Is a Triple H stable with Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe in the works?

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There has been no official word of this and no real whispers out there, but if you’ve been paying attention, you might have noticed some puzzle pieces starting to come together on RAW. Triple H called up Samoa Joe from NXT to fight in his place against Seth Rollins, a move that resulted in another knee injury for Seth. Joe, in an interview with Michael Cole, made it very clear his loyalty was to Triple H, the man who gave him a chance. That also happens to be the same man who handpicked Kevin Owens to be Universal Champion and brought him into NXT in the first place prior to that — and Triple H is also the man who Owens spoke to shortly before the Festival of Friendship ended with Chris Jericho getting a severe beat down. Plus, Owens is the only Triple H guy Joe didn’t run down in his interview with Cole. [Insert thinking face emoji here.]

Of late, Triple H has had one major player at a time doing his bidding. Seth Rollins had Kane flanking him along with J&J Security to ensure Seth remained champ. Randy Orton was eventually joined by Batista, but it was an uneasy partnership from the start that ended with Batista leaving both Evolution and WWE. Jericho was there to help out Owens, but they were never the Authority stooges of the past, especially since H was never on television after lifting Owens to the Universal title. Here, though, we see Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens existing within the same universe with the same figure backing them, even though they aren’t existing on screen at the same time yet. It makes you wonder!

Especially with WrestleMania in Orlando, home of NXT, and with Triple H saying he wishes he could stop wrestling. Triple H as the manager of a stable of NXT staples — Owens, Joe, maybe The Revival as the tag team — would make a whole lot of sense. So would the next evolution of, well, Evolution, with Triple H in the veteran Ric Flair role, Owens as H, Joe as Batista, and then someone else from NXT or maybe even the United Kingdom tournament as the Randy Orton, the young up-and-comer of the group. There are a few directions to go here, and a stable led by Triple H might not end up being where they are headed toward. It all makes a lot of sense, though, given what we’re seeing on television each week, so don’t be shocked if this is indeed the destination.

• There are no rumors of such a stable in Thursday’s roundup, but there’s still plenty worth thinking about.
• This week’s NXT had a healthy dose of Kassius Ohno. Well, not healthy for Bobby Roode.
• Speaking of Triple H’s boys, Finn Balor showed up at an NXT taping to fight off some heels even though he’s not medically cleared to return. And no, that’s not a spoiler, since WWE put video of it out on social media.
• Peyton Royce won the triple threat match for a chance to fight Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship, aka the right to have her head kicked in by the champ.
• Heidi Lovelace got her WWE name, and it is good: familiarize yourself with Ruby Riot.
• It’s Thursday, which means Impact Wrestling will air, so Kyle Decker has his five questions for this week’s episode.
• Naomi appeared on Lilian Garcia’s AfterBuzz TV show, and explained that it took two years for WWE to buy into her Feel the Glow gimmick.
• Chris Jericho showed up at a WWE house show in Germany, so while his feelings and body might be hurting, he’s not in hiding.
• Mick Foley said RAW would be “eviscerated” if they ran the Battle Royal finish SmackDown did this week, but as Sean Rueter explains, SmackDown has built-up goodwill and put together a successful match in spite of the finish.
• The Rock commented on his post-RAW phone call to CM Punk that reportedly had Vince McMahon and Triple H upset.
• Matt Riddle would rather stay on the indies than go to NXT and WWE. Well, for now, anyway.
• Would you like to read a profile of NXT performer Ember Moon? Here is a profile of NXT performer Ember Moon.