Triple H as WWE's executive vice president of Talent and Relations

[CM Steel]

Paul Levesque aka Triple H is the WWE's executive vice president of Talent and Relations. He's had that title role for awhile now within the WWE offices in Stamford, Connecticut. Triple H is eyeing new talent for the promotion. And a year ago Triple H tried his hand in signing a lucha libre superstar in Sin Cara. But just little over a year in the WWE Sin Cara is seen as a flop project of Triple H.

The other two WWE superstars that comes close to being seen as "Triple H guys" are Sheamus and Damian Sandow. Both superstars are personally being mentored by Triple H himself in the wrestling entertainment business. And Triple H sees them as top superstars in the WWE's future. But with the flop of Sin Cara in being Triple H's first major project as the WWE's executive vice president of Talent and Relations. Will the set back only drive Triple H harder in finding the next top superstar in the WWE? Or is Triple H in over his head as the WWE's executive vice president of Talent and Relations?

And Joe Henning is strongly one of Triple H's guys in the backstage area. Could he be another diamond in the rough i.e. Randy Orton 2002-03 Evolution?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Thus far, Triple H's successes FAR, FAR outweigh whatever setbacks he's had in his new role.

Triple H's biggest success thus far has been the, thus far, highly successful overhaul of WWE's developmental system. Triple H has restructured WWE's developmental territory while bringing in, or at the very least has his eye on, some of the best talent the indy circuit has had to offer. Anyone who's watched any episodes of NXT has to be able to see that there are a number of highly promising wrestlers, both male & female, on the roster.

The Shield has generated a tremendous amount of buzz. Part of that is to do with the angle of the group and part of that has to do with the fact that, thus far, they've shown themselves to be extremely talented. Aside from The Shield, Damien Sandow & Antonio Cesaro are two wrestlers that have a lot of potential. Both are strong in the ring, Sandow is gold on the mic and I think Cesaro has the potential to be much stronger on the mic overall than he currently is. Other wrestlers in NXT, which is basically Triple H's pet project, including guys like Kassius Ohno, AKA Chris Hero, and Adrian Neville, AKA PAC, have generated a lot of buzz & excitement.

There's also the fact that Triple H has relentlessly, though respectfully, pursued and finally gotten Bruno Sammartino to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Whether you're a fan of Sammartino or not, this is a big deal for the WWE Hall of Fame to have the longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion in the history of pro wrestling, not just WWE, go in.

As far as Sin Cara goes, I wouldn't call Sin Cara a flop based on Triple H having faith in the guy. If one wants to label him as a flop, I think it's more fitting to do so because his ability simply doesn't match up to the overwhelming hype of the guy. Personally, for the most part, I'm not a huge fan of the Lucha Libre style because the times I've been able to watch AAA, the matches have basically consisted of little more than suicide dives, numerous variations on the hurricanrana or head scissors, little to no real selling of the moves before immediately moving into another spot, little to no storytelling and just an all out clusterfuck in which the rules of the matches never really seem to matter. In Sin Cara hasn't been able to adapt well then, frankly, it's because he just doesn't have the ability. The company has given him the spotlight and opportunities to show off his stuff but, all in all, Sin Cara just hasn't been able to make the most of them. I will concede that it's possible that WWE brought Sin Cara up to the main roster too soon, I don't know how much English the guy can speak now as I've yet to hear him speak. I think it's also highly possible that Sin Cara, AKA Mistico, just hasn't been able to live up to the hype because he just doesn't have the overall ability.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It's a little early for a "report card" that brands Sin Cara a fail as you have to remember that a lot of the developmental guys you refer to were actually brought in to NXT/FCW by Trips, but John Laurinitis was still officially in charge of Talent Relations when Sin Cara was brought up. Once the decision was made to promote Trips, Johnny started to lose his power but Sin Cara was already onscreen by that time. So it's important to note that Trips has recommended a guy, in this case Mistico (he also recommended Dos Caras/ADR) and tried to work with him rather than flat out hire him. That final nod came down to Vince and Johnny L. and for all the "failiure" in the ring, Sin Cara is a marketable character that can easily have another man under the mask (El Generico perhaps?)

As for what Trips has done with NXT, yes that does deserve a LOT of plaudits, not for the talent signed necessarily but the decision to work closely with Full Sail and also train the next generation of WWE TV writers, camera crew etc at the same time is a clever one. WWE is reliant on it's presentation methods and they have tried going the "hollywood" route, bringing in recognised screenwriters and they have got nothing but criticism, so by doing this they train people in how to write WWE... not wrestling, not movies or TV like the current crop were trained but how Vince or later Trips wants WWE to look on TV.

