WWE soon confirmed the news themselves and released the following announcement:
“Triple H to join several dates on WWE Live’s U.K. Tour
“The Game is once again lacing up his boots, this time for several dates on WWE Live’s upcoming tour through the United Kingdom.
“Triple H will join the Superstars of Raw for WWE Live Events in Scotland, England and Wales Nov. 1 through Nov. 5. The Cerebral Assassin himself confirmed the news on Twitter.
“The King of Kings will see ring action when the WWE Live tour begins in Glasgow, Scotland’s SSE Hydro Wednesday, Nov. 1. On Thursday, Nov. 2, it’s off to England and the Brighton Centre, followed by London’s SSE Wembley Arena on Friday, Nov. 3, and Minehead’s Butlins Arena on Saturday, Nov. 4. Triple H completes his leg of the tour in Cardiff, Wales’ Motorpoint Arena on Sunday, Nov. 5. Tickets for all five of these Live Events, as well as the remainder of the WWE Live U.K. Tour, which is presented by WWE 2K18 The Video Game, are still available by clicking here.”
It’s no secret that Enzo Amore has gained heat in – and out of – the ring over the past few months. Some feel that the current Cruiserweight Champion doesn’t deserve his title, or that others are more deserving of it. Whether you like the Certified G, the positive within all of this is that Enzo is getting people talking about 205 Live.
Neville attacks Enzo Amore during his championship celebration on the 9/25/17 episode of WWE RAW. (Photo Credit: WWE.com)
In an interview on Hot Ones with Sean Evans, Chris Jericho discussed trash talkers in WWE, wrestling in Japan compared to the U.S., as well as his real life dislike of Triple H in 2002.
“Triple H. In 2002, we didn’t like each other. I think we were almost pitted against each other in a lot of ways. We had great chemistry, great matches…I just didn’t like him, he didn’t like me, and there was no falseness. Now I love him. Great guy.”
Catch the full Hot Ones interview here:
Y2J has never hidden his relationship with The Game from 2002 and has previously explained that the conflict came from Jericho’s time at WCW which saw him trash talk and slate the WWE roster to battle the Monday night war for ratings. So when he moved to WWE, some of the locker room held a grudge towards him and his on-screen persona that was arrogant and cocky.
The main question is: does Enzo have the capability to follow Chris Jericho’s example and work through whatever heat he has? Perhaps Y2J would be kind enough to offer Amore some words of advice? It really does seem as though Jericho (circa 2002) and Amore have a lot in common and it would be extremely smart to use this connection to their advantage.
Opinion:
The other way to think of it is: Enzo doesn’t need any help, he’s still in the company, he’s featured weekly on multiple shows, he’s still champion… he’s doing alright! The main problem that Cruiserweight Champions have faced in the past is: where do they go after losing the title? Most former champions have faded into the background. Enzo needs to ensure that he bounces back to the main roster to secure a solid future for himself in WWE.
Triple H returned to action at Sunday’s WWE Live Event from Santiago, Chile. In his first match since WrestleMania 33, Triple H defeated Rusev with a Pedigree. After the win, New Day came to the ring and convinced Triple H to show off his dance moves.
Triple H returned to action at Sunday’s WWE Live Event from Santiago, Chile. It was his first match since losing to Seth Rollins back in April at WrestleMania 33 in a ‘non-sanctioned’ fight.
Later today, WWE COO Triple H is returning to action at the SmackDown brand’s live event from Santiago, Chile. He’s filling in for AJ Styles and Kevin Owens, who both left WWE’s tour of South America early. Styles will be competing tonight against Finn Balor at the RAW brand’s TLC pay-per-view while Owens returned home for personal reasons.
WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin has commented on the news of Triple H lacing up his boots for the first time since WrestleMania 33.
Pick a fight you can win! Just a hint though, I would stay away from the United States champion.
It looks like RAW General Manager Kurt Angle is not the only WWE legend returning to the ring this weekend on short notice.
WWE’s SmackDown brand has a live event scheduled for Sunday afternoon from Santiago, Chile at the Movistar Arena.
With AJ Styles leaving the tour early to fill in for Bray Wyatt at TLC and Kevin Owens heading home to take care of some personal business, The Game is stepping up and is “coming for a fight.”
