Triple H Discusses Possibility Of Randy Orton Wrestling In NXT, Comments On Renee Young
Triple H conducted a media call earlier today ahead of "Takeover: XXX " this Sunday. In regards to talent from outside of NXT going to NXT, Triple H talked about how conversations like that happen all the time but plans are always changing especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was reported a few months ago that Orton had wanted to work with NXT talents like Tommaso Ciampa and Adam Cole. Wrestling Inc.'s Nick Hausman asked Triple H what the possibility of Orton in NXT is.
"There's always conversations around this stuff," Triple H stated. "Whether it's people coming down to NXT, whether it's NXT talent making a shift there and doing something, there's always conversations, but when you're doing seven hours of live content every week and dealing with it in this environment where at any moment, things can shift, talent can move or not be available, it's a domino effect.
"So changing things and trying to build in things on different days is very very difficult and a lot more challenging than people would think. While those options are always there and always discussed, getting them to fruition at this point in time, sometimes, is a little bit more difficult, but I can tell you this, Randy's a little more public about it and puts it out on social [media].
"I field calls all day long about talent wanting to do something in NXT and vice versa. There's a constant there. I know from my end, as a performer, when you see talent and you see somebody that's very good, and it peaks your interest. 'Well, I'd like to work with them.' That's what Randy's doing."
Triple H also commented on whether there is an update on a head writer for NXT. He said it was a group committee involving himself, Shawn Michaels and Road Dogg (Brian James). He also talked about the lessons they have learned taping different kinds of content WWE produces.
"As far as the writing of NXT goes, we shift around a little bit," Triple H revealed. "I won't necessarily comment on people that aren't necessarily talent for us, but we have a team that works with NXT that includes Shawn Michaels, Brian James and myself. So it's a group and the ideas all go through that.
"It's really business as usual for us. As far as lessons learned, there's a dramatic difference between doing taped television, doing live television [and] doing one-hour of live television vs. two hours. I can tell you that three is exponentially harder than that. There's lessons everywhere. I think the biggest difficulty for us has been, in this timeframe, is just the shifting of everything.
Triple H noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has made this difficult for them with the variable of something changing at any moment in play. He noted that the lack of crowds has affected talents as well especially in the world of pro wrestling.
"COVID has really made doing all of this, in a way, exponentially harder. You have moments in times where things change," Triple H noted. "You can have the best stuff written and then you're waiting to see if any of it can take place, and when you have multiple brands, it can move people around. And there's been numerous times where we have great plans for something and then there's a moment where that person has to go to a different brand for whatever reason, injury, whatever it is. And it changes everything.
"So the difficulty of dealing with that and also the difficulty of just not having fans there keeping the energy level up for talent, which they've done a phenomenal job of. Anybody in this industry that is going out there in a business where we do what we do for that reaction, that's everything we do.
"It's not like a sport where I'm going to go out there and I'm going to win this game and I don't care if people like it, don't like it. I'm just going to tune everything out and go do it. It's the exact opposite of that, and you're doing everything for that reaction. And that reaction isn't there or it's very small or there's very few people.
Triple H also talked about the lack of crowds affecting younger talents as well. He noted that these talents are trained to work in front of a crowd and to read and react to a crowd. However, Triple H talked about how proud he is of the NXT roster and is glad that they are back to in-person training at the Performance Center with everyone following COVID-19 protocols.
"It changes the game dramatically and keeping talent, especially young talent that aren't necessarily used to that, and you've spent a lot of time teaching them to work towards that crowd and that performance level," Triple H explained. "And then it all changes for them. That aspect of it has been incredibly difficult, but I'm really happy with where we are. I'm really happy with everything we're doing. I think, for the most part, when I when I look at our roster, I see all the success at the top, but then where I'm even more excited is in the middle, of all the people that are coming into their own in this extremely difficult environment and still knocking it out of the park and becoming something more every single week.
"You see the depth of our women's division. You see the depth of our roster across the board in NXT, and that is exciting to me. What's also very exciting to me is being able to get back to training because we hadn't really been able to do that. In the environment that we were in, TV is one thing, getting them in a ring to train and have that level of strength and conditioning and training on week-to-week basis, we haven't been doing that. And we just got back to that. We have a secondary facility that we're using with everybody moving out of the PC. That will come back into play.
"Now, for us, to be able to get everybody back into the day-to-day improving, they've been sitting in some manner in neutral for six months, and we do everything that we can to help them continue to improve, but it's virtual. I was just talking to them. It's not in there doing it. Now it's a different game, and now we can get back to doing what we do in that manner safely, testing everybody, doing everything we can to make them stay safe, but that part of it is very exciting."
It was reported earlier today that Renee Young would be leaving WWE. Later reports indicated that she will be working SummerSlam before leaving WWE, and while Triple H did not comment on Young's WWE status, he praised Young for the work she has done in WWE.
"I won't comment on on that status," Triple H said. "I'll let Renee deal with that on her terms, but as far as her as a person and as a part of WWE, it's been awesome, and she has been a large part of this. I've personally enjoyed working with her tremendously, and it's been awesome to see her attack different things within the company and try different roles. I [think] she's done an amazing job with all of them. I'll let her handle the rest of it, but as far as her contributions, they've been awesome."
WWE NXT presents "Takeover: XXX" this Saturday night live on the WWE Network. The full audio from Triple H's media call aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.