WWE’s Triple H spoke with Sports Illustrated to hype this week’s NXT on USA, which will serve as the yellow-and-black brand’s Takeover, since their scheduled Takeover Tampa was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights are below.
On the NXT women’s division:
These women are going to be dominating the business for a long time to come. There is such depth, and we’re creating new talent. That bodes well for women in the sport. The deeper that bench is, the more we’ll see young girls who want to do this when they grow up. Ten years from now, there will be women saying that Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai and Xia Li inspired them. That’s really exciting to think about.
On playing the long-term game with AEW:
I’m a believer in the long-term game. You create the right product, and over time, people will find it. I think back to Monday nights years ago, and it looks different now, but there were periods of time when WWE was putting on much better shows and the content was much better, but we were still getting beat. We were not winning ‘the war,’ but we stayed true to who we were. If it’s a flash and it’s exciting at first but you can’t maintain it, then it loses that pizzazz. It’s long-term duration, for me, that’s how you win. I’ve been saying it since the beginning—I’m not concerned about those numbers week-to-week. It’s about trying to put out the best show you can every week.
Thoughts on Keith Lee:
It’s funny, people often look at Keith Lee and say, ‘I knew he was going to be a star when I saw him in the indies. Well, I did, too. And look at where he is now compared to where he was a year ago—he’s a different guy at a technical level. Charisma, performance, a lot of those things were there, but it’s the subtleties of what he does with them. He’s becoming a real bona fide mainstream star. Part of the beauty of all this is the ability to see someone before they’re headlining WrestleMania. That’s part of the excitement, being ahead of the curve, and we’re seeing that with Keith Lee.
Hypes Killer Kross debut:
The first time you see him, you know right away that he’s something special. It’s been a long path for him to get where he is. He is a unique talent that combines what he does in the ring with his charisma and his intelligence. I’m excited for him to be here.