The people brought up to the roster so far are all on A-B report cards so Trips, if it is indeed he who has the final say not Vince is picking well, the important thing is the current NXT generation is perhaps the best class WWE has had to choose from since the 2001 OVW crop that produced an unmatched amount of onscreen WWE talent? Memba them? No? Ok

Cena
Batista
Orton
Lesnar
Benjamin
Conway
Basham
Eugene
Terkay

Not all of them made it but the first 4 certainly did and already the class of 2012 and 2013 has brought The Shield, Antonio Cesaro and Bo Dallas. There is time for Trips to pick and choose who comes up, work with guys who might need it on the road before the y debut to make "pet projects" and there are still some who should do very well yet to come up like Bray Wyatt and Chris Hero (I refuse to use that slave name lol)

So it's more a case right now of Trips using the raw materials of these new guys well rather than actually being responsible for them. Putting Billy Gunn in charge as trainer was a smart move, as Gunn like him or not was one of the best WWE style workers of the last 20 years. If anyone can teach these kids a) what Trips likes and b) how to work WWE style it's him.

As for what Trips is doing with established names, again it's A-B report card, some stuff he is doing is excellent like working hard to get Bruno back into the fold and keeping guys like Jericho close enough that they seem as if their breaks don't even matter.

Where he is gonna be tested now more than ever is how he handles Vince, as his power is growing that inherently means Vince's will lower. Trips has nothing to do with The Rock stuff or probably much to do with Brock other than some schmoozing to keep him sweet, that side of the coin is Vince's baby. It'll be interesting to see how much of this "mania" will have Trips's stamp on it and how much of it will be down to Vince. One test I see is can he get the Cody/Goldust match going? It sounds like someone and I am betting it's Trips has gone to Vince after the Rumble and said "did you hear that pop?, they want this" but Vince is known from Dustin's own words to not want it... if he can convince him on things like this, get rid of the "audience of one", then you know Trips truly is on the rise and Vince is closer than ever to stepping away.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Without examining each performer and decision Trips has been involved with, it's important to note that none of us really know what Paul Levesque is doing and how effectively he's doing it, due to one factor: Vince McMahon.

I'd wager Levesque wishes Vince would retire so he and Stephanie could truly take over the affairs of the company. It's fine for us to speculate on how much power Levesque really has, but doesn't it depend on how much power his father-in-law allows him? For all we know, Trips is strictly Vince's gofer, despite what is stated in public. Perhaps he's just an Assistant Manager who can't do squat without the Manager's approval. In fact, given what we've seen of Vince's character all these years, isn't that a distinct possibility? When Vince is sitting in production meetings or during TV broadcasts in a purple rage, with smoke coming out of his ears, do you think he gives a tin shit about Paul and Stephanie's opinion?

Or, maybe I have it wrong. Perhaps Levesque has real power and authority in the organization to do things on his own. Maybe he can effect real change without having to run it by Vince first....without worrying about crossing the boss.

Take the Bruno Sammartino HOF deal. Trips is getting credit for making it happen. That's great, but is it because of his initiative, or did Vince instruct him to get Bruno in the fold.....and that he didn't dare even try until Vince told him to?

It could be that Paul Levesque has tremendous business acumen and a thorough, far-ranging knowledge of his chosen profession. We don't know, and until we do, it's probably useless to try and guess how effective he is in his job.

We might have to wait 'til Vince McMahon retires....which is to say, wait 'til he's dead because he ain't going nowhere until that time.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

What you are able to see though is subtle changes on the main roster and bigger ones in areas that Trips has definitely got control over - Developmental and talent signing.

Since Trips has got control of signing, he has brought in top Indy workers almost exclusively, very few have been the WWE stereotype that Vince is known to favor. Someone like Adrian "Pac" Neville would never have gotten in under Johnny as a small, english flyer who is not the best looking guy would not pass the Vince test, even if he can do a Corkscrew Shooting Star Press.

While "gofer" is a little harsh, in some ways I can believe it, but that is what the Talent Relations role is, on a day to day basis managing the roster and agents, making sure people know what they are expected to do, what Vince wants so Vince doesn't have to for every talent. Something as simple as "getting Jericho and Godfather for The Rumble" is as important as "finding the next Cena" and Vince isn't likely involved in either of the first 2 and very little in the 3rd. Trips is probably suggesting guys to Vince and going to bat, but at the moment Vince wants his part time mega stars and thats fine. Use 'em while they're there cos they won't be forever. But Trips clearly has his "projects" that he wants to see hit that big time and even Cena fell into their lap, Vince didn't select him as "THE GUY" for the next 10-15 years, he just evolved that way. So Trips is there to suggest possibles.

