Triple H on NXT’s Growth, Episode on USA Network, and His Backstage Job

Website SportingNews held a recent interview with Tripe H discussing NXT’s growth, NXT’s episode this week on the USA Network, and things he has learned over the years working in a backstage role.

On the topic of NXT’s growth as a brand, Triple H stated he is happy at the progress NXT has made over the years and the organic nature of its growth. He also mentioned the brand has suffered setbacks over the years due to its developmental status but he always ends up being surprised at how well the brand rebounds every time.

“Look, I’m always surprised. I don’t want to say surprised because it’s pleasantly surprising. You planning for it to be great and you hope that it is and then you’re pleasantly surprised that it is. You want to put on the best product possible. I think, for me, I look at the Performance Center and the talent there and I look at the talent that we have coming in and I just try to say what would I want to see if I’m a kid and if I put myself that way. At the end of the day, I’m just a fan, right? A fan of this industry and the business of what we do and I say I really like that talent. I’d love to see him face this talent. I there would be a really cool way to do it but doing this and that’s how we put it together. What’s been nice about it is even when we’ve had setbacks, I think the thing that’s been probably, if there’s been one thing that’s surprising is the ability to continue to just let it evolve organically on its own.”

On the topic of this week’s episode of NXT shown on the USA Network, Triple H stated it was USA Network who pitched the idea for NXT to be shown on television as part of their “WWE Week” themed event. He also mentioned this week’s episode being a great way to get more people aware of and act as a sampler for the brand.

“It wasn’t like we went to them and pitched it. This was a “we would like to do Monday ‘RAW,’ Tuesday ‘SmackDown,’ Wednesday we’ll do ‘NXT.'” When they sent me the email, our television studio, to ask if I would be interested in doing this, I was like, is this a trick question? Yeah, I’ll put “NXT” on USA for a week and expose it to a much, much, much larger audience than what we have on the (WWE) network.

While the WWE Network will always be NXT’s home in some way for sure, this is a great opportunity for a lot of people to see a product they’ve never really had an opportunity to see before other than clips and bits and pieces. I’m sure they’ve heard a lot about it and I’m hoping a lot of people will tune in and sample it for the first time because it’s different. It’s an alternative and it’s a different flavor and I’m hoping people will sample it.”

On the topic of things he has learned over the years from working backstage, Triple H stated the biggest lesson he has learned is how people’s tastes in wrestling change over the years and the need for the WWE to constantly evolve in order to meet these new tastes and remain successful.

“This industry, what we do, is fluid. It’s constantly changing and I feel like you’re never going to stop learning. The generation that watches right now is different than a generation that watched five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago. It’s totally different. So, you’re constantly learning, you’re constantly having to put your finger on the pulse of what works today. It’s like music in a way and it’s the closest thing that I can relate what we do.

When you make music, when it’s really good, it stays classic forever. That song will stay classic forever. But a song that’s classic today from 30 years ago, if you wrote that song today, would die. It would be miserable. No one would like it. It’s changed. People’s tastes have changed. People’s acceptance of things has changed. Everything changes on a constant basis so you have to stay ahead of that and the people that are open to that and can continue to change and are willing to change stay consistently successful. The ones that aren’t are one-hit wonders or are successful for a period of time and then it goes away for them. It’s constantly learning and staying open to that because, I think, the moment that you start thinking I know what I’m doing, you just do this and it’s good; you’re done.”