As noted, Triple H recently spoke with ESPN to promote WWE SummerSlam and ESPN.com’s new WWE section. Below are some more interview highlights:
On the turning point for NXT as a brand:
“To me, the turning point is when we did the first TakeOver — Arrival — and it was so well-received and so wildly successful, not only for NXT, the brand, but for the WWE Network. It just changed everything for us, because now, in the United States as well as every place else that we were being seen, NXT had a home and had a global base. As it started to become apparent how popular this show was, it became apparent that we could tour outside of Florida and we could go global.”
On whether or not the WWE draft has hurt NXT:
“When we did the draft, I got a lot of questions like, ‘Well, doesn’t this spell doom for NXT? Isn’t this kind of what’s wrong, what’s inherently flawed in the system, [because] when you create something that is great, [WWE chairman] Vince [McMahon] is going to want to take it, or the company is going to want to take it and put it on the biggest platform possible?’ I feel the exact opposite way. That’s why I’m building talent — it’s to make them as successful and popular as possible.
“They’re gone from NXT, but we’re still selling out Brooklyn in the Barclays Center, just with a different crop of people. We’re selling out Brooklyn now with Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe, and Asuka and Bayley. It’s totally different.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
