WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque was interviewed today on WWE Radio’s Busted Open.
Early in the interview, there was a discussion about pro wrestling being mainstream in a way that it never was years ago. Triple H says there’s no need to pretend like WWE is a real sport any more, in part because it’s widely recognized as an art form, no different than being a musician.
“There was a moment in time where our predecessors fought, literally fought tooth and nail, in bars, and clubs, and on
the street, to prove to people that this was real, because they thought that that was the badge of legitimacy of what we did. Over time, the badge of legitimacy of what we do, is just what we do. Right? It’s so difficult. It’s so physically demanding. It’s so all-encompassing. It’s so all those things. It’s an art form that takes over your life…we put our heart, our souls, our bodies, our physical well-being on the line to do it.
…And now, we don’t have to fight people to tell them it’s real. We have to just show people what it is and say, from a story-telling standpoint, hopefully from an in-ring story-telling standpoint, from a physical standpoint. We don’t have to pretend we’re a real sport. We’re a show, a movie, a TV show, a series about a sport. But the physicality is real. The emotions are real. What people put into it are real, maybe more so than any other sport or business I’ve ever seen.”
Triple H goes on to show his disregard for pretending like WWE is a real sport by revealing that Brock Lesnar is actually mentoring Oba Femi behind the scenes. This stands out because Lesnar and Femi are scheduled to fight each other this Saturday (Aug. 1) on the first night of WWE SummerSlam in a Hell in a Cell match.
Lesnar’s name came up when Triple H was talking about how today’s top guys do so much to help younger stars learn all the important things they need to know about excelling in the wrestling business, beyond just doing moves in the ring.
“We’re fortunate now to have a generation also of Cody [Rhodes], and [CM] Punk, and Roman [Reigns], and Seth [Rollins], and all of these guys. And Brock, right?
He’ll probably suplex me for saying this, but Brock is hands on with Oba Femi. He sees something special there and he’s like, okay kid, come with me, and I’m gonna teach you. Here’s all the things you’ve got to learn. He brings him in his room in the afternoon, they sit for hours and talk about this stuff. It’s that level of stuff that brings this next generation up, and I think will take it to the next level. I’m excited to see it.
For every star that we have now sitting at the top, there’s a guy underneath them. An Oba, a Trick [Williams], a Carmello [Hayes], a Je’Von [Evans], of all these people that are sitting underneath them, just soaking up this knowledge. I think that’s gonna make the next generation thrive.”
What do you think about Triple H spilling the beans on Brock’s relationship with Oba this close to their Hell in a Cell match at SummerSlam, where they are presumably trying to work fans into thinking they really want to kill each other? Do you find anything interesting about Triple H’s list of top WWE stars and the ones who are sitting underneath them drinking it all in? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders.
