Triple H Lauds Success Of NXT UK Takeover: ‘Empire Built’

WWE’s Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed WWE COO Triple H at the conclusion of today’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool event. Highlights appear below:

On Being Called The Founding Father Of NXT UK:

There’s a lot of people that are the founding fathers of UK wrestling. It’s certainly not me. One of them is watching at home, Mr. Regal.

On The Success Of Today’s NXT UK TakeOver:

Trending #1 in the UK, trending #1 in the U.S., trending #1 worldwide, top five of the top ten worldwide, I’d say that’s a pretty good night.

Triple H On How Far NXT UK’s Come:

Two years ago, we came in here and said we were starting a journey. They were building their own empire and the truth is what we did is we came in here and we followed, along with what was happening. We poured gas on a fire that was already lit by the Pete Dunnes, by Trent Seven, Tyler Bate. That was set by the whole group that you see here tonight. They are the ones that lit the fire in the UK. We came and poured gas on it and now here they are tonight: they built an empire. They built an empire with their own brand, with a series week to week, with an NXT UK Champion of over 600 days, the longest reigning champion in the modern era in Pete Dunne, Rhea Ripley the first ever NXT UK Women’s Champion, and now Toni Storm to carry that torch even further, though I don’t think Rhea Ripley’s done yet, brand new NXT UK Tag Team Champions in a match that lit the world on fire. It just keeps growing and growing and growing and tonight live, not just taking on the UK, not just taking on the US, but showing the world what UK wrestling is all about.

On NXT UK TakeOver Setting The Bar:

We just set the bar really high. I don’t look at it as one brand, the other brand. I look at it as putting on the event that it needs to be. Tonight, everybody here, top to bottom, start to finish – we put on an event that everybody here can be proud of. We put on an event that lit the world up and to me, that’s where it’s at. This is about setting the bar high. This was the first one live, right here in Blackpool. They delivered, to me, something unique, something special, something historic. Talk about building an empire: empire built.

On The ‘Is Vince McMahon Watching?’ Chant:

[Triple H stops the question] I like you having a job. I’d like you to keep your job. Let’s just move on. The chants are great…..The chants are unique here. The crowd is unique here, but the one thing that I have to say is that they bring an energy…you could just feel the energy, the buzz. This place was electric. From the moment the first talent walked out there, the roof blew off this place. It’s hard to explain. The fans here in the UK just bring it. It’s hard to say like no place out in the world, but I’ll put that challenge out to the rest of the world. You’ve got a high bar now.

On Finn Balor’s Surprise Appearance:

[Jordan] Devlin is a guy trained by Finn Balor. Finn Balor was here for the opening of the NXT Performance Center in the UK and I always knew that Johnny Saint was more than just a legend, more than one of the founding fathers of British wrestling. I always knew he was a smart guy, but to come up with a plan B – Johnny Saint’s plan B of Finn Balor, the man that trained Jordan Devlin to walk down that aisle and take him on tonight – genius.

On Dave Mastiff’s Victory Over Eddie Dennis:

Flying through the air, but let me just say, Eddie Dennis catching Dave Mastiff, Eddie Dennis throwing Mastiff, Eddie Dennis tossing Mastiff onto the stairs – I’m not sure what’s more impressive, the moonsault from Dave Mastiff or the ability to catch and throw around Dave Mastiff. Eddie Dennis doesn’t look like he should be that big of a powerhouse, but he clearly is. ‘Wiry strength,’ is what I think he explained it as and he certainly has that and then some. They left it all out there. That shot through the table at the end was enough to beat anybody.

Triple H Talks Toni Storm’s Victory Over Rhea Ripley:

Rhea Ripley came into a dominant year and just tore through the Mae Young Classic, came here and took the NXT UK Women’s Championship, but Toni Storm fighting through an injury when she lost in that kinda final, coming back into the Mae Young Classic and just having an incredible year and then meeting with a lot of unfortunate circumstances – not just injuries, but personal. That’s the sign of strength in somebody. It’s not how hard you get knocked down; it’s not the things that take you down in life, it’s the ability to get up and jut keep going, to step up to not let anything take you down, to not let anything set you back, to let nobody tear you apart, to not let anybody tear you down, to just go and live your dream. Toni Storm, my hat’s off because through all that adversity – through everything she’s gone through, to walk out here and go through Rhea Ripley, is by no means an easy task. The thing that impresses me about the two of them – 22 and 23. Where does that go? They’re just nicking the surface of how good they’re gonna be.

On Pete Dunne:

Somebody just said to me back here, it was like watching a boxing match happen inside of a car crash and it really was. It was brutal. It was aggressive. It was the fight you expected it to be and yet Pete Dunne still walks out – over 600 days now as NXT UK Champion and it hasn’t been easy. He has faced them all. He has gone through them all. He has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt – I stood in that hallway two years ago and I looked him in the eye and said, ‘Make a name for yourself, kid.’ Damn it, if he hasn’t. He’s gone beyond that. He has put his name out in front of the world and proven, beyond anybody’s doubt, that he is one of the best in the world by far. Again, at a very young age, just nicking the surface of where he’s gonna go. It’s scary how good he’s gonna be.

On WALTER’s Appearance:

I would say that’s him staking his claim. Here’s the thing, when you’re this hot, when you’re the NXT UK brand, when you’re as hot as this, the whole world wants to be here. You have constantly got to up that game….as good as you think you are, 600 days as NXT UK Champion, all of it, going through everybody. There’s always somebody coming through the door that’s hungry. There’s always somebody coming through the door that’s got the fire you had. You’ve got to keep it. WALTER coming in here, impressive impressive guy, but to go through Pete Dunne, if that’s where he thinks he’s going, he better be everything everyone says he is and then some. This is about as high as it gets, the competition is as high as it gets and if you think you’re going to walk through the door here and make a name for yourself, you better mean it.

(Transcription Credit: Michael McClead, WrestleZone)

Readers may watch the Triple H interview in its entirety below:

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