15 Things We Learned From Triple H On The Steve Austin Show
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15. Booking In The Modern Era
Triple H acknowledges that segment of the fan base who follow the inner workings of the business and says he hates to call them the “vocal minority”, then compares them to working in towns that favored the heels. He says that times and people change, and the component of telling a story and just having people accept it for a storyline are gone.
Hunter says you get to a point where that segment just wants to see what they believe works and mentions how Roman Reigns has been getting great reactions outside of the Rumble, so it’s not always about what that fervent section of the audience calls for. Stone Cold compares Roman getting the word that he’s getting the big push to when he was picked to win King of the Ring after the MSG Curtain Call, acknowledging that a portion the crowd feels like he hasn’t earned it yet. He calls out the poor booking of the match, specifically the finish, and says the heat that should have been directed at the writing staff was transferred onto Reigns.
13. John Cena
Triple H says that he gets asked all the time about whether or not they listen to the reaction to John Cena, and do they not understand that people are tired of him? He responds by saying “There’s such a long period of time where half the people were booing John and half the people were cheering for him but he was packing arenas. Everything that we did, John was so far ahead of everyone else from a reaction standpoint…it doesn’t matter if half the people hate him or half the people love him.”
He says that it’s difficult to find the person that every member of the fan base will gravitate toward, pointing out that The Attitude Era was easier because they had a tighter demographic
10. Thoughts On Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns Being Ready
Triple H says that in years past fans would have reacted to Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble by viewing him as better, but now they look at it as he’s being pushed while Daniel Bryan is being held back “for whatever reason they want to believe that we hold back Daniel Bryan.”
He mentions the point in time during the 10-month build to WrestleMania for Bryan and admits that where they ended up is not where they thought they were going when they started, and that Daniel was adding input saying it wasn’t time for him to succeed yet.
Triple H says he hears all the time that Roman isn’t ready for the spot he’s being given, and his response is that no one’s ever ready. “You think you know what that spot is, and you think you know what it means to be that guy, and you think you know all those things and it’s a totally different world when you get to that show the first time and it’s on you…if that house sucked, that’s on you and if it rocked, that’s on you. You put a whole different world of pressure on yourself.”
6. The Vision & Creative Process Of NXT
Stone Cold praises NXT as being an awesome show, saying he loves everything from the lighting to the wrestling and asks Triple H how he designed the show. Hunter shows some good insight here and says that he structures the show based not only on what he likes, but what the hardcore wrestling fan base likes as well, acknowledging that that’s what the WWE Network’s subscriber base mainly consists of.
Hunter says he scripts less promos and lets the talent try to find their own voice, make mistakes and learn on the job, thanks to the much smaller microscope and the ability to be looser and a little more fun. He says that he’s teaching the wrestlers how to wrestle for TV, with the cameras, angles and ramp all set up the same way to prepare them for the main roster.
5. Chyna In The Hall Of Fame?
Austin asks Triple H if his ex-lover will ever be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and Hunter says she deserves it but there’s more to it than that. He calls her a paradigm shifter and a phenomenal talent who should get in from a career standpoint, but it’s a bit difficult due to her personal choices.
He points out that inducting her might cause many kids to go online and look her up because they’ve never heard of her and you-know-what pops up. He makes a point to say he’s not criticising her or her choices, but it’s just a fact that it would be a difficult choice for the company to make. He points out that the WWE HOF is different than any other Hall in the world for reasons such as those.
3. Thoughts On CM Punk
Stone Cold asks a question that many fans were hoping for when he probes Triple H on his opinion of the former WWE-star-turned-UFC-fighter. He said people always felt like he had a beef with Punk but he never did, acknowledging that people hated the way their feud was booked and puts it all on Vince, admitting that Punk held a grudge over it.
He calls him a “weird cat” saying that his emotions were all over the place and he would hear all kinds of things about Punk threatening to quit or being ticked off but when Hunter would speak to him he’d just play it off and say everything was fine.
Austin asks if he could ever come back to WWE and was met with the standard response of “never say never” and that if he and the fans wanted it and it was best for business they could make it happen.
1. Scripted Promos
It’s no secret that Steve Austin hates scripted promos, and he asks Triple H why it’s so prevalent. Hunter says it’s a product of the times and Austin says it still happens with advanced talent and asks if they don’t trust them. Hunter responds by saying that some guys want to be scripted and some guys just take the bullet points and rework it to fit their style. He cites the usual excuses about sponsors and whatnot and says it’s unavoidable in the current climate.
He says that he’s working to develop the NXT talent so that they can become the kind of performer who has the freedom to use their own voice in their promos.
This was a great interview and better than Vince McMahon’s appearance on The Steve Austin Show due to his willingness to be a little more open and free with his answers than his father-in-law.
The dichotomy of the Vince and HHH interviews is intriguing. On one hand, you have the guy with the utmost power who’s completely unaware of what the problems are, and then you have the guy who knows what the problems are but is in a position where he has to play nice and double talk.
NXT Takeover Arrival was awesome! 