It will be the first time he’s wrestled since Wrestlemania 33, when he faced Seth Rollins in a ‘non-sanctioned’ match.
My boots are packed and I’m coming for a fight. #WWESantiago, I’m headed your way. Chile, get ready…it’s #GameTime.
WWE COO Triple H recently did an interview on Facebook Live to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. “The Game” revealed his favorite performers of the modern era and all time, how everyone that steps into the ring deserves to be respected, his all-time favorite opponent, and who named his finisher “The Pedigree.” You can see the highlights below:
His favorite modern performer being Shawn Michaels and his all-time favorite being Ric Flair:
“My favorite competitor of all time is probably Shawn Michaels, just I know he’s one of my best friends and I just think he’s one of the greatest performers of all time. If I had to pick somebody, overall it would be Ric Flair.” Triple H clarified, “modern Shawn would be my favorite, but if I had to choose an all-time favorite, it would be Ric Flair.”
Respecting everyone who steps into the ring:
“It’s funny – I don’t really have a least favorite competitor. Anybody that steps through the ropes, in my opinion, deserves respect.”
His all-time favorite opponent:
“I had a lot of tough battles with [Mick] Foley, but if I had to pick one, it would be The Undertaker. He’s just a legend and getting in the ring with him at high profile events, nobody’s better. Hell In A Cell, WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee, it’s probably one of the most significant matches of my career completely from a meaning standpoint. It was called ‘End Of An Era’ and it was.
“There was a moment with the three of us standing on stage together after that match was over and that was very real to us and it’s still very meaningful. I have that picture in my office and I made a plaque with all… for all three of us that has that picture and memorabilia from the match. It was very important and very meaningful to all three of us.”
Who named his finisher “The Pedigree”:
“The Pedigree was something that I came up with, but the name actually came from Michael Hayes of The [Fabulous] Freebirds. When I started in WWE, I was ‘The Greenwich Blue-blood’ and I was doing that move and they needed a name for it. And he thought it felt like handing someone their pedigree and that became the name, so Michael Hayes of The Freebirds, thank you very much.”
Former competitive bodybuilder and nutritionist to WWE COO Triple H, Dave Palumbo, recently joined the Matt Riviera podcast to talk about a number of topics. During his appearance, Palumbo made a few comments on WWE’s drug policy and superstars being allowed to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) human growth hormone (HGH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HGC):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OOqqkUIWcE
“They’re allowed to take hormone replacement. They can go to an HRT place and get testosterone replacement, 100 mg a week, whatever they prescribe nowadays. Those are acceptable. A lot of the wrestlers do it, and it’s not for me to say whose using what, but they’re very minimal doses.”
Shortly after these comments the WWE responded to Palumbo’s claims via Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, who released the following excerpt from their statement:
“Today, WWE responded to the comments that Palumbo made by saying that he was misinformed on the subject and the drug policy does not allow for use of those substances unless an endocrinologist and the WWE’s medical staff approved of it for legitimate medical need”
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns took part in a conference call earlier this week with members of the international media to discuss a variety of topics. Reigns talked about a number of his fellow WWE Superstars, such as his longtime rival Braun Strowman, who are able to make what they do in and outside the ring their very own.
He proceeded to take a shot at The Young Bucks by saying “No offense to any of these guys, but we don’t need guys running around doing ‘too sweets.’ We don’t need guys acting like they’re DX from 20 years ago. We need original characters, guys who are [themselves].” One fan responded to this on Twitter by sending Reigns a part of his quote along with a recent DX photo shoot WWE Superstars did. Reigns responded by saying that The Shield already beat DX and they don’t need to celebrate them:
WWE COO and former WWE Champion Triple H recently did an interview with The National while he was in India to talk about current WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. During the interview “The Game” discussed how “The Modern Day Maharaja” earned his respect, and how WWE Superstars are more than just athletes. You can check out the highlights here below:
Jinder Mahal earning his respect:
“Jinder Mahal has done an amazing job in recreating himself. Jinder was in WWE for the first time and wasn’t as successful as he would have wanted. But we went back and re-energised himself, dug deeper (within) himself and worked extremely hard in his second chance and is now making the most of it. People can criticise him, but he has earned my respect.”
