Triple H speaks to media ahead of NXT Takeover Portland! Below is full coverage of the call, which goes live at 11 AM EST
- Right out of the gate, Triple H is asked about AEW beating them. Jason Powell asks him to go beyond "marathon, not a sprint." Triple H says it was just like 8 Mile because his promo got stolen and now he doesn't have much to say lol
- Triple H says he thinks NXT has the best bell-to-bell wrestling on TV and thinks they'll get the numbers and demos where they need to be. They are happy with the trajectory
- Triple H blames the NET for blowing the removal of "women's" from "NXT Women's Championship." There wasn't an edict, they just didn't want it to have to be specified all the time and beat people over the head with it
- HHH says Mania is a week long event because WrestleMania is already long, and adding NXT to that makes it tougher. He doesn't want to make Mania longer as it. They're going to do something special with NXT coming out of WrestleMania, too.
- Triple H puts over the talent of A-Kid after he's asked about him.
- HHH: "This card was debated on heavily, and could have been bigger." He didn't want to overload the card and cause diminishing returns.
- Triple H says he wants to leave some flexibility on the rosters and doesn't see anything wrong with it on occasion. He doesn't want to cannibalize the brand. If NXT loses roster members to Raw and Smackdown, they have a deep bench to pull from.
- Triple H says he doesn't envy Simone Johnson's position. The news of her joining WWE is everywhere. He compares Simone's position to Charlotte's, and says she'll always have to deal with accusations of nepotism no matter what.
- HHH says Simone isn't there because she's the Rock's daughter, it's because she has passion. She helps set up and take down rings and is treated like everyone else. "The spot is hers to lose or keep."
- Ongoing discussions are always had with Paul Heyman and Bruce Prichard about wanting to pluck talent from NXT. They have their moment in NXT, but the PC is trying to prepare people to have long-sustained success.
- Triple H says doing a Halftime Heat show would have been a conflict of interest considering Fox is their partner now. He would have loved to have done it, but he says this year's halftime show was "spectacular."
- Triple H doesn't want to see Shayna Baszler around NXT because he doesn't want to get bit. Whether or not she's on Raw full-time will play out. As far as he's concerned, Shayna is an NXT talent until they make a deal for her to go somewhere else.
- Triple H was happy he was able to surprise people with the Killer Kross and Timothy Thatcher news. He says if anyone has seen them perform, they'll know why WWE signed them.
- Full Sail is one of WWE's most valued partners, says HHH. He isn't even sure if he has a contractual obligation with Full Sail. It's more of a family relationship and he sees it as being a strength, and a learning experience. They're not just training wrestlers.
- Triple H hasn't asked anyone about Matt Riddle vs. Brock Lesnar. Vince McMahon hasn't expressed his disapproval to him about anything that Riddle said. Triple H confirms there was a conversation between Riddle and Lesnar. He doesn't care if they're working or legit.
- "Brock is of the mindset that if you write checks you better be able to cash them. Matt writes checks he can cash"- Triple H
