Triple H was interviewed by NBC Sports, to promote the upcoming NXT Takeover in Orlando on the night before WrestleMania. NXT is widely known as Hunter's baby, so he spoke at length about all that goes into scouting new talent, how "the look" has changed over the years, and how one big, slow Mongolian kid caught his eye during a tryout when no one was willing to give him a second look.
Apparently, it's not just the look or the athletic ability that determines whether or not you get signed by Triple H. Sometimes it's more about how you appear to handle adversity. That's why WWE tryouts can be so brutal.
“It’s really easy to be nice and be the perfect professional when you feel great, but when you’re on the verge of puking in a barrel and you’re exhausted and there’s someone barking at you to do more and the guy next to you just fell on you because he’s at the same place you are, do you help pick him up or do you curse at him and go about your own business?”
Triple H continued, giving a specific scenario for context:
“For example, there’s a guy that I hired in China that everybody on the team who was over there didn’t put this kid on the list and when we went through the list at the end of the day of who we’re going to offer an opportunity to come and train with the WWE I was like, ‘Where’s this kid?’ and everyone was like, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ I was like, ‘No, where is he?’ He was heavy and a Mongolian wrestler, so he’s athletic but he’s heavier and in some ways he’s not anything we would look for, but he worked his butt off. He was always last, but he never quit man. He just went.”
Of course, there's another person that Trips has to keep in mind when scouting--Vince McMahon. If Vince doesn't see something he likes in a guy (or girl), regardless of what Hunter thinks, it may not matter. Luckily for Triple H, Vince's tastes have expanded in recent years.
“I understand what Vince likes and what Vince sees in an ideal archetype performer, but I also know him well enough to know that he likes a lot of different archetypes, so I’m not going to give him one; I’m going to give him a little bit of everything. He’s going to see a Bray Wyatt and go (Vince voice) ‘That’s great!’ He’s going to see a Braun Strowman and go ‘Ah yeah, that’s my wheelhouse right there. I love that.’ He’s going to see Finn Balor and hear the girls going nuts and then see the paint and go ‘Geez look at that, I love that!’ That’s something that I don’t think would have been put in front of him eight years ago.”
You can read the entire interview at this link.