WWE Superstars being more than just athletes:
“They are more than just athletes. They are the best and most well-conditioned athletes, but beyond that they are the best entertainers in the world. Their ability to be able to control the crowd to garner those emotions and also tell the story they want to tell through athletic manoeuvres. And this is what makes them different.”
You can read Triple H’s full interview with The National by visiting this link here.
WWE COO Triple H was in Mumbai, India last week to announce WWE’s upcoming live events from the country, scheduled for December.
While there, he stopped by Facebook’s office in Mumbai and took part in a Facebook Live interview. You can check out the full Q&A session here:
Among the most interesting topics discussed was Triple H’s interest in having another ‘WrestleMania moment’ with The Rock. Making no bones about it, Triple H declared,
“I’ll dance one more time with The Great One.”
While both men’s days as active competitors on the WWE roster have long passed, a WrestleMania moment with The Rock is something that would be too good for him to pass up. Triple H mentioned that the idea of one more match with The Rock stems from a backstage interaction they had on SmackDown back in 2014:
Opinion: I don’t think we’ll see Triple H in the ring with The Rock for the next WrestleMania, however I believe we should keep an eye on Kevin Owens…
Roman Reigns is the highest rated Superstar in WWE 2K18
Roman Reigns is the highest rated wrestler in WWE 2K18. Reigns received a rating of 95 out of 100. Stone Cold Steve Austin is rated at 92, The Rock comes in at 93 and The Undertaker also got 93 as a rating.
John Cena and Brock Lesnar are also rated 93 in the game, Finn Balor (as Demon King) and Seth Rollins are at 92. AJ Styles is at 90, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal is rated 88 and Braun Strowman comes in at 88 as well.
WWE 2K18 releases on October 17th.
Road Dogg and Shawn Michaels take over NXT tapings
Triple H posted on Twitter earlier today that he was gutted to miss his first NXT taping ever. He added that he had the best team in the world doing it and wished them luck. Road Dogg responded and said that he and Shawn Michaels are holding the fort down.
Gutted to miss my first @WWENXT taping ever while in @WWEIndia but I have the best team in the world doing it…Have a hell of a show!
A 6-man tag match has been announced for the October 18th episode of WWE NXT. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Rielly) will face the NXT Tag Team Champions SAnitY (Eric Young, Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe). This the first time The Undisputed Era has competed in a match together as a trio. Below is WWE’s announcement for the match:
Six-man mayhem: SAnitY fights The Undisputed ERA on Oct. 18
Katy, bar the door, because unadulterated mayhem is on its way to NXT.
The chaotic collective of SAnitY’s Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain will battle The Undisputed ERA’s Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly in a massive Six-Man Tag Team Match on the Wednesday, Oct. 18, episode of NXT.
The match will feature The Undisputed ERA competing as a unit for the first time inside an NXT ring.
The warring factions have been at odds since The Undisputed ERA’s emergence at TakeOver: Brooklyn III, when Fish & O’Reilly ambushed Young & Wolfe after SAnitY dethroned The Authors of Pain to win the NXT Tag Team Titles.
Cole scored The Undisputed ERA’s first official victory against SAnitY by pinning Young in a singles match on the Sept. 27 episode of NXT. During that electrifying match, an all-out brawl erupted between Fish & O’Reilly and Wolfe & Dain at ringside.
Whether the squared circle will be able to contain the action remains to be seen. Don’t miss this colossal main event when it streams exclusively on WWE Network on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 8/7 C.
WWE COO Triple H traveled to India over the weekend to announce live events to be held from the country in December.
The shows are scheduled for December 7th and 8th at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi and will feature the Superstars of the RAW brand.
Reigning WWE Champion and SmackDown Live star Jinder Mahal will be at both shows.
Also advertised for the Delhi and Abu Dhabi events are Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, The Miz, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and Bayley.
For ticket information for the December events, visit BookMyShow.com.
Back in August, Triple H did a media conference call to promote SummerSlam and commented on WWE’s decision to get firmly behind Jinder Mahal.
