Triple H goes in depth on NXT UK and the future of WWE

There has been no hotter brand in sports entertainment in recent years than NXT.

The brain-child of Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE’s supposed developmental brand has evolved into its own distinctive entity, now serving as far more than a place for talent to smooth rough edges before being propelled onto Raw or Smackdown.

As such, NXT is now global in its own right, fast becoming a destination for independent stars such as Adam Cole, Ricochet and Johnny Gargano, and not a mere stop on the journey.

And amid a thriving global wrestling scene, WWE’s youngest brand is expanding its reach under the watchful eye of Levesque.

The 14-time world heavyweight champion and executive vice president of WWE, Levesque has led NXT’s ascent with a watchful eye, steady hand and no lack of clarity.

Now the man whose on-screen persona entitles him ‘The King of Kings’ is expanding the NXT portfolio with NXT UK, a new standard-bearer for UK wrestling, featuring a host of already recognisable stars including Tyler Bate, Trent Severn, Toni Storm, Dave Mastiff and crown jewel, WWE UK champion Pete Dunne.

Set to air weekly on the WWE Network at 8pm on Wednesday evenings – aimed towards a British audience – it is a major step as part of WWE’s "global localisation strategy" and one that Levesque is both delighted to have made and enthused about what comes next.

“I’m excited. It’s exciting to get going its been something that we’ve been working at for a long time," he told Mirror Sport, a just a few hours after landing in London on a flight from the US.

"The talent pool here is so deep and so good that its been something that I’ve been wanting to put out in a bigger way to the world. I’ve been really excited about this product for some time and I’m excited to be able to show it to the world finally.

“There’s amazing talent here. I just want to put that out to the world. I want them to be able to show that to the world, so whatever the best way is to do that to the world is how I want it to be.”

Levesque, now 49, has enjoyed a 20-plus year career in WWE and has seen the industry undergo vast changes during his run. Five days before our meeting, ‘The Game’ donned his knee pads again for another encounter with The Undertaker, in front of 70,000 in Melbourne, Australia at WWE’s Super ShowDown; they will face off again next month, allied respectively by Shawn Michaels and Kane, at the company’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.

Increasingly his role in recent years has been behind the scenes however, revolving around all things NXT, from the cultivation of the brand, to the recruitment of new talent – "talent’s talent, I don’t care where they’re from" – all the way through to international expansion.

As the company’s reach increases, one thing Levesque is keen to ensure is the protection of stars, making certain they don’t have to worry about the possibility of being stiffed by promoters, having heard numerous horror stories in years past. He believes that WWE’s expansion into new areas can create a system to benefit all performers – not just those hoping to make it on WWE’s flagship shows Raw and SmackDown.

"For me this is step one of what we’ve talked about before – branching out globally and creating this system, a global presence, that can create a clear path and a career choice.

"My goal long term would be to offer a career choice for people and a career option where they don’t necessarily ever have to make it to Raw or SmackDown – if you want to look at it from that sense – to have this be a viable and lucrative career.

"That they can be a part of the NXT system globally, and over the course of a 10-15 year career go through multiple territories and get a wide-range of experience and have a very meaningful career even if it never went to Raw or SmackDown, but yet still be its own brand, still be very lucrative, still be all the things that it can be.

"Whether that’s NXT UK or other markets, you’re going to see individuals that are in those markets with the ability to move around to different markets.

“I think you’ll see as that develops globally, whether that’s NXT UK or other markets, you’re going to see individuals that are in those markets with the ability to move around to different markets.

“If you spend a period of time in the UK but you need something more, there’s an opportunity to do something different, go to India or South America, and explore a different style, territory or experience level – much like you do now in the Indys, but putting some parameters around that, some professionalism on a global basis; you don’t have to worry ‘am I going to get paid?’ you don’t have to worry about ‘am I going to have’.

"It will become a career option, not a hustle option, a career option."

To quicken the pace and push further down that road it is important for NXT UK to impress; not just fans, but company execs and talent too.

A sneak peek of the first episode shown to Mirror Sport showcases a show boasting slick production values that make it feel like NXT, but with its own distinct British flavour, courtesy of a typically British crowd and the setting, the Corn Exchange in Cambridge.

For Levesque, that mix of local and global is crucial moving forwards.

“I was very happy with how it looked. Every brand should have its own unique feel and style, I believe that.

"The trick is trying to make what is successful, about a brand like NXT, that resonates with our most passionate fan base and why it does – to keep that and make it distinctly something different; keeping what’s true to the core of it and yet make it have its own feel.

“To me a lot of that is the talent – bringing something completely different to the table. But also the venues that we selected, the look and the feel of the product that we put out – and this will morph.

“Dusty Rhodes used to say to me if you get 70 per cent of what you picked in your head to come out on screen that’s a grand slam, then I think we’re in the 70 per cent ballpark of what I envisioned it becoming.

“I’m thrilled with it. I’m thrilled with what talent have done with it. I’d like to see it change and become a bit better and it will, because we’ll improve it as we go along.

“It’s like if you look at NXT from five years ago, it’s a very different show now. Five years from now, it should be a different show, otherwise I wasted five years. It should continue to morph and grow and the same with this – I’m very happy with it, but already want it to be better.

“As the brand moves forward, I want it to have a distinct feel from here. So having the people here’s input, talent’s input having a team here on the ground, their input, is what’s important to me now. I can love it all day long, but if fans don’t then what’s the point?"

So British but not too British? "It’s a fine line of not making it so much of one thing that it doesn’t appeal to others. You have to walk that line.

"To me the style, the locations, the feel of it is very UK and that’s what I like about the product. So I’m not worried about the semantics. But I don’t want it to feel local.

"Take Pete [Dunne]. If I make him feel like just a local star, I’m doing him a huge disservice. He’s a global star – should be, is now and will be. I’m blowing a lot of smoke at him right now, but he will be a household name world over: I don’t want to make him a local star, I want to make him a global star. That’s the intent.

"If it was just to appeal to this little market, they were already doing that. I want to turn them onto something bigger."

Speaking of bigger, thoughts for some fans have already turned to the possibility of one of the WWE’s major pay-per-views – Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series or WrestleMania – being held in the UK; ‘Mania at Wembley Stadium being the dream of many.

It wouldn’t be the first time of course, with SummerSlam taking place at Wembley Stadium back in 1992. However, it is a subject that Levesque, while interested in, approaches with caution.

“I always hear about Wembley, I always hear it was such a massive success: It was not. From a business standpoint, it was not. That’s why we didn’t come back and that’s why we’re still trying to figure it out.

“But when the time is right, absolutely."

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