Trips' job with developmental is to make sure the guys coming in are fresh, prepared and ready to take on the challenge right away. Vince's is to then decide where to put them and which ones to make stars. Trips is the link to guys who have bad history with Vince or whoever Vince doesn't want to deal with personally.

The interesting story I read was Vince marvelling at how "Jericho stays in shape", that to me screams that Vince had zero to do with Jericho returning or even when he was still around prior but Trips is the one who knows his schedule and how he'll always be "ready to go". Likewise, it's doubtful Vince had much to do with the RAW returns last year - especially people like Wendi Richter with whom there was long standing bad blood, but Trips can make that call and clearly has enough power to make it "his call" within certain limits. It might be as simple as if Trips and Steph both agree then Vince is happy. He's managing things like Rey's time off - While Vince has probably softened a little he is not gonna be the guy you go to when you need a break, Trips can be the guy who says "Rey has a problem, we need to watch over him because he's worth protecting from that 3rd strike" and Vince will either agree or fire him as he did with Hardy and Umaga.

Granted we will never know who does what, but anyone with half a brain can see there have been changes in the last year and there will be more, I have no doubt Shane will return as well. He has done very well outside of WWE and built a strong rep in the sports/movie agencies and in China - Which WWE will be looking to crack next. So don't be shocked to see him take over the business end and Trips/Steph the onscreen.

But at the end of the day, this is the guy who started his career carrying bags for the Kliq - taking the shit (literally in the Hogpen) for their "farewell" at MSG and jobbing to the Warrior - any "gofering" Vince wants of him is not gonna be worse and he and Vince now as family have that history and relationship where he could probably get away with saying "Let's not do another Warrior here Vince..." to protect a young talent.

 

[The Big Dog]

I think Triple H is doing a great job in his new role. Sin Cara? Not all of them will be gems like Sandow or Shaemus. I have noticed lately that you can pretty much tell what VKM is doing and what Triple H is doig.
Mind you, I am not just being that "smart mark" but Triple H does love the buisness, and it is showing.

 

[gasM]

I don't know about Triple H. I mean, I just never saw any real genius come out of him. Like, what has he ever done, really, for the company? I just never really saw what he brought to the table. I wouldn't put him in my top 1000 Executive Vice Presidents of Talent Relations.

All kidding aside, it's clear that the majority of Triple H's backstage work has been stellar. He seems very old school, wrestling orientated - like his work in transforming NXT. Now it's a very wrestling heavy show, which gives the talent a good understanding of how to work the WWE style and appear on WWE TV. As other posters have said, it's becoming more and more obvious what Vince is in charge of and what Triple H is doing.

However I do think a balance is necessary. McMahon's vision of WWE as a place of sports entertainment may focus too much on appealing to the mainstream, but it was his ideas that took wrestling out of the territories and into the dizzying heights of the 80s boom and later the Attitude Era. If Triple H takes over, I think it would behoove him to include the entertainment aspects like part time performers and celebrity involvement to some extent, otherwise WWE could become just a big budget TNA or ROH. This is a problem on NXT at the moment - it's great that it's old school, wrestling heavy, but what happens if the callups turn out to be poor mic workers? I personally have seen a lot of fans online complain about Seth Rollins' promos as part of the Shield, whilst the likes of Bo Dallas are clearly still green in terms of promos. Performers like Michael McGillicutty, Tyson Kidd (before his injury) and Jinder Mahal (before 3MB) have all been placed on NXT in lieu of the big shows, and all seem to have difficulty getting over on the stick. How can they improve if their platform, NXT, is so wrestling heavy?

I agree that Triple H's body of work has far more positives than negatives right now, and that if he takes the helm WWE will be in safe hands. But he must not completely dismiss the "entertainment" aspect of sports entertainment.

 

[LascoX]

So far I think HHH is doing a decent job in his new role. As many have said it is hard to say due to Vince still being around but that in it's self isn't a bad thing either. HHH is a student of the game and I am sure there is a few things he can still learn from Vince. It was said that it was HHH that caused the title reigns to be longer and in my book that was a good move as it gave a little more prestige to the belt instead of just being passed every other week to the flavor of the month. It gave a bit more longevity to story line archs as well put a bit of polish on the title it's self. As far as SinCara it is well known the company was looking at him to be the next Rey Mysterio. You don't make a star like Mysterio over night and it's to early to say how the long term will work out for Sin Cara. The man is a decent worker but its hard to really connect with a guy you never hear speak. Many do like the Lucha style and if WWE wants to keep what in roads they have made in the Mexico marketplace they need a few stars like SinCara in the company. Granted they have backed off of that market for the near term but it is still a market they need to not ignore completely given the large population from Mexico currently living in the USA. Back to HHH though, It would be a far cry to say he is in over his head. He is a life long student of the game, He knows talent when he see's it and has shown he can help develop tallent, he has shown he knows back stage politics extreemly well (not always for the better however) and he is married to Steph so that locks him into the WWE for a long time. Overall from the recent direction of the product and the level of talent that has been coming along as of late I would say the WWE is in pretty good hands.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