Triple H said, “We always thought he had the potential to [be WWE Champion]. He was one of the last two guys in the finals for me at the first, to determine the first NXT Champion. People forget that. I thought he had that ability. He came right up to main roster, things didn’t pan out the way we wanted them to pan out. You can talk to him about that, he’ll kind of give you his take on it too as well. Part of that’s him, part of that’s us, part of that being not ready for it.”
He added, “Drew McIntrye, same thing, right? Nothing always goes the way you plan. But, you take them out of the environment, when both those guys left us, it looked – go figure some things out, take your time, mature. Be ready for the opportunity, because when it comes back, you’re gonna want to be able to kill it, and they both have. I think that’s great. “
Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and more appeared on the latest edition of the McMahonsplaining podcast to discuss the importance of WWE’s recent Mae Young Classic tournament.
During the discussions, Triple H told a story about having to tell one WWE performer that they did not have a spot for her in the tournament. He did not name the wrestler in question, but said she’s been training at the Performance Center “for a while.”
“She’s kind of always been on this cusp and the timing has always wrong,” Triple H said. “And I had to go to her, and I wanted to do it personally because I felt like I owed it to her, to say, ‘I can’t put you in the tournament. You should be in the tournament, but I don’t have the spot for you.’
“To watch her fight the tears and the ultimate disappointment of that, it’s tough, man. That’s a hard thing to do. But you’ve got to keep in mind that you want the opportunity to be the biggest it can across the platform.”
WWE COO Triple H spoke with ESPN after The Mae Young Classic and announced that tournament winner Kairi Sane will compete for the vacant WWE NXT Women’s Title at the “Takeover: Houston” event on November 18th at the Toyota Center. He said:
“[I’m] very excited that she’s the first champion, and now the question is ‘What’s next for her?’ I can tell you what’s next for her. On Nov. 18 at the Toyota Center at the next NXT TakeOver, Kairi will be fighting to determine a new NXT women’s champion.”
No word yet on who Sane will compete against but we should know more after Thursday’s NXT TV tapings. As noted, the title was recently vacated by the undefeated Asuka as she’s set to debut with the RAW brand soon.
Triple H also commented on tournament finalists Sane and Shayna Baszler, and their match tonight:
“[Kairi Sane]’s that little dog in the fight that just won’t go down. She leaves it all out there. You can feel her passion when she’s in the ring.
“Shayna’s a tough competitor. Some of the shots she hit her with… there was a kick to the side of her head where I thought, ‘I’m glad that isn’t me.’ That’s what people feel from her — that never-say-die attitude and that fighting spirit.”
Earlier tonight, Kairi Sane won the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament by defeating Shayna Baszler in the finals.
Before the event, WWE held a red carpet event and several current and past Superstars were interviewed about the tournament.
Bayley
Bayley stated that her injury was coming along great, but she still hasn’t been able to lift any weights. Bayley said that she would love to see MYC tournament competitor Piper Niven make it to NXT and eventually WWE in the future. She also explained how the Mae Young Classic tournament lights a fire under current Superstars on the main roster because of the talent that could potentially join WWE in the future.
Alundra Blayze
Cathy Kelley interviewed WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze before the finale of the Mae Young Classic tournament tonight. Blayze said that the Mae Young Classic is a dream come true for her because when she was competing, there weren’t too many women for her to wrestle. Blayze stated that the women today have an amazing opportunity in WWE, but they have to capitalize on it.
Charlotte
Charlotte said that she knows she has to work harder now because the talent in the Mae Young Classic is younger and hungrier. Charlotte knows that she has accomplished a lot already in WWE, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t all go away quickly because someone else wants to join the roster and take her spot.
Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie stated that she couldn’t be more proud of where the women are today. Stephanie referenced the transition from the Divas division to the Women’s division and how the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championships are now more akin to the men’s titles in WWE. Women are now called Superstars and are regularly main-eventing WWE television and PPVs. Stephanie said that it was unbelievable how far they have come and how far they are going to go.
Triple H
Triple H believes that in 10 years there will be a lot of girls walking through the ropes in WWE because they were inspired by the Mae Young Classic. Triple H stated that when fans started the “GiveDivasAChance” hashtag, everyone had to listen. Triple H wants the Mae Young Classic to happen every year, but it depends on it’s success.
