process, not the hiring process of a television show, the hiring process of who we’re looking to train and make WWE Superstars. Long term. If you go back and look at it, it hasn’t shifted. It’s been the same process. I don’t negate anybody.”

Triple H continued to say that someone would not be denied an opportunity because of having wrestled on the independent scene. He never did mention if someone would be denied an opportunity because of height or size, however.

“Vince used to always say ‘we’re a variety show. We are. In some manner, you need a little bit of everything. That’s the key to all of this. But people hear one statement and then make one (assumption). ‘Now it’s that. No, now it’s this.’ It always has been.”

Triple H would continue to talk about how the company is not looking for professional wrestlers as much as they are superstars. It’s about finding those “diamonds in the rough” who have the potential to do great business for the company.

“You’ll hear Vince say it a lot. It’ll sound wrong to a lot of people, but it’s right. We’re not looking for professional wrestlers, we’re looking for superstars. We’re looking for somebody that can break through that. The rest of it takes care of itself,” Triple H continued.

Several reports recently have stated that WWE’s hiring policy moving forward will place greater emphasis on larger wrestlers who have the potential to “one-day main event WrestleMania.”

The wrestling landscape is changing. The opening of the forbidden door paved the way for all manner of working arrangements and partnerships. However, WWE COO Triple H just announced possibly the strangest partnership in the history of WWE. The wrestling empire has formed a partnership with Enfield Town FC. A UK based football club that currently plies their trade in the Ithsmian League Premier Division.

This is not to be confused with the Premier Division. Home to the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. The Ithsmian League is currently six leagues below the top level and three away from the professional leagues. Why is a WWE legend like Triple H building ties to an amateur football team?

The partnership is not as crazy as it sounds. The WWE has long-standing ties with the UK, and the NXT UK  performance center is located in Enfield. So the town and the company share a deep connection.

Triple H took to social media to confirm the link just as the new season of football begins in the UK.

Triple H and WWE Want to Support Their Local Community

At the time of writing it is not clear as to the extent of the agreement or if WWE will be providing any financial investment into the club.

“Not only is it a big week for WWE with SummerSlam on Saturday and NXT Takeover 36 on Sunday, but it’s a big week for the UK. The football season has returned. Enfield in London has played a big part in the journey of NXT UK since the opening of our UK Performance Centre. That’s why I’m proud to announce today, the first of its kind partnership between NXT UK and Enfield Town Football Club in celebration of their 20th anniversary. As the UK’s first supporter-owned football club, they share our passion for putting fans at the centre of everything we do. Be on the lookout for plenty of exciting things to come over the next few months.”

“But for now, there’s only one question left to ask. Enfield Town football club, are you ready?”

-Triple H

WWE have a long association with building roots in their local communities. Under the leadership of Triple H, NXT UK and the general WWE presence on British soil continues to grow. It only makes sense for them to form relationships with other companies as their brand expands.

The Thunderdome era saw WWE scoring some of the lowest TV ratings in their history. WWE officials seem to have taken note of this. Triple H recently talked about their efforts to bring the attention of fans back to the WWE product.

Dan Gelston of The Associated Press did a story looking back at the Thunderdome era of wrestling and the effect the lack of fans had on WWE programming.

Talking about the record low ratings, Triple H said that the company will “take a hard look” at how it can attract more fans to the product each week. He then explained how they are seeing it as a moment in time to shift everything:

“It never is one thing; we see this as a moment in time to shift everything. I think you’ll see it in just the layout of everything, the set designs, the way it’s presented.

There’s a greater emphasis on utilizing the spaces that we have and the TV aspect of it while still engaging the fans.” said Triple H, “A lot of that comes from the time we had to experiment inside the Thunderdome.”

• Triple H: ‘Roman Reigns Is The Biggest Star In The Industry’

The article also featured comments from the Universal champion Roman Reigns. He explained why the situation would have been better if they were doing it in front of live crowds, claiming that crowd response keeps you sharp.

Triple H went on to praise the Tribal Chief for his performance during the pandemic era. The Game claimed that Reigns has been able to bring a level of emotion to his performance that wouldn’t have been possible with the fans cheering or booing over him.

WWE spent years to have Roman Reigns be the top star in the promotion, but the fans didn’t accept him in that role until after a global pandemic took place. Following his hiatus, WWE decided to turn him into a heel, which took his career to another level. 

While speaking with Sports Illustrated, Triple H talked about the Universal Champion, who just successfully retained the title over Edge in the main event of Money in the Bank.

