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Lots of us noticed that Friday, April 1's TakeOver: Dallas differed from previous NXT live events from the start, as we weren't welcomed to Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and the broadcast on WWE Network by Triple H.
In NXT, The Game is a combination of his WWE television persona as evil authority figure, his shoot role as the company's Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative and a third character, that of a professional savior who brought NXT into the world to be the wrestling fan's promotion.
No matter how hard he does (or doesn't) try, all three blend together in most of his public appearances, but there's no denying for most of the NXT audience of so-called 'smart' fans, 2016 Trips is a guy they want to cheer. Fans who watched Shinsuke Nakamura debut at TakeOver, or future Global Cruiserweight Series star Zack Sabre, Jr.'s equally impressive performance at EVOLVE 58 earlier in the day aren't going to boo the guy who's making those things happen.
Vince McMahon finally noticed this as, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required but recommended), it was his call to not have Hunter open the latest TakeOver with his usual "We Are NXT" spiel days before he was to fight Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32. If true, this could tie in to reported heat on Triple H for referencing a beating from the Big Dog when he did open the London live event with a promo - which reportedly drew a return shot from main roster Creative when they scripted Roman to say on a January Raw that no one had seen Haitch since the beating.
What's funny is, as Dave Meltzer points out, that McMahon would think stopping Triple H from playing face in this one instance would somehow effect the crowd's reaction to Reigns at AT&T Stadium. I've often been critical of the multiple characters Paul Levesque plays, but the 100,000(ish) people in Arlington, Texas had their minds made up well before the Friday before Mania and it had more to do with their confusing and stubborn portrayal of Roman than any mixed messages we receive about the Cerebral Assassin.
Hopefully, reports about WWE phasing out the Authority on Raw and SmackDown are true, giving Hunter one less role to play. And allowing Vince to focus on telling a cohesive story with his new WWE champ.