Triple H Gives Update On His WWE Executive Role
While Triple H is retiring from in ring competition, that doesn't mean he will be stepping away from wrestling entirely.
In his interview with Stephen A. Smith of ESPN this past Friday, the same interview where he announced his retirement, Triple H stated he would continue as a WWE executive, with a continued focus on recruiting and developing talent.
"My foot's not off the gas," Triple H said. "I suppose in some manner I've got to step back a little bit. I'm still in recovery and my endurance is not exactly quite what it used to be before, but right now, I'm back. I'm at the office. I am fully focused on recruiting and development of our talent in the future and, whether that's building more performance centers, whether that's finding the next young stud that's out there, male or female, like Gable Steveson, who recently became a two-time NCAA Champion.
"Gold Medalist at the Olympics, right? His next step is with WWE and with us. It's finding that. It's creating that future and that's the biggest focus for me and as we move forward from there. It's making sure that WWE is a success for generations to come."
Triple H also talked about what he and WWE are looking for in prospective talent, which is larger than life characters. He compared what WWE is looking for to stars they already have, such as Charlotte Flair, Roman Reigns, and Becky Lynch.
"Larger than life is what we're after, right?" Triple H said. "You're not looking for the guy that you can see, nobody pays to see their next-door neighbor. Their next-door neighbor lives next door. You don't need to pay, just look out your window. They want to see somebody larger than life that they can't believe exists. When you look around today, you see that already.
"I think when you look back 10 years from now, you're going to see Roman Reigns as one of those transcendent figures. I think you're going to see people like Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair as those transcendent figures. Ronda Rousey. Brock Lesnar. What made Brock Lesnar? What made Brock Lesnar more famous, the fact that he came from WWE, went to UFC, or where he is now?
"There's so many aspects to that. They're already there, right? It's funny that, in the moments of it, when John Cena was first coming along, people were like 'eh, he's good, but he's never going to be that transcendent figure.' And here he is, where he is, Peacemaker, all the things that he has going on, he transcends. The Rock, the biggest box office star in Hollywood, you know?
"All those things happen over time. The people are there in place now. The funny thing about what we do is, sometimes you can plan for this person to be the biggest thing in the world and it's not that one, it's the one over here that you're not looking at that just won't take no for an answer and they just light the world on fire. Becky Lynch is a great example of that. She just came in and said 'I'm going to be the biggest thing here' and no matter what anybody thought about it, she went and did it. And she succeeded."
To quote this article, please credit ESPN and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription