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NewsTriple H: "WWE NXT UK is a Passion Project For Shawn Michaels!"

Triple H: “WWE NXT UK is a Passion Project For Shawn Michaels!”

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During a new interview with TalkSport, Triple H commented on Shawn Michaels’ passion for NXT UK, the upcoming NXT UK event, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:

On Shawn Michaels’ involvement with NXT UK: “Yeah, you know what… yes, I will tell you that it is something that I’m sure he is chomping at the bit for. It’s interesting that as Shawn has gotten more and more involved in this, NXT UK has become a sort of passion project for him and as much as he is here in NXT on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis, we can’t all be every place all at the same time, so he’s kind of taken a much more guiding hand in controlling that brand [NXT UK]. He’s around the talent more, he’s all those things. He’s very close to a lot of the talent, he’s very invested in their success. I guarantee you, he’s excited for that match, but I guarantee you he’s excited for all of them. WALTER/Joe Coffey, Piper Niven/Toni Storm/Kay Lee Ray; I mean all those matches are going to be something special. We take great pride, both he and I and this entire team – from Jim Smallman over there to our team here in the US – great pride goes into these shows. We really feel like the brand is synonymous. There’s a pride level that goes into that, as with everything in WWE, but I think this is slightly different because you’re building something fresher and newer and really trying to cultivate it. So the pride level is there, but we’re excited. Shawn and I, we’re here today doing NXT in the US, but right after that he leaves and then I leave in a day and we’re heading to Blackpool. We’re chomping at the bit to make this everything it can be.”

On the deal with BT Sport: “There was a lot of conversations happening. Again, with anything in the WWE, there’s a lot of pieces to it. So it’s RAW, it’s SmackDown, it’s NXT, it’s NXT UK – there’s just a lot of pieces. Obviously for me and NXT UK, it’s about getting as many eyeballs as possible on the brand and building this out over time. You want to do it right. You want to make sure it is done right and ready, so sometimes you want to take steps which take a long time or a short time. We’ve talked about this on these calls before and in person; sometimes they seem like they take a long time and then after they happen you look back and go ‘Wow, that was a blink of an eye!’. It really happened quickly. I’ve been, since day one, I’ve been actively looking at larger distribution for NXT UK and getting as many eyeballs on it as possible. The timing was right here. BT, we’ve been having conversations with for a few years about partnering with them. The opportunity arose, we left our partners at Sky we’d been with for 30 years – who were phenomenal partners and we were very proud of that relationship – but it was just the right time for both sides and we’re with BT now and couldn’t be more excited. They understand the brand. They’re very heavily sports based. Their fan base might be new to NXT UK, but we’re picking them up. They do a huge amount to promote all WWE shows across all of their football and rugby outputs. Triple H told Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster he was proud of them after their big win. It’s really great to be apart of them. They understand the social and digital part of it, I couldn’t be more excited about it. It’s always been a goal. The shifting of how it happens changes, but we’re right where we want to be and continuing to take the steps necessary to grow this brand as to what Vince [McMahon] always say ‘an overnight sensation’ – but overnight sensations take a long time [laughs].”

On if London will get a Takeover: “I think we want to spread out where we will go and at first we want to hit markets where we know it will be good. Obviously, holds Blackpool holds a charmed spot for a lot of us to go back there, but, absolutely, London has always been a massive fanbase for WWE and NXT has been there and done phenomenally well too – it’s absolutely a place we’re looking at and on the priority list. Dublin as well. Cardiff, I’ve said this before, it’s one of my favourite places to work and for the fanbase there. They’re incredibly loud and incredibly crazy, it’s awesome. But, I don’t want to rule out anywhere. I’d love to go to Germany. I’d love to go to France. I’d love to go to Italy. I’d love to go to so many markets and expand this out and BT really gives us the opportunity now to grow this and take it out now. I really want this to be a fully-functioning brand and to do more with it. Make it its own thing. But, all of those markets are on the list and we look forward to getting to all of them.”

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