Working his Paul Levesque - Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE gimmick, Triple H is in the United Kingdom this weekend overseeing NXT UK’s TakeOver: Cardiff.
Like a North American TakeOver, or any big wrestling event, part of the promotion involves doing press. And with the Sat., Aug. 31 show from Wales happening on the same day as All Elite Wrestling’s All Out (and New Japan’s Royal Quest), and coming just a couple weeks after the news the original NXT brand would move from WWE Network to USA, switching to a live, two-hour format in the process, and with a ton of rumors flying about why that show is moving & what it means... there are lots of hot topics for media folks to ask The Game about.
And talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy got Hunter on record about two big ones.
First up, the rumor WWE reached out to Enzo Amore & Big Cass about re-signing to be “top stars” on NXT:
TRIPLE H TALKING ENZO AMORE AND BIG CASS VIDEO#NXTUKTakeOver pic.twitter.com/5HfhqtBEI5
— Alex McCarthy (@AlexM_talkSPORT) August 31, 2019
“Yeah, and which I immediately then had our PR go like, ‘yeah, no, zero interest’...
I have 104, or 110 talent depending on the moment at the Performance Center in the U.S., another 45 - 50 here [in the U.K.] plus some development stuff around the world. I’m not worried [about filling a two hour show every week]... The interesting thing about today’s world is, if you call up someone willing to believe anything, you can tell them anything you want in order to try and drum up business for yourself.
Congratulations to Enzo, I’m sure spreading rumors has worked well for him. I just don’t want any part of it.”
Well, then. Worth noting that Cass is hardly mentioned here. From the subtle jab at one of Amore’s catchphrases to flat out calling him out as the source of the report, Trips’ ire is for Zo. Which makes sense, considering he was the one who crashed Survivor Series and was banned from WWE arenas. Not slamming the man who now goes by CaZXL makes sense, too. Not only is he an unteachable seven feet tall, Cass has also made strides to positively change his life since his release.
An oft-made comment after the rumor hit Thursday was that no one would be shocked to see Cass re-sign some day, while Enzo is as close to a “never” as anything gets in wrestling. Haitch’s comments back that up.
The “Amore & Cass to NXT” rumor was reported in The Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer, and Triple H shades him a bit in his response to that. He addresses Meltzer more directly when he shoots down speculation Vince McMahon will get more involved in running the black-and-gold brand when it moves to USA:
Triple H also shut down Dave Meltzer’s theory Vince will get more involved in NXT.
— Alex McCarthy (@AlexM_talkSPORT) August 31, 2019
“Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of things that people like Dave say don’t make sense. In simple terms, he won’t be involved.”
On this one, I’m not sure what else Hunter can say. He wouldn’t admit his father-in-law will or even might start having more of a say in NXT - he’s worked hard to give the brand a rebel mystique despite being a corporate show. NXT’s usefulness as a weapon against AEW is in large part because it already is the alternative to Raw & SmackDown in a lot of fans’ minds. And in Meltzer’s defense, unlike the Enzo item, he never said his comments about Vince and NXT were anything other than his own opinion.
But there’s also no reason to think Triple H is lying. Mainly because VKM’s plate is already overflowing, and the XFL hasn’t even started yet.
So there you have it. We try not to use the term “bury” too much around here, but when it fits...