Triple H Talks New WWE NXT Title, Being Excited For Daniel Bryan, Training With Stephanie McMahon
Triple H recently spoke with USA Today's "For The Win" blog at this link to promote WrestleMania 34 and the match with Stephanie McMahon against Ronda Rousey and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, plus the WWE NXT "Takeover: New Orleans" event. Below are highlights:
Are you serving as Stephanie's coach or trainer as she's preparing for this match?
I mean, honestly, as a husband, do you really coach your wife on a whole lot? We're training a lot. We train together, whether that be in the gym or in the ring. We're trying to make sure she's as ready as possible.
I worked with her ? it's an interesting thing that I've been there for so much of the evolution of her as a character, even prior to us having a relationship together. I've been there all along the way and I've put her matches together for a lot of them, almost all of them, with her. It's exciting to see this one come to fruition, but you know, she's also a little bit older, has a little bit more responsibility. She's got a lot going on, as we both do, but she wants to make sure her girls see her proud. So there's a lot of pressure on her right now.
The biggest story of the week in WWE was Daniel Bryan's return after being medically cleared. What has it been like watching him work behind the scenes to get back to where he is?
It's been an amazing process. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do is tell talent that they can't do this anymore. That you can't live your dream. And for somebody like Daniel, man, it was soul-crushing.
He went through *a lot* to try to get back to where he was, without any guarantee that it would ever work. But you take the advice of the doctors, the same doctors that told you he couldn't, tell you he can? man, it's like a second lease on life for him. Really excited, really happy for him. Watching him on TV the other night, just sitting at the monitor watching was unbelievable.
TakeOver: New Orleans will feature a six-man ladder match for the inaugural North American Championship. What do you hope this new title will represent for NXT?
I think it's part of a long-term strategic plan for the brand. You see with the UK title, the North American Championship, I think as we branch out and become bigger, [with more] opportunities in different places.
It allows for multiple events to take place with championships represented where I feel like, in locations across North America, Mexico, Canada, the North American Championship can be defended and be a main event-style match with the right players. The NXT Championship could be going internationally at that same period of time. It really depends, but it's part of a long-term strategic plan.
Source: USA Today