Paul “Triple H” Levesque is urging the WWE Universe to show respect for Vince McMahon.
During the WWE WrestleMania 41 (Night Two) post-show media scrum, Triple H expressed his admiration for McMahon, despite the latter’s ongoing legal and personal issues.
Some fans criticized Triple H for his remarks, while others commended him for acknowledging McMahon’s impact on WWE.
Triple H also touched on John Cena, Travis Scott, and Joe Hendry’s arcs at WrestleMania 41 (Night Two).
During the main event of Sunday’s WrestleMania 41 (Night Two) pay-per-view event, John Cena, with assistance from Travis Scott, dethroned Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to win his record 17th world title.
You can check out some highlights from the media scrum below:
On Vince McMahon: “None of us would be here. None of us, right? Pretty hard not to mention him.”
On Travis Scott potentially having a wrestling match: “When it comes to somebody like Travis, who is very much like a Bad Bunny, where he is just incredibly passionate about WWE. Incredibly passionate. I’m putting words in his mouth, but I would imagine one of the most important things in his life is music. I would say a close second is WWE. That’s how into it he is. Some for Bunny, same for Jelly [Roll]. For me, that’s an opportunity for them to come in here and put different eyeballs. A lot of crossover fans between the two. It’s an opening for us to get some different eyeballs on it. That’s a side thing for me. To me, working with somebody like Travis Scott, who has every reason in the world to walk in with an ego and be the biggest star in music and all that stuff. For him to come in here and put all that aside and be a little kid. Be a little kid living a dream. Be a little kid living out a fantasy to where he can step in the ring and it’s all from a respect place. The most crushing thing for Travis in the world would be if he went out there and screwed it up. He comes back, he’s like a kid at Christmas. He walked backstage tonight after he was done and was like, ‘Dude, I gotta be serious, this is like my full time job now, I’m telling you.’ Two minutes later I said, ‘See you at work tomorrow.’ He loves it. If he’s out there having fun and you feel it and it’s good, it’s amazing. Having somebody like him be a part of this, he’s wide open to anything. This guy is the biggest musician in the world and he’s out there getting hit with Cross Rhodes and doing all this stuff. If he gets injured, I’m sure that’s not helpful to his music career. It’s fully out of a place of respect. When I see him with our talent and crew, he’s the most respectful guy and is like a kid in the candy store with this stuff. When people are like that, it makes me want to work hard for them and help them see that dream come true. Could we see him do more and step in the ring? Just gotta tune in.”
On Cena saying he’s going to “ruin wrestling”: “Well, I hope not. That would stink for all of us. [chuckles].”
On Cena’s current character arc: “I love where John’s head is at. I love that John Cena — he’s the flip of a coin right now. And the funny thing is that people were flipping the coin for him before. Now he’s flipping the coin, right? So all the things that they — they booed John, they were relentless on him, they pushed him to be great in some ways, but it was — you know, it was not easy for him sometimes. And I think now he gets to be the puppet master and he gets to flip that coin for them, and be the polar opposite to everything he was before.
“And I think he, as grumpy as he comes across that deep down — it’s funny, someone asked him a couple of minutes ago, ‘You smiled all the time and now you don’t smile.’ I believe he smiled all the time before and on the inside he was grumpy. And now the grumpy’s on the outside, and on the inside he’s smiling at all of you, right? Because now he’s flipping the coin, now he’s the puppet master. And as someone else says all the time, ‘Just hang in for the ride.’ He’s driving now, and he’s having a blast doing it.”
On Joe Hendry: “I love Joe Hendry. He’s a great talent, great entertainer, smart, respectful to what we do. He has a bright future. I was really happy that we could put him in this spot and showcase him for everybody on a bigger platform in the world. I told him right before he walked out, ‘You will be here again, so enjoy this one because the pressure gets heavy from here. This will be the easiest WrestleMania you ever do, and you will do more.'”