Triple H Shoots Down Mickie James Rumor, More On Hulk Hogan Possibly Returning To WWE

Next weekend is going to be a big one for WWE and NXT. Saturday night the NXT crew will head to Canada for NXT Takeover: Toronto, and Survivor Series will take place on Sunday. To promote NXT Takeover: Toronto, Triple H held a media conference call, and during the call he put a Mickie James rumor to rest.

Mickie James is set to face Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship at Takeover, and it will be Mickie’s first match in a WWE ring in several years. Shortly after it was announced a Mickie James rumor started circulating claiming that Mickie was only asked to work the match because WWE couldn’t get Trish Stratus due to her pregnancy. According to Triple H, that’s not true, and Mickie James was the one that they wanted to face Asuka.

“I’ve seen a lot of rumors out there of other people that were attempted to be grabbed for this spot, and I can assure you that’s not the case. As we got closer to Takeover, I wanted more time for some of out other women to percolate, and grow as performers. I looked at Mickie James as somebody with a very high skill level, that I knew could handle it. She was somebody that I wanted to do this, and I felt like she and Asuka would tear it up. I want to reinforce that Mickie was not the consolation prize in any way. She was the person we went at.”

Triple H also shot down claims that Shawn Michaels is the new Head of the WWE Performance Center, and you can get more on that below.

Related: Triple H Says Shawn Michaels Is Not The Head Of The WWE Performance Center, Corgan Settles Lawsuit

Hulk Hogan’s daughter Brooke told TMZ last week that her father has been receiving calls about WrestleMania. However, Hulk Hogan recently spoke to Eric Bischoff, and he denied that he’s been in contact with the company.

“Brooke’s running around on TMZ and made the statement about me and wrestling and WrestleMania. For the record, she needs the big boot to the head. I haven’t talked to anybody about WrestleMania.”

To add fuel to the fire, PWInsider is reporting that Hulk Hogan was working in New York a few weeks ago, and there’s speculation that he may have been filming content for WWE. It’s also being reported that the two sides are talking, and trying to figure out how they can work together again.