Triple H said that he wanted the Cruiserweight Classic to happen every year as well, but Vince McMahon wound up turning it into a weekly show so you never know what is going to happen. Triple H added that the tournament was named after Mae Young because she transcended generations.
Today marks 16 years since the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001 and claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians. It’s was the deadliest terrorist attack in world history. We remember those who we lost at the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the passengers aboard American Flight 11, United Flight 175, American Flight 77, United Flight 93 and the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives as first responders.
Several WWE Superstars have acknowledged on Twitter the anniversary of the national tragedy.
On a day where time stood still, America stood together. Bruised, but not broken. Down, but not defeated. And we will #NeverForget.
The World According To Wrestling podcast is back with a second episode this week and explores the current situation in the British wrestling scene, ITV’s revamp of World Of Sport, WWE’s UK plans and how the UK indie scene feels about it. The loaded line-up of episode guests includes Triple H, Dave Meltzer, Andy Quildan, Klondyke Kate, Fred Dinenage, William Regal, Robbie Brookside, Finn Balor, Neville and Court Bauer.
Here’s some highlights from this week’s show:
Paul Levesque, WWE’s Executive Vice President and 14-time World Champion Triple H, on launching in the UK at a similar time to World of Sport:
“Did it change our timing a little bit because of when they positioned their show? Yeah, but we are talking by maybe months or something not speeding up the process in terms of getting it done. We’ve been working on this for a long time. Any other show aside, if they are successful I’m happy for them. And, at the end of the day, it all helps the industry so we just do what we do. And I think we do it better than anyone else on the planet.”
MLW’s Court Bauer, former WWE writer, said:
“UK really was an amazing region for pro wrestling and then there was a scorched earth effect for many years and it’s revived itself in more modern times. When you have something as big as WWE hovering over you like a death star, you know, this could go two different ways. Fans might win, but also that might just be a short term position if you look at the large term something like ITV doing World Of Sport truly could really help sustain and stabilise this regeneration of pro-wrestling. So that’s my concern.”
Andy Quildan, founder of Revolution Pro Wrestling in the UK said, on ITV and WWE moving in on the British scene:
“Worrying about what everyone else is doing and trying to get into pretend wrestling wars with people is just ridiculous. The fact of the matter is if WWE want to come over and takeover UK wrestling, they’re going to do it. It is what it is. Let’s continue to do what we do in the highest level possible.
“I can see people’s mentality with ‘they’re trying to take over British wrestling’ and my argument is if you look at for example theatre, look at the West End. How many different theatrical productions are going on in the West End every single night. All at the same time. All competing with one another… I’m not phased by it. It’s a very interesting time and certainly a lot of stuff’s changing but at the same time it’s nice for British wrestling not to be an afterthought for once.”
The British wrestling scene is looked at in depth on The World According To Wrestling podcast, available on iTunes now.
WWE COO Triple H recently did an interview with ESPN to talk about a number of professional wrestling topics. During the interview, “The Game” discussed the poor reactions received from the crowd by John Cena and Roman Reigns. He also revealed what he told “The Leader Of The Cenation” when it seemed as though the reactions were getting under his skin. You can see what he had to say here:
What he told John Cena about the negative fan reactions:
“Fans will say that all the time — ‘I hate Roman Reigns’. They did it with [John] Cena, too. I remember telling Cena years ago, when it started happening to him, ‘Dude, what do you care? You’re the Yankees and the Red Sox at the same time.’ The place is sold out.”
Why it doesn’t make sense to turn Roman Reigns heel:
“For the people that hate him, he’s already turned, and for the people that love him, they don’t want him to turn. And if we turned him, the people who hate him would switch to loving him, and the people who love him would switch to hating him.”
You can check out Triple H’s full interview with ESPN by visiting this link.
