By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE executive/wrestler Triple H says it's been a challenge training for his return match against Sting at WrestleMania 31 on Sunday.

"I got in the ring for the first time the other day and fell down for the first time and it felt like my body exploded when I landed. It takes a little bit," Hunter told USA Today's "For the Win" publication.

Hunter, a future top executive for the company, then talked derisively about the concept of time off for WWE wrestlers.

"You can train, but its one of those things where ‘experts’ of our business that have never done it will say ‘Oh, if they gave guys time off it would be better for them’ or whatever, but it’s honestly, having done this for 20 plus years - time off is your worst enemy. It really is, it makes it so much harder to do this," Hunter said.

"When you’re doing it all the time it’s like a callus, you’re doing it and it doesn’t bother you. You’re functioning and you can do it every night. when you haven’t done it, getting in there and doing the simplest thing, you’re like 'Oh my God, why am I doing this again?' You’ve got to get yourself back in the process of getting back in the ring, and the hardest [part] of doing that is - it’s easy to go through that stuff when you’ve got 80,000 people screaming at you, it’s not so easy when you’re in a warehouse with a ring set up all by yourself. It hurts a whole lot more."

Hunter, 45, last wrestled at the Payback PPV in June when The Shield beat Evolution in a match that led to Seth Rollins turning heel to join Hunter's Authority faction. Hunter said he trains year-round, but it's different than being in ring shape.

"Once WrestleMania comes around, whether I know I’m going to be working or not working - which every year I have been, but I never really know until it comes closer, I usually start around 16 weeks out," Hunter said. "So somewhere around the holidays or right before the holidays I start really tightening up my diet and gearing myself up towards getting back in the ring."

Overall, Hunter's comments to USA Today represent a shift on a potential talent rotation system. Earlier this year during a wrestling media conference call, Hunter made it sound like he was open to the idea of at the very least using NXT as a soft landing for WWE stars to get a breather from being on the road full-time.

"I'm not saying it's ever going be on the same level, but I think there's an opportunity when guys have been on the main roster for six, seven years and you need a bit of a refresh, hopefully it's not seen as a demotion. Come down here, work a program, do what you do with a little bit looser guidelines, and go back up fresh again," Hunter said in February, which now just sounds like a breather from main roster WWE Creative.

[ LINK: Full USA Today Interview HERE ]

Caldwell's Analysis: Disappointing comments from a future top executive just elected to the Board of Directors. Hunter equating his training schedule for one or two matches per year to the full-time schedule wrestling 150-250 times per year does not hold up. The argument for a talent rotation system is not based on wrestlers sitting around eating bon-bons on their couch for two months while off TV. Whether it's using the Performance Center as a soft landing or wrestlers staying busy in their local gym and consulting with Creative during their time off, it's about a break from the physical, mental, and emotional grind of the WWE schedule, while staying physically fit to be ready to return and knock the rust off taking bumps within a few matches. That's what house shows are for.

NFL players have an off-season, but they have to keep their bodies in great physical shape during that time off to be ready for the grind of the next season. But, during that time off, they're not hitting each other in pads, going through the mental grind of studying a gameplan or game tape for the next opponent before flying out for a road game, or going through the emotional toll of a 60-minute sporting event on the biggest stage. They might need a few practices to knock the rust off, but that's what training camp is for. If a talent rotation system is every going to be implemented, it appears that someone or some people from outside the wrestling bubble will have to step in and recommend change for the betterment of wrestlers.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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