The following features summarized highlights from Triple H‘s NXT Takeover: War Games media conference call that took place earlier this afternoon.
Triple H addressed his injury and said he was still going to be in Los Angeles this weekend. He talks about the Takeover card and how some NXT talents were left off, but how loaded the card is. He says people like EC3, Matt Riddle, Bianca Belair and Candice LeRae aren’t even on the card yet. He addresses NXT UK and says it will be something special.
Q: War Games is back, what did they learn from last year and how could they improve?
HHH – Last year it was three groups, and this is more towards a traditional feel for the match format. HHH liked it and they modernized an amazing concept. There was debate for the roof on the cage, but it’s limiting and last year proved the format can showcase talent. He’s more excited about the things they did right last year, and most people walked away with a positive experience. He hopes they can make this a brand and feature for WWE and NXT moving forward.
Velveteen Dream and the progress of the NXT talents so far?
HHH – He’s happy with the system, and talks about how well people take to training down in NXT, calling Dream a sponge. He says the light bulb just goes on, same with Pete Dunne. He says the growth curve is huge, noting Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair, and there are so many names that can change that quickly. HHH says talent will deliver and have one thing go wrong, but you have to remember they haven’t been doing this this long, and commends their progress.
Q: What is the progress of WWE/NXT and international and independent promotions? How close are international performance centers?
HHH – They are making progress everyday. The Germany tryout was very successful, and the pathway to getting talent to WWE is there. He says there’s a way to have a lucrative career, and he doesn’t mean it as a knock to the indies, but cites questions those talents are faced with like getting paid, checking out injuries. He says they have to answer those questions and his long term goal is to have it worldwide where you can have a long-term career with security, even if you don’t make it to RAW or SmackDown. He says you see it more in NXT UK and more mature markets, and says it won’t be long, maybe early 2019 where they will announce new markets. He says giving people that path is important.
Q: Takeover, was Shafir and Duke at Evolution their brand ‘debut’?
HHH – Marina and Jessamyn already work at the WWE PC, and he thinks they’ll see the relationship with Shayna play out. They will keep their finger on the pulse, and he hopes it leads to something more, but we’ll see.
Is the goal still making it to RAW/SmackDown, or could we see more talent stay at NXT?
HHH – He thinks they are at a point where they could see more talent stay at NXT, or underutilized talent move to NXT. He still feels like it’s a third brand, and as they move forward with these other brands (NXT UK, etc), he thinks they can move around and get experience. He does think it could result in seeing more mainstays or their respective brands.
HHH is asked about the length / amount of Takeovers, and he thinks they found a sweet spot of the show length. He doesn’t want people to be burnt out by the end, and they’ll see where it goes. He can invision larger events with NXT UK, but they’ll see what the ‘magic number’ of what is too much or enough is.
More Highlights From Triple H’s NXT Takeover Conference Call —>
