Triple H Talks WWE vs. AEW, NXT 2.0, Developing Stars and More

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Triple H welcomes the challenge that new competition in the form of AEW continues to bring to WWE.

The WWE legend told The Athletic’s Chris Vannini a more robust wrestling landscape “makes everybody sharper.”

“You get lazy if you’re all there is and everybody goes about their business,” he said. “The end of the day, it’ll make us better, and we’ll all be better for it. All those things have forced us to be in a better place right now.”

Having played a critical role behind the scenes in the growth of NXT, the 52-year-old also discussed how the NXT 2.0 era isn’t so much a transformation but rather a return to the brand’s roots:

“Then we said, OK, let’s reboot it and go back to what we originally were. … There’s a lot that’s just so fresh and new. People used to say the constant churn of NXT was a negative. The churn is what’s great about it. The people here now, hopefully a year and a half from now, none of them are even in NXT anymore, and the ones that make it will be on to Raw and SmackDown. That’s the magic. It truly is the developmental league, the college football, Triple-A baseball. Yeah, they’re not all quite ready to be in that major-league role yet, but you’re discovering them before they become household names.”

That aligns with WWE’s larger goal of establishing homegrown stars who not only excel in the ring but also gain crossover appeal.

“You’re trying to build generational stars that last. It takes time,” Triple H said to Vannini. “It’s a slow and steady progression, and they’re getting there. Becky Lynch, Roman, they’re becoming household names.”

More than 80 performers were released by WWE in 2021. Beyond cutting some overhead costs, the company was clearly pivoting in a new direction because many of the wrestlers let go were cutting their teeth in NXT. Others had been promoted from NXT and seemed to have bright futures but featured little on Raw or SmackDown.

But Triple H alluded to how a level of roster churn wasn’t all that uncommon once before.

Following the demise of WCW, WWE wasn’t the only game in town but was by far the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. As a result, many of the top wrestlers signed with WWE and have stuck around for years.

That wasn’t the case when the then-WWF had genuine rivals in ECW and WCW. The company had to evolve in order to keep up, and that meant cycling in new talent.

Consider some of the headliners from WrestleMania IX in 1993 and look at how much had changed by WrestleMania XIV in 1998. The Attitude Era was in full swing by 1998 and the product was almost unrecognizable from what fans got five years earlier.

The emergence of AEW isn’t threatening WWE’s position as the top dog but has become a viable alternative for both in-ring talent looking for a new challenge and fans who grew tired of the status quo.

As a result, WWE can no longer rest on its laurels.