Shawn Michaels talks Triple H’s NXT status

About two-and-a-half months after WWE announced he’d undergone an in-patient procedure to address a genetic heart issue following a cardiac event, Triple H has started to return to the corporate stage for WWE. Steps such as touring the company’s new headquarters and providing quotes about its NIL program for college athletes come as speculation and rumors swirl about his future in the wrestling business.

But what about the thing that’s probably his biggest contribution to the industry over the past 5 - 10 years, WWE’s NXT brand? We’ve read reports that he took the blame internally for the show failing to win a ratings battle with AEW on Wednesday nights, and watched as the show underwent a major overhaul in his absence.

Triple H’s right-hand man Shawn Michaels said he was running NXT while his old D-Generation X partner was recuperating. With The Game returning to work in other parts of his job as WWE’s Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development, could he be getting back to producing the company’s Tuesday night show?

Based on what Michaels told Jim Varsallone, a return to NXT doesn’t sound imminent:

“Right now, for me — I feel like I’m an old nanny, but I’ve told him, ‘Look, I don’t care how good you are, you stay away, get healthy, concentrate on you.’ And the thing is, he put in a fabulous team down here [at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando], and that’s why it’s able to continue on without him because he put phenomenal people in place. I’m just the guy that gets to sort of expedite everything, and sort of run traffic so to speak. But the team he put in place was prepared for exactly these kind of days, and it’s going on, and we want him to get healthy. He doesn’t have anything to worry about, we’ll be here when he gets back.”

That certainly sounds like the right approach, as getting healthy absolutely should be Hunter’s top priority. I’m not sure he’d make a huge difference at NXT right now, but maybe a few more people on that fabulous team he put together would stick around if he was still there?

We’ll never know.