After the match, Reigns had a staredown with the returning John Cena. According to the WWE Hall of Famer, Reigns is not only the biggest star in WWE but in all of pro wrestling. 

“Roman is the biggest star in WWE, he’s the biggest star in the industry. He perfected his craft at a really hard time to do so with no fans. He put so much into his character work, and his reaction to Cena was as powerful as the moment itself. Watching that, I couldn’t help but think back to how long he’s been doing this and some of the tougher times he’s been through. Right now, he’s performing on a whole other level. He’s at the point where he is no longer thinking about the character, he just is.”

Reigns will face Cena in the main event of next month’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada at Allegiant Stadium.

Samoa Joe was released by WWE in April due to budget cuts, but Triple H was reportedly “not happy” about the decision and wanted him back in WWE NXT. 

That happened as Joe is now the enforcer for NXT General Manager William Regal. He’s also working as a talent scout. Speaking to the New York Post, Triple H stated that Joe’s release was actually more of a transition.

“It wasn’t like he got let go from one part of the company and the other part of the company [hired him]. It’s all one big company,” Triple H said. “Everybody knows what everybody’s doing. There was an opportunity for him to transition, no different than you would say, ‘Well, he was released from this pitching contract and started managing the team and became a coach.’ It’s a similar situation.”

Triple H stated the conversations about Joe’s backstage role were already being discussed even before the COVID-19 pandemic started. He put him over being a smart guy who is very business-oriented and has a level head. Triple H stated that Joe was enamored with the other side of the business. 

Triple H likened Joe’s situation to the one he’s been in as they went from in-ring competitors to having a role behind the scenes. He noted that Joe will be a bigger component and that’s in developing talent. He’s excited to see Joe being in this stage of his career and helping develop the next generations of superstars.

Things aren’t always contentious between WWE and talent that have left the company. Renee Paquette spoke about this recently on her Oral Sessions podcast. During the show, Paquette revealed that WWE offered to help Jon Moxley with an injury after he had left the company.

“Even when Jon left, there was times that Hunter pulled me aside because Jon was injured when he came back from New Japan. Hunter kept checking in to make sure that Jon was okay. If he needed anything, they would have been able to help him in any kind of capacity.”

“So it was nice to know that, that olive branch was still extended, and it wasn’t that heat-seeking thing that everybody thinks that it is. We’ve all spent so much time together and nothing bad went down.”

Chelsea Green On WWE Helping Her Recover From Injury

Renee’s comments are similar to some made recently by Chelsea Green. The former “Hot Mess” revealed on her podcast that she was rehabilitating an injury at the WWE Performance Center despite having been released this spring. Granted, in Green’s case her injury occurred in a WWE ring.

“I reached out to WWE and they were kind enough to let me come into the Performance Center and use their Physical Therapist, and rehab my arm. Thank God. I’m very thankful for that because the injury happened in a WWE ring, so even though I was released, they still take care of that injury, thank God.”

H/T to Essentially Sports for the transcriptions.

Last night at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Tian Sha (aka Mei Ying) rose from her seat and attacked Mercedes Martinez. The character is, or at least believes herself to be thousands of years old and trained by dragons. Triple H and Shawn Michaels were asked recently about their approach to supernatural characters on the NXT media call.

“So, I’m a big fan of a variety within the shows and having things that are different. You know, different characters, when you can get them, different characters, different personalities, different sides of performers, all of that, but also different characters in general,” Triple H said when asked by Gary Cassidy of Inside the Ropes.

Triple H then continued to talk about supernatural characters using Tian Sha as an example.

“To have characters like Tian Sha, I think you have to handle them slightly differently so that you can make them sort of make sense in your world, right?”

He continued to say what it takes to make a character make sense in NXT is different than RAW and Smackdown.

“All the shows are slightly different. I feel like even there’s a slight difference between even just RAW and SmackDown as to what works on one show, what doesn’t on others. I feel the same way. So having that good mix is great, but also how you handle them and making sure that they fit within the sort of the universe that you’re existing in.”

Triple H then used Marvel as an example of a company that does this particularly well.

“Marvel does a really good job with it of having serious, almost dramatic movies and then having moments where, you know, this guy’s a god and the other guy’s a robot and this guy’s from outer space.”

Shawn Michaels then spoke about the Undertaker and how the supernatural character felt larger than life.

