Triple H Concedes He Does Not See WWE Traveling Anytime Soon, Talks Recent COVID Issues
Triple H conducted a media call this week just ahead of NXT Takeover 31, and the full audio can be found on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast. NXT has recently seen another COVID-19 outbreak, and Triple H addressed the status of the Performance Center and whether the card for Takeover 31 will be affected at all.
"As for right now, I'm very confident in Sunday's card, but this is a very, sort of, touch and go time," Triple said. "As you know, at any given time, things can change, and you've seen that recently. The Performance Center is not functional. Nobody can control this situation, and nobody's going to be able to stop this [COVID-19] pandemic. We're doing the best we can to keep our performers, our staff [and] our crew safe."
"These situations where positives come up and we go back and very very extensively contact trace and go back and quarantine those people, this is for the safety and wellbeing of everybody. We feel very confident that once we've done all that, hopefully, we've isolated it and can go on doing what we're going, and everybody that walks into that building and is a part of what we're doing is safe.
"That's across the board of not only our business but every promotion out there. Every sport, every team [and] every walk of life, everybody's doing the best they can to move forward in this, and that is exactly what we're doing as well."
Triple H was later asked if there would be any punishment for talent that break COVID-19 protocols. Triple H did not specify that there would be and mostly commented on how everyone is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and how what talent do in their personal lives is their responsibility.
"You do the same thing that everyone else is doing in every walk of life," Triple H stated. "I think sometimes people think that this is over. It's not. We're still all having to deal with it. Be smart. Be safe. Wear masks. Take all the precautions you can. For our talent, we're very much urging them to social distance, to keep away from others [and] to stay inside of that bubble.
"Unfortunately, this is real life and people's real lives that you're dealing with, and whether it's something like that or whether it's just going to the grocery store or to get something to eat, everything is risky right now. And everybody is doing the best that they can.
"We're certainly asking people to do everything they can possible to do it. Not thrilled when when people do things that they're not supposed to but again, we're asking them to be as responsible as possible in their personal lives, but it is still their personal lives.
Triple H also commented on the recent news of Takeover: Dublin being pushed back to June of next year. He was asked whether NXT UK will see a Takeover between now and June.
"Yeah, look, I would love that. I would like nothing more for this to all go away and we go back to doing what we do," Triple H admitted. "It's a funny thing, even if you would have asked me this just a few weeks ago, Europe was in a different place than it's moving towards now. So again, you have to, in this moment in time, there is nothing set in stone. Everything is sort of fluid because things are changing on a day-to-day basis. As soon as I can travel talent, we'll travel talent. As soon as we can have talent doing what they do on a bigger basis, we will do that.
"If it comes down to if this isn't changing, I absolutely would begin talking to BT. We've had conversations about it about, getting to a Takeover, getting to a larger event like that. Whether that be at BT Studio or someplace else depending on where we are at that moment in time, I absolutely would, like you, like to get something done long before June."
Triple H continued expressing his gratitude to BT Studios for allowing them to tape NXT UK shows as well as note that he is always checking if he can have talent travel from the U.S. to the UK and vice versa.
"Again, we will have to see what those restrictions are and what the availability of locations are and everything else, but we are, believe me, we have a team here that specializes in all the immigration issues and travel and everything else," Triple noted. "And I call them on a daily business basis. I am sure they are tired of hearing from me, but we are checking every single day to see what we can and what we cannot do because it changes so as soon as we can, I promise you that as soon as we can, we're going to be looking at being back.
"Whether that again, like I said, be BT Studios or someplace else, getting back into doing Takeovers and everything else, but for right now, I'm just thrilled that BT allowed us the opportunity to be able to get into their Studios and be able to put NXT UK back on.
"And as you said, it's been phenomenal with some banging main events, as you would say, and I agree with you. So I'm thrilled that that's happening. I'm looking towards the next step, but we're not quite there yet on exactly what that will be."
It was reported a few months ago that Vince McMahon was having discussions with arenas about the possibility of running shows with fans. Triple H commented on that possibility saying that he does not see it happening anytime soon, and he said that WWE will not be running a show with fans and traveling from city to city unless it was safe for everyone to do so.
"It's, again, a touch-and-go situation. If you settle in one location, maybe you get there a little bit sooner," Triple H pointed out. "As far as WWE getting back to a traveling show that's in different cities every week or different cities every night sometimes, I just don't, just my opinion, but I don't see that happening for a while. We're still in the thick of this, and it seems to be, now that things are, in some places, ramping back up, but also at the same point in time, life must go on for people.
"They're opening events up, and they're opening things up here. We are looking to see, as things open, what is available, but we will not execute something that we don't feel like we can do safely for our performers, for our staff, for our crew and for fans. We don't want to put people at risk unnecessarily, so we're doing everything we can.
"It's funny sometimes and you see criticism from people that aren't in the know but the truth is, I'll put our protocols and our medical up against anybody, and we're doing everything we can to keep everyone safe. And that's really the key to this thing is you can look at how things open up. You can look at how they move, but how can you do it safely? That's the key."
WWE NXT Takeover 31 takes place this Sunday night. It will stream live via the WWE Network. The full audio from Triple H's WWE NXT Takeover 31 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.