WWE COO Triple H recently made an appearance on ESPN’s First Take to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. “The Game” was asked about his thoughts on the promotion of Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor and if the WWE can learn anything from it, who would make a better WWE Superstar – LaVar Ball or Rob Gronkowski, the chances of seeing Ronda Rousey in WWE, and if you can create a personality or if it needs to be authentic. Here are the highlights:
The promotion behind Mayweather vs. McGregor and if WWE can learn from it:
“I think from a promotional standpoint they did a lot of things right. They found two personalities and that’s really what this is all about. Floyd will be the first guy to tell you that it’s personalities that sells fights, it’s what he does, he changed himself from ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ to ‘Money Mayweather’ and that was based around WWE and the culture of changing Hulk Hogan to ‘Hollywood Hulk Hogan,’ and reinventing yourself. He invented that persona. McGregor created a persona, a lot of it having to do around what, kind of, WWE does and also what Mayweather does.
“When you have personalities like that and you put them in a ring with that type of conflict – it’s what we do no a daily basis. But they did it very well. It was a moment in time that I don’t think you can replicate. The great things is, I think what people where afraid of was that it wouldn’t deliver. I think it did deliver. I think people got an entertaining 10 round fight, it ended up where the educated person would imagine that it’d end up, but I think it was entertaining and it delivered on a lot of levels.”
Who would make a better WWE Superstar – LaVar Ball or Rob Gronkowski:
“LaVar Ball certainly has a pension for winding people up and wanting to see people beat him. I think that’s an important factor, but you never know what’s going to connect to people. Those personalities – when you look at McGregor, you look at Ronda Rousey, you look at Gronk, you look at LaVar Ball – all those people, what connects them is personalities. Whether you love them or hate them, those personalities drive people. They create a connection and that’s really what people pay to see. They’re a very few pure boxing fans in the world, there are very few pure MMA aficionados in the world, there are very few pure WWE or NBA or NFL that really admire the intricacies of all that stuff. The personalities drive them, whether that be the team or the individuals.”
If we’ll see Ronda Rousey in WWE:
“Ronda has been a huge fan of WWE her whole life, she has been very adamant about that. She has done plenty of stuff with us before, I think you’re watching a clip of her throwing me that I don’t know why you’re showing, but yeah she tends to throw me around when I see her – but she’s a huge fan. I think she’s a huge fan and I think it’s something she’s definitely interested – I’ll throw it out right now, if she’s interested I’ll give her the opportunity. But we’re all about personalities and that’s what she brings to the table. I think she has shown it, and you have seen, she has shown it in Hollywood, she has shown it everywhere. Her personality would drive fan interest.”
Can you create a personality or does it have to be authentic:
“I think you can do both. I think there are some people that just have it, they walk in a room and they have that ‘x’ factor. We look for that a lot. But I’m also looking, when I’m recruiting talent I’m looking for, even somebody that is a dormant characteristic or a trait in them that makes them that – they have that ‘x’ factor they don’t know they have it. Or its been held back in them, their whole life they’ve been taught ‘don’t put that out there,’ don’t brag, don’t be this, don’t be that, bring that back in.
“I think there are a million guys in the NFL or are attempting to get in the NFL that look at what we do and they live vicariously through us because they’re told ‘Don’t do that. Don’t celebrate, don’t be unique, don’t be those things.’ We want you to be all that and more. We want you to be unique, we want you to bring something we’ve never seen to the table, and that’s what we’re trying to get out of people. Whether they have that in them and they don’t know it, and we coach that out of them and we teach them how to do that, or whether they already have it and it’s already there, it doesn’t matter. As long as when the red light goes on in front of them, they can put that out to the world, then they can bring in whatever you want. They can make people come to arenas, they can make people follow them whether they love them or hate them. It’s all about charisma.”
Triple H recently spoke with Josh Barnett of USA Today’s For The Win to promote the Mae Young Classic. During the interview, he talked about various topics including if the tournament will lead to an all women’s brand and more. Here are the highlights:
If the tournament will lead to an all women’s brand: “Never say never; you could end up there… We’re experimenting with a lot of different things as far as programming. But the women are a lot different. With the women, you hopefully have opportunities for a lot of these women to beef up the roster on RAW, Smackdown, NXT, and while it’s still a work in progress, we have the intention to be in the United Kingdom as well. “We want the women to have the same opportunity as the men to be everywhere. You don’t need a separate show, as long as opportunities are everywhere. It makes it feel like less than for them.”
