Brian Gewirtz On Stephanie McMahon Asking Him Why He Didn't Write WWE Promos For Triple H
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Triple H has brought a new feel to the WWE since taking over as Head of Creative, a leadership role he's never embarked on throughout his legendary career in pro wrestling. During his decades of work with the WWE, the son-in-law of Vince McMahon spent countless hours working behind the scenes while also presenting himself as one of the biggest WWE stars on weekly television.
One person with experience working with and for Triple H is former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz, whom Wrestling Inc. interviewed on the day of the release of his new book, "There's Just One Problem...: True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE." Gewirtz described what it was like working with Triple H when he was still active in the ring, stating that he got in trouble for not confronting the former world champion to work with him.
"My relationship with Hunter got much much better as the years went by," Gewirtz said. "I think there was a level of mutual respect and then Triple H looking up going, 'That guy's still here? Guess there must be something going on correct with him.' When I first started I was admittedly intimidated by him. I didn't work with him that much, in fact as far as I knew, no writer was assigned to him, he would always go off and do his thing.
"Meanwhile, I was working with the people who were constantly insulting his character. He was the heel, I was working with the baby faces and it was like one of those deals where I always assumed Triple H – he's got it because he does his own thing."
Stephanie McMahon questioned Gewirtz
Gewirtz revealed that Triple H's wife Stephanie McMahon got involved at one point, questioning his unwillingness to work with her husband.
"I think Stephanie had a talk with me once which was like, 'How come you never work with Triple H? He sees you working with all these guys, you've never once approached him and asked if he wanted to work with you?' I was like, 'Oh, I just assumed he wanted to do his own thing.' That's on me, that's my nervousness, and my, like, 'if it ain't broke don't fix it,' but over the years you can't help but then work with someone.
"I got to work with Triple H, not write out word-for-word promos, but at least work with him and craft the long-term storyline of Evolution and Batista and the slow turn which I thought worked super well and then, later on, being able to work with him especially as he was taking a step back. It's always difficult when you're in production meetings and part of the creative process but also a character on the show. No matter how much you say me and the character are different, it always rears its head. It can't not. It's human nature. It evolves with evolution.
"WWE Raw" recently aired from Madison Square Garden in New York City, with the brand celebrating 20 years of Rey Mysterio's illustrious career. Gewirtz is from New York and revealed he was backstage for that show and spoke to Triple H, stating he had "a great time catching up and joking" with him and that the interaction was "really cool."
You can find Gewirtz's book on Amazon, with the book already reaching a #1 best seller on the site.