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WWE executive/wrestler Triple H held an NXT media conference call Thursday morning to discuss next week’s “NXT Takeover: London” Network special, the State of NXT, and other topics…
– Recap of Triple H’s Opening Remarks.
– Triple H was asked by Jason Powell of Prowrestling.net if placing an hour of NXT in the three-hour Raw window would help alleviate obvious issues with the Raw brand right now.
Hunter said he does not think it’s a solution because he thinks it would water down NXT and then it’s just another third hour of programming without any specialness over time.
“If the thought would be to do it there that night, then you’re just doing a third hour. Then, it’s not NXT, then it’s not different and not a different feel and flavor. Is there a way to do that? Maybe. I think at the end of the day, three hours – no matter how you do it – is extremely difficult. I’ll be the first guy t0 admit that if I go to a movie and it’s longer than two hours, then I’m looking at my watch, no matter how good it is.”
Hunter then turned the mirror on what WWE can do to address three-hour Raws, while also looking at injuries exacerbating the situation.
“We just have to become more disciplined and more Creative with how we do things, and how we operate the shows,” Hunter said. “We’ve had some unfortunate situations with injuries and everything else. It’s on us to be more creative and come up with a better format; a better show. We hear people’s frustrations and in a lot of ways feel the same way. It’s fixing it. And, trying to fix it. It is what it is. How we fix it, we’re not 100 percent sure yet. But, we will get there. Trust me.”
Later in the conference call, Hunter addressed the idea of NXT call-ups being a solution to strengthen the roster. Hunter said he does not see that as the panacea for Raw.
“The thing that I hate doing is, ‘Well, there’s a lot of injuries right now, so we’re going to pull this guy up,’ but then the injured guys will come back and then we’re not sure what we’ll do – now we have too many guys for the space,” Hunter said.
“I hate taking a guy as talented as Finn Balor and saying, ‘You’re the band-aid to hold us over until all these other guys come back and then we’ll see from there.’ If we don’t have that gameplan for when we call these guys up, especially for a Finn Balor, then it’s not the right time. You need to have something in your mind, and hopefully a long-term plan in place that gets them to where you want them to be. At least that would be the goal for me when guys come up.”
Hunter was later asked about cutting the extra hour off Raw, going back to two-hour Raws, and placing the hour on a different night for an NXT show, hoping that NBC Universal will still see the same value for a re-purposed third hour.
Hunter’s take was wanting to keep NXT special on the Network, like the “Sopranos” airing on a pay TV channel, and try to grow the Network so that it’s seen by the same number of eyeballs as a cable TV show. However, he said that if one of the departments in WWE Corporate saw things differently over time to where NXT on cable TV could provide value to WWE, then he would be open to it. However, right now, Hunter believes NXT best serves WWE on the Network, especially to keep subscribers locked in to the Network because of its weekly popularity.
Later in the conference, Hunter was asked whether taking NXT elements and dropping them on Raw or Smackdown could help improve the main roster product.
Hunter said he thinks it’s slowly happening and certain things are “boiling up” over time, but it’s a “fine line” of the main roster being like Pop Music and NXT being like Alternative Music. Asked for a specific by reporter Scott Fishman, Hunter pointed to how the women’s wrestlers are presented.
“It’s tough to over-see every component of the show for anybody. Even if you want to change things, there are certain things that slip back into the old ways we used to do things. Or, little bits and pieces that change. Even with talent, their mindsets change. They perform differently; they’re intimidated sometimes. Things take time to change.”
Hunter closed his comment by doubling back to the underlying issue – three-hour Raws. “The stuff with women – the ability to sometimes slow down in the way we tell our stories and promote things better,” Hunter said. “That’s just difficult to do when we have three hours. It’s really easy to promote something coming up in two weeks and not have to give it away. But, if I had six hours to write in-between there, it’s tough to put that aside, not do it, and just promote it for a little bit. It’s a whole lot easier to say than to do.”
– Hunter also talked about being “wide open to finding talent anywhere.” He said he wants the best talent in the world to find their way to WWE.
Hunter said “90 percent” of his conversations with William Regal are about talent scouting, such as reviewing indies tapes, talking about talent from different independent promotions, and keeping tabs on the “undercurrent” of the pro wrestling industry. He said they are paying attention to the big indies promotions in the U.K., as well as EVOLVE in the U.S., and New Japan.
“I hope to have relationships with the promotions that do business the right now – in a similar mindset to what I consider the right way and the right mindset for the business,” Hunter said. “I’m open to having working relationships with them and open relationships. I think it’s a very exciting time for the business and to be a young man or woman thinking I want to be a professional wrestler to step into the business and find your way. There’s a lot of room for people to get experience. And, trust me, we are looking everywhere. Our eyes are open at all times. There’s very few people we don’t know about.”
– As for the current talent roster, Hunter stressed the importance of the NXT roster working in front of different crowds, whether in the U.S. or internationally with the U.K. Tour. Hunter also talked about how NXT wrestlers have been received on main roster house shows.
“That experience is just so valuable to talent. I really can’t express to them how valuable it is,” Hunter said. “I’ve had talent from NXT that are just huge over for NXT and then they’ve gone to a couple of markets for WWE where NXT is not seen heavily. You know, the economy is worse. (Fans) don’t have the Network. They don’t have exposure there. And, nobody knew what they were doing. It’s eye-opening to them that all of a sudden they have to work a totally different way and tell a totally different story to get the fans involved. Everybody that has the ability to have that experience is going to be a much better performer down the line for us.”
– Regarding 2016 NXT touring plans, Hunter said they are having internal talks about returning to the U.K. for music festivals, returning to the U.K. on another tour, appearing at more U.S. festivals, and other international locations. A lot of it ties back to music. “That music part of it is a highspot,” Hunter said.
– Hunter concluded the conference call by hyping the WWE Performance Center. Included will be a third Performance Center “All-Access” event during Royal Rumble Weekend in January, along with the NXT TV tapings at the University of Central Florida gym.
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