Stephanie McMahon On Having Shane Back In WWE, If Shane Had Impact On WWE - China, HHH - NXT, CWC
Recently on The Wrestling Compadres Slamcast, Stephanie McMahon addressed a number of topics including Shane McMahon's WWE return, WWE's expansion in China, NXT's success, and WWE's Cruiserweight Classic.
With respect to her brother Shane, Stephanie said it is nice having him around once again, as him being away from WWE for seven years was "unusual".
"It [has] been pretty cool, I have to say. Shane and I grew up in WWE and not having him around for seven years was unusual, so it's awesome having him back. We're having a lot of fun together."
Stephanie said that her brother Shane had no involvement with WWE's recent inroads into the Chinese market other than laying some of the groundwork before his departure from WWE seven years ago.
"China [has] been on our map for, on our radar, rather, for a really long time. Certainly given its scale and culture, it's seems a natural fit for WWE. And as a part of the Eisenhower Fellowship, last year, I partook on a trip to China and then our executive leadership team has really been invested for quite some time working with multiple partners and so the timing was right. And it's very exciting and again just to be able to do this."
The former WWE Women's Champion seemed pleased to share that WWE held tryouts in China recently. Notably, WWE Performance Center head trainer Matt Bloom studied Mandarin for a year to be able to conduct the tryouts.
"We had a whole talent recruitment effort there. Yes, and that took place at the Mercedes-Benz Arena for four days. And I believe we're vetting a number of different talent who came out of that tryout and it's the first of it's kind. It's really cool because Matt Bloom, the head trainer, actually took some Mandarin for about a year so that he could be able to coach up these talent as they came through and it was all different athletes from all different backgrounds and they did really, really well, so it's an exciting opportunity from a talent development standpoint as well."
On the topic of NXT, WWE's Chief Brand Officer said that she could not take any credit for it, as it was Triple H's idea.
"I can take no credit whatsoever for NXT. That was all my husband's vision and his team. And he has really created the [WWE] Performance Center, he [has] fostered the partnership along with the executive leadership with Full Sail University, but the brand itself, the storylines, the characters, I mean, really, I could not be more proud of my husband and the team he has built and what they are doing with that brand, it is absolutely remarkable. I think it has surprised a number of executives here. It doesn't surprise me because I have so much faith and I know what my husband can do. I know that he was surprised when we were doing the first live event outside of Florida, around WrestleMania 31, and I know he was surprised that we sold out that venue, and then, a few months later, he had scaled the tickets so that it went to Barclays Center before SummerSlam fully expecting to only sell part of the bowl. And when he sold out Barclays [Center], that was the first stake in the ground of our audience saying, 'we love this brand and we're here to stay and it's going to be bigger than any of you ever imagined because we are NXT' and I think that's such a huge part of the NXT brand is that the audience is a part of it. They are a part of NXT's success. They are a part of why these stars are making it to the main roster and they know it."
During the interview, the Boston University graduate acknowledged that the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic series was the brainchild of Triple H. Also, Stephanie teased another project involving female performers.
"Yep, I mean, that's how I certainly heard about it. [Triple H] sort of started pitching ideas, 'what do you think about this?' He percolates ideas and you can tell he's thinking about something, but he doesn't necessarily come out with it right away. He likes to formulate it a little bit more. He did actually pitch another idea that has to do with the women that I'm not going to get into. So definitely, there are different things in progress and the Cruiserweight Classic is one that made sense on all different levels and we're doing it!"
You can check out the interview in the video above. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Wrestling Compadres Slamcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.