Selecting the competitors: “We thought we could probably do this with 16 women who were very elite and upper deck. As we started to dig and watch more footage, there were more women. I realized I can do this with 32 who are really solid and high quality. We picked the 32, and it was hard to make the decision of who should go in and who shouldn’t it.”
Triple H recently spoke with Muscle & Fitness about the process of putting together the Mae Young Classic and more. The first four episodes of the tournament have been released via the on-demand section on the WWE Network. Here are the highlights:
WWE naming the tournament after WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young:
“So there [were] a lot of decisions and a lot of names thrown around, and there was a team that went through all that stuff. At the end of the day, we were looking for something that kinda symbolized the transition. And while I think a lot of people would say, like, you know, ‘Why didn’t you name it The [Fabulous] Moolah Classic?’, or ‘Why didn’t you name it after some other female?’ To me, Mae was the one person that, when you look at it, Mae Young started at the very beginning of her life. Got into a men’s-only business and against all conceivable odds stayed in that business and competed much like Moolah did or all these other people. But Mae was one of the only ones that was able to really transition into the modern day.
Mae was able to transition into the entertainment component of the Attitude Era in a way that if you look at the Attitude Era and you look at Mae Young, you can look at Moolah standing next to her. But Moolah was just kinda there in the straight man or straight woman in the equation. Mae was the one that was like, ‘I don’t care. I’ll do it.’ You know, she was half the time suggesting stuff that we’re like, ‘Oh God. Mae, we can’t do that.’ You know?”
If the tournament will lead to a reoccurring event:
‘I do. Not 100% sure what that is. In some ways, I think the Cruiserweights is a different platform that can have its own distinct individual show. I don’t know if the women need that right now. The Cruiserweights, they have a match here or there on RAW, and then they have their own division and their own show on 205. With the women, you have opportunities on RAW, you have opportunities on SmackDown, you have opportunities at NXT. Hopefully, over time you’ll have opportunities in the U.K. You’ll have opportunities in different localized markets. Those are the things, for me, that it begins to spread around.
I would love for the Mae Young to be this recurring yearly, or whatever it is, this recurring thing that is the opportunity for the girls that are out there grinding, for the girls that are out there working at the little armories and the little places and dreaming about that pot of gold to be able to jump on the rainbow and start to take the ride. And for us to scan around the world every year and say, ‘Who do we want to look at this year, and give them that opportunity? Who’s really improved since last year to take this opportunity? Who’s that next level? Who’s that next generation of stars?’ To me, that’s where something like the Mae Young Classic becomes a huge opportunity. And if it’s my decision, yeah it will be exactly that. An opportunity that keeps coming back over and over.”
It’s nothing new for Stars not belonging to wrestling to appear on WWE TV, though it’s not very often that a celebrity from other stream enters a WWE ring to have a match.
One such rare event occurred when the star of Arrow Stephen Amell competed in a tag team match and won during the 2015 edition of the SummerSlam PPV.
During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Amell talked about his appearances in WWE and revealed the advice Triple H gave to him.
According to Stephen, The Game came to him just before his match at the PPV and told the Arrow Star to ‘slow down’ and then slow down some more:
“I was standing in the ‘Gorilla’ position before our match, Hunter walked up to me and said, ‘If you think you’re going too fast, slow down. When you’re sure you’re going too slow, then slow down some more. And when you’re positive you’re going too slow, then slow down some more.”
Stephen Amell teamed up with Neville to face the team of Stardust and Wade Barret at SummerSlam 2015 after a short feud. You can watch the closing moments of their match in the video below:
Triple H recently spoke with NBC Sports about the process of putting together the Mae Young Classic, some of the talents that stood out to him and more. The first four episodes of the tournament are set to be released on-demand on the WWE Network on Monday, August 28th. Here are the highlights:
Putting together the Mae Young Classic:
“I think the Cruiserweight Classic was easier from a sense of being able to find video and opinions on talent. There are cruiserweights working all over. The opportunities for guys at that level in our business is numerous While not lucrative necessarily, there’s guys doing it all over the place and all you need is a phone right now to post your stuff up, so you can find footage of people everywhere. It made it easy. The women is a lot different. The women don’t get booked on the independents nearly as much. That opportunity is very small and that was kind of the key about creating the Mae Young Classic. The thought about it in the very beginning was to create that opportunity. There’s a respect level that I have for these women and it speaks to the difference you’re talking about.
