Triple H On If Shayna Baszler Has Officially Joined Raw, If There's A Fight To Keep Keith Lee In NXT
On this past week's Raw, Shayna Baszler made an unexpected appearance as she attacked and bit Becky Lynch after her match. That has led to many speculating as to if Baszler is now officially part of the Raw roster and Triple H discussed that during a WWE media call.
"Well I'm scared to see her here ? I don't wanna get bitten. She's got sharp teeth and it's a scary thing and I'm wearing a big collar today just in case," joked Triple H. "I think that will play out. There's a fascinating thing for me with that in that there was a ton of buzz going into Survivor Series with Becky Lynch. Her rise to where she is has been insane and I'm so happy for her, but you have to have that base of opponents.
"Hopefully that turns into something massive for both of them and we'll see where it goes. At this point, I'm not 100 percent sure."
Triple H then compared it to sports teams and how they draft players all the time but he stopped short of saying that Raw has drafted Shayna.
"As far as I'm concerned right now, Shayna is still an NXT talent until we make a deal for her to go somewhere else," stated Triple H. "Does that mean there's a moment where Becky comes hunting for Shayna or vice versa? I don't know yet. We'll see."
Just as Shayna's popularity seems to have her destined for the main roster, the same can be said for current NXT North American Champion Keith Lee. Triple H was asked if there's been a fight to keep Lee on NXT as opposed to bringing him to the main roster.
"Anybody that gets any kind of momentum, there's always clamoring about, 'Oh, I'd like to have that.' Those are strategic discussions had with Heyman, with Bruce and with my team. It comes down to people's development," stated Triple H.
He then noted that lots of talent have a moment and then there is this thinking that they are ready for the main roster. However, there are lots of nuances that go into someone joining the main roster such as in-ring differences between brands and how each individual talent will handle a bigger spotlight.
"Those are all things that we have to weigh through on all of these talents. But yeah, you don't have to look past just looking at Keith Lee. You see what he looks like, who he is, his personality and what he does in the ring and you go, 'Can I have him please?' Same thing with Bianca Belair in The Rumble or her personality in promos. You see Velveteen Dream. You see Ciampa. I could go down that list but you wanna make sure they are ready for success on all levels," said Triple H.
He also mentioned how he's always trying to find places for talent to succeed, even if it's not NXT. Triple H also said that some talent resonate better on one brand vs. another just as it was in the 80s and 90s as some resonated better in NWA/WCW than WWF and vice versa.
"Anybody that is getting over or getting a look and beginning to create buzz, everybody is calling and looking at them," revealed Triple H. "That's a cool thing and then you've got to run with it for as long as you can and as long as you have them. The final conversation comes down to Vince and it always has. That's the beauty of all of this ? there is that final answer and he can help a guy wherever he goes and be successful on every level."
Triple H's full NXT Takeover Portland media call aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon: by clicking here. The full interview can be heard via the embedded audio player below: