WWE Chief Creative Officer Paul Levesque, aka former WWE Champion Triple H, recently explained why he finds it important to work with other promotions like TNA. Just 10 years ago hearing that WWE is working with TNA in a mutually beneficial way would have blown everyone’s mind. They would have immediately assumed that WWE bought out TNA like they did with WCW.
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However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. TNA is currently going through quite a resurgence as of late. They have a few stars who could very well become the faces of the industry very soon and some of them have been seen on NXT.
Under Vince McMahon working with other promotions was extremely rare, but under Triple H WWE has been doing it a lot. At the post-SummerSlam press conference, Triple H explained why WWE has been partnering with TNA in the last few years. Triple H stated the following:
“I think, as we’ve said before, we’re open for business, whether that’s what you see in NXT with TNA, whether that’s different international opportunities. We’re going to look at what’s best for WWE, but how does that benefit us, how does it benefit them? How does it benefit us? I think there’s opportunities.
“If you look at NXT, a lot of those kids are young and what they really need is repetitions. They need opportunities to go do, we can only create so many of them. So when we have opportunities to partner with others, help their business at the same [time], get them on a platform that’s seen by so many more people. Use the power and strength of our brand across social media to help them.”
– H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Triple H Explains His Approach to WWE ‘Being Open for Business’
Triple H continued to explain that one of the big reasons WWE works with rival promotions is a simple one. To improve wrestling and wrestlers as a whole. Not just in WWE or in this case TNA, but all wrestling. Like he said wrestlers need repetition to improve and having someone on the way up face someone new helps their skills and when that person is someone much more experienced it helps even more.
An example of this in NXT is when an experienced wrestler like Dolph Ziggler, Becky Lynch, Finn Bálor or the other main roster Superstars who have come to NXT. It allows the NXT wrestlers to learn and grow by working with new people. This is true for the people from TNA coming to NXT as well. Recently two of those big names are Jordynne Grace, who wrestled for the NXT Women’s Championship, and internet sensation Joe Hendry.
Grace is the TNA Knockouts World champion and has appeared a few times in WWE/NXT. First, she was in the Women’s Royal Rumble match and came back later for a feud with Roxanne Perez. Hendry has also appeared a few times in NXT. First as a part of TNA’s entrants into the NXT Battle Royal and then on a few other occasions since. When you say his name, then he appears, so it is WWE’s fault he keeps showing up in NXT.
Triple H went on to explain that having cross-promotion appearances is important because it fills a void that has been missing from wrestling for a long time. Back in the day, there were territories that allowed wrestlers to have opportunities to face new and different opponents.
The wrestler would move from territory to territory and get reps. He went on to explain why he wanted to bring back that missing part of the territory system. Triple H continued during the press conference:
“The world is different now. There aren’t territories where you’re out there working a couple of 100 days a year and I don’t think anybody would want to. But, we all did it, but it’s how everybody got to where they got to and how they got good and how they learned this. So we have to create that and give those opportunities to other people to grow and to have that.”
– H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Triple H goes on to explain that the only way to get good and learn how to adapt to the crowd and make sudden changes is with reps. Going out there as many times as possible and learning what works and what doesn’t.
TNA isn’t the only promotion WWE has been working with. They have let some of their Superstars work with Japanese promotions and GCW for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport event.
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As it doesn’t seem like this partnership will end anytime soon, who do you hope to see appear in TNA and WWE? What other promotions do you hope to see WWE work with? What do you think of Triple H’s attitude about working with other companies? Is working with AEW the only one off-limits? Will it stay off-limits? Let us know on social media who from any promotion you would like to see have a match with a WWE or NXT Superstar.
SOURCE: SummerSlam press conference, Wrestling Inc.
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