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The call started with Adam Hopkins reminding us that next year’s Royal Rumble will take place in Philadelphia. HHH then gave Adam static, saying that he wanted to talk about Phily. He then went into talking about Saturday’s Takeover event, only on the WWE Network. Adam reminded us one question, and one follow up.
Triple H talked about this Takeover being a bit special due to them having the Toronto show and Japan show on the schedule so it changed how he would have liked to have promote the event. With that said, he talked about the matches on the show and how excited he is for the event. In my view, the lineup is strong and the show should be good to great.
Triple H made it clear how much he likes Shinsuke Nakamura. I share his assessment and excitement. He also mentioned that they will be announcing the winners of the NXT 2016 awards on the pre-show before Takeover.
Before geting into questions, he put over the UK tournament and all of the people involved. He said that the goal is to make it a weekly show.
The first call came from Mike Johnson. Triple H said Mike was back to form. Mike said he does his best. Mike asked about UK talents being pulled from other platforms, such as iPPV or Flo Sports. H was asked to explain why this happened. He said that people in the UK are worried this will be the 2017 version of crushing the territories.
HHH said that a lot of this is based on people's refusal to acknowledge the reality of the situation. He said that they signed talents with the ultimate goal of doing weekly TV. He said the talents knew this when they signed. WWE doesn't care if the talents work for other promotions but it can't be distributed. Some promotions there wanted to circumvent that and that won't be allowed. He said that they are not being heavy handed. WWE wants to work with groups cultivating talent, not one off them. Again, the talents knew what the restrictions were going into it. There may be confusion but it's on the promoter's side, not WWE or the talents. H said that over time it will all be clear why WWE is doing what they are doing but it's strategic so it will play out over time.
Mike asked what the timeline for the series is?
H said that doing a weekly TV show is a lot different than doing a tournament. Sure, they have the money to do it, but there are a lot of factors to work through to make it happen. It is hard to see now for people but as time goes by we will see why things happen as they did. He said that right now there is no firm timeline as to when it will happen. There are a lot of factors to get into place first. They need people on the ground in the UK. It's more involved than running a tournament. In the mean time, they will help the guys that they were working with in the UK get exposure and thrive. The time frame doesn't exist right now.
Brian Fritz was next. He mentioned that they have done two tournaments now. Is there a format that he prefers using, days vs. weeks?
H said that it depends on the goal of the tournament. The UK was different than the Cruiserweight. The went to the UK while the Cruisers came to them. Both formats work and people like both. He talked about how the UK tournament was in the moment while the Cruisers got to evolve over time. What they will do going forward will depend on what they are trying to accomplish.
Fritz asked about where the Cruisers are right now.
H said it was a work in progress. As a standalone it is different than integrating it into a bigger platform (i.e. become a part of Raw). He said 205 allows them to show more what the talents can do but the exposure that they get on Raw is massive. It is clearly a work in progress. He believes in the show and has high hopes for the show. He thinks that in a few years it will be a big part of what they do.
Jason Powell asked about using Nakamura as the anchor of NXT. He feels that he can be on the main roster now. Why isn't he there at almost 37 years old?
H said that there a lot of components to what they do, such as TV and how to be used on it. He talked about the difference between being in NXT vs. on WWE TV. He made a point to say that WWE is a TV show and Nakamura never had to perform for the cameras the way that WWE does it. He is still learning that aspect of what WWE does. H says that he loves Shinsuke and is the one that went after him, but there is still a learning curve. He is there now. It is just a matter of when WWE decides to bring him up.
Jason asked that given the expansion with NXT and Cruisers, is it harder to get talent for NXT?
H said that they are spread out but he sees it as having more places for talent to work. He said that you might see guys go from NXT to the UK or Cruiser division to NXT. It's about creating more brands where talent can go back and forth. It could be a really way of keeping things fresh in my opinion. He said that it gives talents more places to work and succeed. H is not looking at just the present, but also creating opportunities for five and ten years from now. He wants to create more and more places for talents to work.
Dave Meltzer was on next. He followed up Mike's question and asked if UK would be a territory with house shows as well as TV?
H said that he wants guys to work. The only way to teach guys is by doing it. He wants them to work so the idea is to make a weekly show in the UK and run events off of it, while supporting other groups over there. But those promotions have to be quality places for people to work. He wants to work with promotions that grow talent as opposed to just running shows. He wants people that will help and grow the talents. He can't say at this time but he wants the talents to work full time, be it for just WWE or in a mix with partner promotions in the UK that are quality companies that provide a professional environment.
Dave asked about whether the promotions that WWE will work with in the UK will understand that if WWE says the guy is a face, they will book him that way.
H said that it comes down to the talent and promotion doing business in the right way. If WWE makes a guy a hot heel, a promotion shouldn't want to make him a babyface. H said this isn't the 80s. Social media has made the world so close. He said that people he has talked to knows what WWE is looking for and will do the smart thing.
Dave asked a third question, about Matt Riddle.
H said they worked him out. He said he is all about second chances but a guy has to prove himself. H felt he had promise and he helped get him taken care of in the scene and cultivated. He has done very well with that. What the future holds he doesn't know but he is a very talented kid. He has a bright future. We will see where it goes.
Raj Giri was the last caller. He was asked about any talk of airing a Takeover Special on USA.
H said that there are conversations about where things live in the ecosystem of the world. He said that when you have a Network and are trying to create value, you have to weigh that heavily. NXT has potential to be a lot of things. Where it ends up is not totally his decision but he likes that it's an exclusive WWE Network product. The Network is evolving and he is focused on opportunities to add value to it. He talked about how, after all of the call ups, NXT is in a rebuilding mode. He reiterated that NXT adds value to the WWE Network.
He was asked what is the component that determines whethere a talent has to go through NXT first.
H said that he had a conversation with AJ Styles about it and he said that everyone should get acclimated in NXT before coming up to the main roster due to the learning curve of what WWE does vs. any other company. He said that the gap is so big that he doesn't expect it to happen often, if at all.
H closed by thanking us. He said that he gets that there is a lot of questions and it's hard for him to keep up as well. He invited us to reach out to PR when we have questions, which of course we do here.
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