SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Appearing on ESPN’s SportsNation yesterday to promote NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, Triple H discussed several topics, including if he would wrestle again.
Speaking to Arda Ocal (who worked in WWE under the name “Kyle Edwards), Triple H responded he would want one more match yet also said that he didn’t need to have his last match, his retirement match, happen at WrestleMania.
Responding to Ocal, Triple H said, “In my mind, it’s not a big deal to me. I guess maybe I’ll regret that one day, I don’t know, cuz [Ric] Flair tells me, ‘You’ll regret it, you’ll regret it!'” He further stated that, “Maybe if I hadn’t found the other side of that, the NXT side of it, the production side of it that I enjoy so much, maybe I would feel differently about that.”
He continued, “If I was to say, ‘Would I like to do one more match?,’ Yes. The WrestleMania factor is less a factor to me than anything else.” He then went on to list some places he would like to have one more match in, including Madison Square Garden, Allstate Arena, Staples Center, the 02 in London, and Japan, among others.
Other topics discussed included the WrestleMania matches he is most asked about; his rivalry and matches with Shawn Michaels; the WrestleMania 34 match with him & Stephanie McMahon vs. Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle (Stephanie McMahon’s first WrestleMania match); and his favorite WrestleMania entrances.
SportsNation streams on ESPN+.
(Hazelwood’s Analysis: Triple H, when not asked about specific details regarding rosters/signings/etc., is very affable and personable in interviews like this one with Ocal. If it makes Triple H feel any better, I don’t know how many fans would actually clamor to see another 45-minute, dragged out Mania match involving him. OK, I’m exaggerating a little on the time, but we all know what to expect from his matches, particularly the last few years. I also wonder if he doesn’t necessarily care about a retirement match at Mania considering his record on the show is basically Johnny Gargano’s TakeOver record, which is not good.)
I’d like to see Triple H have two more matches. One at ‘Mania against AJ Styles, but I’d also kind of like to see him wrestle in NXT against Adam Cole.