Rumor Killer Regarding Triple H's Future With WWE
There's no truth to the speculation that Triple H (real name Paul Levesque) is even considering leaving WWE, according to a new report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer. WWE has released 80 wrestlers since the start of 2021, many of whom were built up as stars on the NXT brand — which Triple H has overseen since its inception — before struggling to find their footing on the main roster. And each time a group of stars is unceremoniously cut from the company, fans online start speculating about "The Game" leaving to start his own wrestling promotion.
Meltzer reported that the idea is complete fiction. He wrote on the Wrestling Observer message board this week, "He has serious health issues nor does he have the money to be able to start a company. This is much to do about nothing." Back in September, WWE broke the news that he had suffered a cardiac event caused by a genetic heart issue and had to undergo a procedure at Yale New Haven Hospital. Shawn Michaels has been running the NXT brand in his absence, though Levesque was spotted in a video early this week with other WWE officials as they walked through the construction site of WWE's new headquarters building.
Since mid-September, NXT has undergone drastic changes under the rebranding of NXT 2.0. On top of changes to the presentation, a greater emphasis has been placed on homegrown talent developed at the WWE Performance Center. Triple H spoke about the changes prior to NXT 2.0's debut during SummerSlam weekend.
"It's a funny thing, people talk about shifting. It never really shifted," he said. "So if you go back and look at the hiring process, (it's) not the hiring process of a television show, it's a hiring process of who we're looking to train and make WWE Superstars. Long term. If you go back and look at it, it hasn't shifted. It's been the same process. I don't negate anybody from a standpoint of, 'I wrestled some independent stuff,' 'Well all right, you're out!' That's not a factor to me, but it's also not the factor that makes me go, 'Okay, you're in.' When they get in here today, if somebody goes in and hits the ropes perfectly every time, has every roll perfect, does all the stuff, makes it look easy because they've been training, that's not really showing me anything. You should be able to, if you've been training, if you've been working indies you should be able to do all of that.
"To me, what is the potential long-term? What is that potential? And are they willing to do the work to live up to that potential. Vince used to always say, 'We're a variety show' — we are. In some manner, you need a little bit of everything," he continued. "That's the key to all of this. But people hear one statement and then make one (assumption). 'Now it's that. No, now it's this.' It always has been."