There is no danger of it, Trips of anyone knows what brought WWE to the dance and what made it better than the NWA/WCW, he was there when WCW tried to transition and initially it didn't work, they had to steal talent to make it work. But he's also smart enough that long term the kids alone are not gonna sustain the business, whatever Vince thinks, especially now Disney have launched their assault on the world with Marvel and their new Star Wars... god forbid they ever try to get into wrestling... they could any time the way they hoover up IP's. The only thing WWE has in it's defence would be they own 90% of meaninful copyright over wrestling's history. But if Disney decided to start an NWA tomorrow... god help us... but anyway...

WWE is gonna have to go back to the mid 80's model of kid/teen friendly but appealing to the older generations first and foremost with the in ring action as they have the money/are decision makers. The kids will want to go see the new Yoda movie (throws up a little in mouth) and dad will want to order Wrestlemania... Trips, if it is he who takes over will be the guy who has to make sure Dad wins that argument.

HHH is perhaps the right guy to begin the process, I don't think he'll end up completing it, I think a post-Undertaker Mark Callaway might have a big part to play, as will Shane but for that first "post Vince period", Trips has the best chance and at worst case, to differentiate from the greater competition they may have to go "back to their wrestling roots" so their current recruitment path is right.

As for mic skills they have managers again for the first time in years, use Heyman, Teddy, Vicki, AJ and as talents begin to retire use them, Regal is a perfect manager, so are Goldust and in particular Jericho. I could even see Y2J as a "Bobby The Brain" figure in 20 years time if that was what he wanted to do.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

So far I think HHH is doing a decent job in his new role. As many have said it is hard to say due to Vince still being around but that in it's self isn't a bad thing either. HHH is a student of the game and I am sure there is a few things he can still learn from Vince. It was said that it was HHH that caused the title reigns to be longer and in my book that was a good move as it gave a little more prestige to the belt instead of just being passed every other week to the flavor of the month. It gave a bit more longevity to story line archs as well put a bit of polish on the title it's self. As far as SinCara it is well known the company was looking at him to be the next Rey Mysterio. You don't make a star like Mysterio over night and it's to early to say how the long term will work out for Sin Cara. The man is a decent worker but its hard to really connect with a guy you never hear speak. Many do like the Lucha style and if WWE wants to keep what in roads they have made in the Mexico marketplace they need a few stars like SinCara in the company. Granted they have backed off of that market for the near term but it is still a market they need to not ignore completely given the large population from Mexico currently living in the USA. Back to HHH though, It would be a far cry to say he is in over his head. He is a life long student of the game, He knows talent when he see's it and has shown he can help develop tallent, he has shown he knows back stage politics extreemly well (not always for the better however) and he is married to Steph so that locks him into the WWE for a long time. Overall from the recent direction of the product and the level of talent that has been coming along as of late I would say the WWE is in pretty good hands.

That's been the thing Vince has so far failed to grasp... you don't create a Rey Mysterio/Chris Jericho/Steve Austin/Foley - they create themselves and come to you fully formed but willing to adapt, the ones you can mould are far harder to find and the ones you create virtually non-existent. Even in the 80's Vince was putting gimmicks on talent that was mostly formed elsewhere, from Rick Martel and Curt Hennig in the AWA - all he did was call them a Model and a Perfect one... but they were formed... Rock had his heritage already there, all Vince could do was use it and let him try and grow into something else. Vince has yet to create one bona-fide talent that he has taken from stage one to super-stardom... The nearest I can think is Muhammed Hassan, and we all know how that turned out...

 

[rdchili96]

That's been the thing Vince has so far failed to grasp... you don't create a Rey Mysterio/Chris Jericho/Steve Austin/Foley - they create themselves and come to you fully formed but willing to adapt, the ones you can mould are far harder to find and the ones you create virtually non-existent. Even in the 80's Vince was putting gimmicks on talent that was mostly formed elsewhere, from Rick Martel and Curt Hennig in the AWA - all he did was call them a Model and a Perfect one... but they were formed... Rock had his heritage already there, all Vince could do was use it and let him try and grow into something else. Vince has yet to create one bona-fide talent that he has taken from stage one to super-stardom... The nearest I can think is Muhammed Hassan, and we all know how that turned out...

Without Vince, Austin does not have him as his number one enemy. So saying Vince never created a star is bullshit.