WWE Chief Operating Officer and 14-time WWE World Champion Paul "Triple H" Levesque recently spoke to Newsweek.com about various topics, including the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, Bill Goldberg's victory over Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016, and the possibility of Joanie "Chyna" Laurer being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The U.K. championship tournament news is a big step in WWEās market reach in the country. Is the start of WWE creating more localized championships and events in other territories?
The WWE Network allows us to do things that werenāt possible for us to do before, the world becomes a smaller and smaller place because of that, you connect to everyone at the same time.
Weāve been in the U.K. for 30 years, weāve built up a demand for the product here. To come in and super-serve them, this puts our foot on the ground. It wonāt be our home away from home; it will be our home. This solidifies that.
How will the U.K. championship work? Will it be defended within Britain at partner shows like Revolution Pro, or will it become part of WWEās television output like the other championships?
Weāre seeing what this will become. Itās not a science yet. The hope is it becomes its own weekly show, based out of the U.K., with U.K. talent. Those talents will still be able to perform within the [independent companies] RevPros, ICWs and Progressās. As those talents are working [in the U.K.] and moving up [in the industry], weāre helping RevPro, ICW and Progress to grow and help cultivate their talent pool as well. Before it was a pipedream that youād make it beyond the U.K. or the indie scene to the WWE. Now thereās a clear path to do it.
Some fans already feel there is too much WWE product to keep up with on a weekly basis; you have seven hours currently between Raw, SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live. Are you concerned about viewer burnout with a potential U.K.-based show?
Itās funny when people say āthereās too much content, I canāt watch all of it.ā A lot of movies come out; I canāt watch all of them, I catch up with them down the line.
Whatās great about WWE and the Network is the variety; Raw and SmackDown are like the pop music charts, the product everyone generally loves, the catchall. Separate from that, NXT and 205 Live , and hopefully the U.K. Championship, whatever that becomes, you begin to find the niche that you like best. That variety makes it great. At the end of the day, itās all sitting on the WWE Network [to watch at your leisure].
How does the move into producing content in the U.K. bring WWE closer to hosting major pay-per-views like WrestleMania or SummerSlam in Britain?
We do 500 live events every year. Putting that schedule together is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle; I know, because I work on live events too. Itās a massive undertaking because youāre not just talking about the pay-per-view here, but live television shows, the Raw and SmackDown that follow the event.
Is it our goal to expand that and vary that? Yes. Weāll run 30 live events in the U.K. in 2017. We want to do more things here. This tournament is putting our foot on the ground and doing more here within the market.
WWE made history by having female wrestlers Sasha Banks and Charlotte headline Octoberās Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. They were billed as part of a triple main event but WWE faced criticism for not touting them as going on last. UFC has had success in billing Ronda Rousey as its main event, for example. Do you think that should have been done differently?
When you say youāre going to market one thing only, it limits your fan base. If we built a pay-per-view based on one match, our fan base arenāt interested in knowing about one match and not knowing the rest of the card. They want it to be [stacked] top to bottom, they donāt want sleepers, they donāt want down matches. They want it to be a whopper across the board.
Itās tough to go āthis is your main event, this is the one match weāre pushing.ā Even with the guys, historically, nothing is a one-match driven card. So I think a bit of that criticism is unfair.
Iām thrilled the female talent have headlined Raw, headlined pay-per-views; their name value is selling out arenas, theyāre selling merchandise. Theyāre doing all these things like everybody else. Thereās no difference to me. We promote them the way we promote any other match; if itās the match people are most interested in, thatās what we promote the most. If thereās a mix of what has the most interest in the card, thatās how weāre going to promote it.
A pioneering WWE woman, Chyna, died this year. Her mother and fans have campaigned for her to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017. I imagine conversations have begun for the April ceremony. Has she been discussed?
I think itās been brought up. But thereās a lot of people in a long line that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame that will be in the Hall of Fame over time. Thatās a conversation that will happen. Weāll see where it goes. But there are a lot of people and you can only put so many people in per year.
I donāt think her passing signifies any change of her accomplishments. Her accomplishments are documented and were massive in our industry. Nothing has changed. Sheās a part of the Hall of Fame conversation, but she would have been anyway.
The end of Survivor Series in November was controversial: the unstoppable Brock Lesnar, who has brutalized some of the biggest stars in WWE, losing to a returning Goldberg in under two minutes. Again, that result has received some criticism.
People never saw it coming. When you shock them, theyāre angry that you shocked them. When you donāt shock them, they say itās too predictable.
Is that the right direction to take with him?
I guess weāll see. Would you watch him againā¦? I donāt think weāve caused any damage. Iāve seen Brock Lesnar get beat in the UFC, too. It didnāt hurt his value when he [returned] to WWE. You make the best creative decisions [based on] where you want to get to.
You recently congratulated your mother-in-law Linda McMahon [Triple H is married to Stephanie McMahon, also a WWE executive] on being named the head of U.S. President-elect Donald Trumpās small business administration. Does she have the qualifications to serve in this role?
My in-laws, Linda and [Vince McMahon, WWEās CEO], took a small New England-based business that they bought, that they were not given, and turned it into a global empire. Thatās a pretty good qualification. They had all the trials and tribulations, bumps in the road along the way. She has a lot of experience with that. I believe that sheās very well qualified. I think sheāll do a great job. If nothing else, she will put her heart and soul into it.
Donald Trump has close tied with WWE and the McMahons, heās in the Hall of Fame and has appeared in storylines. Are you hoping to snag him for an appearance at WrestleMania 33 as a sitting president?
I have a feeling his schedule might be packed⦠but who knows? Never say never in the WWE.
Leave a Comment ()