When WWE rebranded NXT as NXT 2.0 in September 2021, the company made various changes to the show. It came at a time when Triple H stepped back from his duties as the producer of the show due to a heart issue that nearly cost him his life.
During that time, many wrestlers that Triple H signed including Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Johnny Gargano left when their contracts came up to go to AEW while others such as Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, and Hit Row were moved to the main roster before it was decided to let them go.
While doing an interview with The Athletic, Triple H spoke about the switch from NXT to NXT 2.0 and he defended the move. He noted that NXT went from a show on the WWE Network with a cult following and needed to get on TV.
“The pandemic (messed) it up a little bit because it was right when we went on TV and we had to shift our focus, doing it in front of no people. It completely altered what we were doing. We couldn’t recruit or train talent for almost two years. … But the show stayed. Then we said, OK, let’s reboot it and go back to what we originally were. Some of these people won’t be ready for television, but we’re gonna put them on television, and we believe the audience is invested enough that the numbers might come down, but a core group of them will stay, and now you’re creating fresh stars all the time. That’s where we are now. The numbers have stabilized.”
He stated stars such as NXT Champion Bron Breakker has been training for a year and half of the women have been there for a year. He said they have a lot of fresh and new talent. He brought up fans saying in the past it was a negative to have the constant churn in NXT with stars going up to the main roster. He thinks they have talent that won’t be in NXT in a year as they make it to the main roster. He thinks that’s the magic.
“It truly is the developmental league, the college football, Triple-A baseball. Yeah, they’re not all quite ready to be in that major-league role yet, but you’re discovering them before they become household names.”
Triple H continued by noting that they’re already talking about the next shift and that’s where they’re headed. He praised Shawn Michaels for stepping up and making it a seamless thing when he had to step out. He said the team has killed it with a show that is full of next generation of stars.
Triple H helped oversee the WrestleMania week tryouts. He made an on-screen appearance at NXT Stand & Deliver before leaving his boots in the ring at WrestleMania 38 to have a retirement moment after announcing he had to retire from in-ring competition.