“For me, I guess I always looked at it is there are some people and some characters, or some groups, that have the ability to look larger than life,” HBK said. “I’d argue that about me. Taker was somebody who was a little bit more larger than life, so it was a much bigger production when he was coming out, as opposed to the Heartbreak Kid who was just music and silly dancing, you know what I mean?”

Bray Wyatt, Alexa Bliss and her doll Lilly are all current examples of supernatural style characters on the main roster. Undertaker, Kane, Papa Shango, Gangrel and many others have had such powers in the past. The Ultimate Warrior also demonstrated some supernatural abilities during his WCW run as well.

Learn more about the Tian Sha origin story with the below video:

NXT General Manager William Regal seemed to cast doubt on his future with the brand on Sunday night. The former Intercontinental Champion mentioned how the NXT locker room had been at war over the past few weeks, specifically the performers in the Fatal 5 Way match for the NXT Championship.

Regal said after the event that it might be time “for a change” on NXT. It wasn’t clear if William Regal meant he was going to leave the position, however Triple H did discuss the situation on the post-show media call.

“William Regal, he’s been such an integral part of this since day one,” Triple H began. “There are certain people that have and then there’s people that have come in along the way. It’s hard to envision doing it in any sort of way without them.”

Triple H on William Regal

“Regal’s definitely one of those people” ‘The Game’ added. “And I don’t think that we will ever do it without him. He’ll be a part of this until the day that he tells me he doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore.”

“It’s why Shawn’s here, it’s why I’m here, it’s why Matt Bloom’s here, Sara’s [Amato] here, it’s why this whole team is here, they love the business, and they love all the aspects of this business and want to see it continue and move forward” Triple H added.

“They want to help guide it and change it into the future, try to create the business that they always hoped and wished it could be as they were coming up and get rid of the things that none of us liked or understood about the business and enhance the bits and pieces that we did love about it.”

It’s likely that the situation will be addressed further on this week’s episode of NXT on Tuesday.

Triple H made some interesting remarks about female talents during his latest Takeover: In Your House media call. It appears that Tony Khan does not agree with a specific part of it.

The Game was talking about how their roster has the best female talents in the world and he claimed those who are not in their company want to join it.

Khan took exception to Triple H’s remarks. On the latest Busted Open Radio, he explained that it’s ok to think that your product is the best and what offended people was the thinking that everybody wants to work for WWE:

“I think where people got offended yesterday is when he said ‘everybody wants to work there.’  That was like; people are confusing the two things.

If you want to say like ‘hey, I think my show is the best. I think my product is the best’, there’s nothing wrong with that. Like you should feel that way. That’s good.”

• AEW’s Tony Khan Explains How Unpredictable Matches Help Viewership

The AEW president then said that it’s crazy to think that everyone wants to go to WWE and there are plenty of AEW talent who have no interest in competing for the rival promotion:

“But when you say it like ‘anybody of any value wants to work here’, that’s not true. It’s crazy. There’s plenty of people who work in AEW that have no interest in working there.”

What did you make of Triple H’s remarks about the female talents? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Stone Cold Steve Austin is the latest guest on the WWE Network series Drew & A. Austin joined former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre to discuss a number of topics surrounding his career, including the short-lived but fondly remembered Two Man Power Trip tag team alongside ‘The Game’ Triple H.

“I love working with Triple H,” Austin began, speaking to Drew McIntyre. “We hit it off when he came down to WCW way back in the day, we didn’t travel roads together but we were on the same page. We both loved bodybuilding, powerlifting. He’s a great worker, good mind for the business.”

“But Triple H, a great mind for the game,” Austin continued, before revealing that the Two Man Power Trip concept in 2001 was his idea. “I picked his opinion on many different things, and asked his opinion on many different things when I was on my run. One of my ideas as a heel that I wanted to do was form a tag team with him, and call it The Two-Man Power Trip.”

Steve Austin on Triple H

“We were really, really trying to get some heat” Austin stated. “Laying some heavy steel chairs down on The Undertaker, Kane, Hardys, Lita, my God.”

“We were doing everything we could in my alliance with him” Steve Austin claimed. “Which kind of ensured that I was headed in a heat direction. Then fate hit one night in a tag match on Monday Night RAW; he blew out that quad, and that was the end of that.”

Austin finished by praising Triple H for his return in 2002 following the quad injury. “He made a successful comeback. Obviously he’s had one of the greatest runs in the history of the business” Austin concluded. “But [he’s] a guy that’s a lot of fun to be in the ring with.”