Triple H Talks WWE NXT Takeover Matches, WrestleMania Weekend, Performance Center, More
Triple H did a media call on Thursday to promote WWE NXT “Takeover: Orlando” and WrestleMania 33. Below are highlights:
* Triple H said this year is really exciting as several longterm storylines are playing out at WrestleMania. He believes they will be playing out in big way with shocks and surprises. He also thinks this year will really showcase how big WrestleMania Week has become with Axxess, the Hall of Fame, Takeover, WrestleMania, RAW, SmackDown and NXT TV tapings. He says there are over 130,000 tickets out in the market for those events
* He called the passing of Jan Ross tragic and unfortunate. He noted how Jim Ross has always been a part of the WWE family and he can’t express how sad they are. He says they all knew Jan very well
* Regarding Takeover, it is sold out for the Amway Center in Orlando. He feels Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT Champion Bobby Roode is lining up what NXT will be after WrestleMania – will it take Roode’s Glorious path or the Strong Style path of Nakamura that we’ve seen for the past year or so. He says NXT Women’s Champion Asuka continues to evolve and get better. They knew she was a game-changer when they brought her in and that’s what she’s been. He also praised Ember Moon, saying it took her a while to hit her stride but now she has and it’s amazing. He called her an incredibly talented performer and believes Ember vs. Asuka has the chance to steal the whole week. He says DIY vs. The Revival vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain should be unbelievable. He says it’s amazing what The Authors have accomplished in the short time they’ve been in NXT. Regarding Aleister Black vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas, he says Almas has sky-rocketed in the last few weeks or last month. He believes Almas’ comfort level as a heel has hit his stride and the match against the debuting Black should be phenomenal. He’s really looking forward to the night and to tell the NXT talents that the chance is there for them to push the main roster to deliver at WrestleMania. He’s looking forward to them showing the world they can do it
* Triple H is asked about comments he made on a recent call about not being happy with where NXT was at that point, and how he feels about improvements the brand has made. Triple H says he will probably never be happy with the product because you always want it to be better and to be more than what it is. He makes it clear that his unhappiness had nothing to do with talent – it had to do with his end, with creative, production and other aspects. He says there were reasons for all of it as the Performance Center was designed to create everything they do, not just in-ring performers, and it did that very well. As those talents were moved up, it “strip-mined” NXT and around the same time they lost a lot of their performers, specifically with the WWE Draft, they had to start over in many ways. They also started over behind the scenes. He talks about how they had to reinvent everything but he’s much happier with where they’re at now, not because it’s where he wants NXT to be but because he’s on a path to get there. There’s nothing worse to him than saying he’s unhappy with something and not having the abilities to fix it, or he’s not on the way to fixing it. He says NXT is on the way to being where he wants it. He feels like NXT has been getting better over the past few weeks and months
* Regarding the NXT, WWE UK, 205 Live, PROGRESS and ICW matches at WrestleMania Axxess possibly airing at a later date, he says there are not doing actual TV tapings at Axxess this year
* He’s asked what he thinks about the development and starts of some of the younger talents, including some we haven’t seen yet, specifically Patrick Clark. Triple H says it’s a really cool thing they have going on with the Performance Center and developmental, then NXT the brand. He talks about how NXT grew into its own global touring brand with experienced talents blended in with talents coming up to give them the needed place to learn and work. He says Clark is a perfect example of that. Clark came in with a ton of potential and has been a sponge soaking up knowledge. Triple H says Clark has been learning and rolling, and it’s just a matter of time before we’re going to see big things from him. Triple H believes we will start to see Clark make a big impact after WrestleMania. Triple H is really happy with the system they have and how talents are progressing. He talks again about how The Authors of Pain have progressed. He also talks about the NXT women’s division with younger talents like Ember Moon, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay and Nikki Cross with experience but you also have talents like Aliyah, Liv Morgan, Daria Berenato and Macey Estrella. He says Mandy Rose will also have a big impact soon. He says it’s really impressive to see these talents grow and become something more, thriving in the environment
* Triple H was asked about possibly branching out the Performance Center in other key markets, such as locations in the UK, Los Angeles or Toronto. He says he’s been having those conversations since the moment he first thought up the Performance Center. They’ve talked about what is the best way to execute those plans. He says they are currently maxed out with around 100 talents at the Performance Center and he’s out-grown the space a little bit and would love for it to be more robust. Looking back, there are things that they realize could be done differently and he wants to perfect the system but then he wonders how to make it grow and work with their global recruiting. He also mentioned how they are still working to create localized content in the UK for a weekly series there. He says as they expand, there is probably a logical point where there will be the need for other facilities but it is something they look at all the time
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