Triple H has made the transition from legendary in-ring performer, to high ranking WWE executive. He currently works as the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE, and he’s recruited some impressive names over the past few years.
But Triple H hasn’t just recruited talent, he’s also groomed them and helped them become better through his work in NXT. Vince McMahon has a bit of a reputation for being a “body guy” and the general perception is that he likes bigger wrestlers. Triple H recently spoke to Fox Sports, and he says that he tries to break the mold of what Vince McMahon likes when he signs talent.
“My selection process is different. Yes, 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.”
It seems that Triple H has been going out of his way to present different types of talent to Vince McMahon, and he indicated that they’ve been receiving generally favorable reactions from the boss himself.
“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. I sometimes wonder if Bray Wyatt would have been put in front of him 10 years ago. I don’t know that he would of. That doesn’t mean that Vince wouldn’t have loved him back then.”
There’s truly no denying that there’s been a huge shift in the perception of what a WWE Superstar can be recently. Just a few years ago it seemed highly unlikely that guys like Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and perhaps even AJ Styles would be given a push in WWE.
But Finn Balor was the first person to win the Universal Title and Kevin Owens is the longest reigning Universal Champion. AJ Styles carried SmackDown Live for a few months as the WWE Champion, and Samoa Joe looks like he’s well on his way to winning championship gold.
If you’re happy to see these guys finally get a chance to shine in the spotlight, it sounds like Triple H is the man you should thank.