The cruiserweights were the guys that while they might have said ‘Oh I’m smaller, I don’t know if I would make it in WWE,’ you had some examples of smaller guys having success like Rey Mysterio, but there were still other opportunities. You could travel around and get booked all of the time. There was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow no matter how you were doing it. The ability to stay active was there. For the women, they got into the business for the same reason all of us did. They love it. They watched it one day and thought it was the greatest thing they ever saw and thought I have to do this. Except there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There was the opportunity for maybe a woman here or there and those were even limited. Even the bookings, if you go to any show in any little armory around the world there’s probably one women’s match on there, if you’re lucky. If one woman is on the show she’s usually someone’s valet. The opportunities are few and far between and when you’re trying to find these talents and see footage of them to make sure you think they’re going to be what you think they’re going to be and then be able to determine if they’re good enough to be in the product. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort to be able to go do that. But, when we started to do it, I think that’s when we became pleasantly surprised.
When we first started this process, and I was the one who drove it for years until it finally got the green light, we thought this would be a 16 woman tournament because I thought it would be tough to keep the quality high enough to give the opportunity to women from all around the globe this opportunity. But when we started to dig, we started to find all of these diamonds in the rough. It quickly became where we could do a 32-woman tournament and quite honestly I could have done it a little bit bigger than that. I’m excited about that. It made the quality [of the tournament]really good and it speaks well to the future because the opportunity is there now and it will just continue to grow.”
Which wrestlers stood out to him:
“Jazzy Gabert from Germany was a real standout performer. I’d seen tape of her and was obviously aware of her, but when I saw her go in person, it’s one of those things where sometimes when people see talent in other places they’d say ‘Oh yeah we knew she was great too,’ but when you bring them up for a big opportunity it’s like the prizefighter that’s really good, but when he gets in the pressure of a world title match, he’s just not what he should be. That level of pressure is different. Some of these girls did better, some didn’t do as well, but certain ones thrived and Jazzy Gabert was one that really thrived. Bianca Belair, who hasn’t been doing this for very long, has a level of poise that just blew me away. Shayna Baszler is somebody that I’ve seen begin to make the transition from MMA into what we do and sometimes that can be a rough transition.
Xia Li is someone that a year ago didn’t even know what WWE was, but when I saw her perform I was blown away. When she came back [through the curtain]she was balling because I think she amazed herself.
So there were a lot of those stories. People who came in that you knew had the ability, but when you saw them in person, they just came into their own. Some have been doing it for a long time. Mercedes Martinez is another one who I knew was good, but when I watched her go I was thoroughly impressed.”
Sami Callihan, who worked in WWE NXT from 2012-2015 as Solomon Crowe, recently spoke with WSVN-TV Entertainment Reporter Chris Van Vliet about various topics including the reason he asked for his release from the company, Triple H and more. Here are the highlights:
If leaving WWE was the best decision of his professional career:
“Absolutely. Because I’ll be the first to say that I wasn’t Sami Callihan when I went there. I changed who I was, walked on eggshells and for lack of better terms, I became a b—h. I wasn’t myself and if I could go back and do it again I feel like it would be a whole different story. But I tried to change. I tried to become everything they wanted me to be instead of sticking to my guns and ride or die. But I think everything happens for a reason because now I’ve left and become one of the biggest stars in the world again despite not being backed by that WWE machine.”
“I was lucky that everything I did at WWE was on good terms. I was a model citizen. Like everything I do in my life, I don’t half ass things. I was a model citizen at the Performance Center and did everything they wanted me to do. I did extra training. I would help with promo class. Anything that was every asked of me. When I was injured, I would do commentary just to show my face. I made really good relationships and when I left they said the door is open, just go out and do what you gotta do.”
Working with Triple H:
“Triple H is one of the boys. People can say about him what they want, but being in the power position that he’s in he would stay after NXT tapings for hours. NXT wrestlers would be lined up out the door waiting to talk to him and maybe not every time, but the majority of the time he would stay there until he talked to every single person that wanted to talk to him. We knew that that was the boss and his input was what we actually needed.”
