Triple H Going Old School In NXT

[Jack-Hammer]

The WON put out a report I read a little while ago that I thought was interesting. It also shows that, at least it seems, Triple H & Vince McMahon have two different mind sets.

According to the report, wrestlers in NXT will no longer be given scripts, but will be given bullet points, subjects to put a lot of focus on in promos, and are going to be taught to do promos as they used to be done. It's been noted in a lot of past reports in regards to Triple H's handling of NXT that he's far more "old school" in his thoughts on pro wrestling than Vince is. It's believed that once he's in full control storylines will take in a much more serious approach.

I'd say WWE will change a lot under Triple H's control. I think it'll be something along the lines of what I call a modern throwback, namely adding a healthy dose of old school mentality & aspects and mixing it with modern aspects of pro wrestling. Trips is going to want to set himself apart from Vince just as Vince did from his old man. According to reports, Sammartino was impressed with Triple H and his old school mentality and views on some aspects of modern pro wrestling.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

That is awesome, and exactly what the WWE needs to do if they ever hope to create another mega star like an Austin, Rock or Hogan, and if they ever want to create another wrestling boom.

Wrestling worked without scripted promo's for decades, and it's no surprise that in todays era of generally weak promos, that the best talkers are guys that learned their craft the old school way. Zeb Coulture, Paul Heyman, Chris Jericho, CM Punk. These are probably the best promo guys among the regulars these days, and each one is a guy who learned how to do them the old school way.

Just look at the debacle the other week with Brad Maddox. His script called for making a reference to the Jerritron, and he got completely lost and started flubbing his lines when it wasn't in the ring when he came out. A guy that wasn't only trained to read lines he memorized from a script could have saved that bit.

This can only be a good thing in the long run.

 

[strongbad]

This is great news. This will weed out the guys that have the mic skills, and those that don't.

 

[Moneyinc]

Very interesting stuff.

As someone said above. Heyman, Punk, Jericho are a few of the best talkers in the WWE and it is one thing the WWE lacks. Good storylines/promos. THE SHIELD also does a great job with promo work. Rollins and Ambrose especially. Near elite promo work compared to the rest of the WWE.

The other night the crowd was trying to do the WHAT chants during Paul Heyman's in ring promo. What a dumb crowd. Too dumb to realize that they just need to let Heyman talk because he is easily one of the best talkers in the whole business. He adjusted and didn't pause during ANY of the rest of his promo which didn't allow the crowd to do the WHAT thing again. Perfect example of what the WWE needs. More guys who are quick enough to think and talk at the same time. If the crowd is reacting one way, adjust. The guys who try to just memorize the promos are the worst. Back in the day Macho Man, Hogan etc lived in their characters so when they cut a promo, they had about a hundred little one liners in their back pockets. And as you said, they would just make sure they hit the bullet points.



What people are forgetting to realize though is Triple H's promo work is pretty bad. Especially these days. He isn't terrible but something about him just comes off as trying way too hard. I'm still hopeful he can lead the WWE in a direction that it isn't going now. I also believe he has a pretty keen eye for talent and can realize when someone like Cena is lame as hell, and someone like CM Punk is damn near brilliant.

 

[The Butcher]

Sounds good to me, I just hope modern fans are as receptive as we are. A lot of us are grown men, 20's and 30's, old enough to remember the Attitude Era and a time when WWE wasn't fully scripted. Plus for the most part, we're die hard fans.

Kids weened on the new WWE like it this way. It's all they really know, and certainly their own nostalgic interests will make them recoil to any significant changes in how their wrestling show is presented. And they may not be as loyal to the product as our generation. Wrestling was the cool thing for us, not just during childhood and the 80's boom, but again in the late 90s and early 00s during that boom, while many of us were in high school or starting college/early adulthood. I don't know how cool it is for kids these days once they hit puberty.

So, while I fully support the plan, I hope it doesn't backfire. Triple H may want to take wrestling back in hopes of taking it forward, but a plan like that could just as easily blow up in his face. I remain optimistic, however.

What people are forgetting to realize though is Triple H's promo work is pretty bad. Especially these days. He isn't terrible but something about him just comes off as trying way too hard.

This is irrelevant. He's not going to be teaching each NXT superstar to cut a promo (at least I hope to God). I doubt Triple H's limitations or weaknesses as a performer will greatly affect new talent, if at all.

 

[Leveller]

I think its great. Its about time we saw character acting again and not just people who have been noticeably told what to say.
Triple H is really making some fantastic changes so kudos to him.
I remember reading a tweet from William Regal that was along the lines of,

"If you want to be better on the mic, you have to practice every minute of every day. You think Foley, Y2j and Punk got here by luck?"

Hunter could really push these guys to actually become their characters. I look forward to seeing this happen.

 

[sdelfin]

Good news and I hope it's true. Sounds like Triple H knows the TV product has gotten stale and that more micromanaging is not the answer. Wrestling has had its best periods when the wrestlers(and broadcasters) had more freedom, and could put themselves into the characters more. It was a breeding ground for creativity as people really took care of their characters and credibility. I am looking forward to see what Triple H does in the future. I'm optimistic.

 

[MCMG]

It should be a good move for the WWE. You can see the benefits in that the younger guys will develop skills and be less dependent on scripts. I mean this could just have arisen from the Brad Madox promo last week with the Jeritron. If he had learnt to be flexible than there wouldn't have been such a mess.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

The WWE and the business in whole will be so much better once Triple H takes full control of the company. I firmly believe that. Him taking control over say Stephanie or Shane is the best decision Vince ever made. I know Steph is going to be just as involved.. but Trips will be the man. He's going to restore and legitimize professional wrestling again. At least that's what I'm hoping.

 

[the_vipers_enigma]

Since Trips started to involve more and more in the stuff behind the scenes I became a bigger fan of him. Every report that I've read says that many people are pleased with his work and from what I read here the we the fans are also pleased. The fact that HHH wants to go this way with the promos is something very interesting and good and when people go from NXT to RAW or SD they will be able to talk. Plus this will help to show who can and who can't talk.
To be honest I can't wait for HHH to take control because I truly believe that he can change the WWE. He can make the storylines interesting again and from what I see he is more willing to give a chance to people who are there for the wrestling and not for the paycheck(people like Punk, Bryan, Jericho and etc.).

 

[Sweettre15]

Now If HHH can start teaching the talents to have improv matches and only follow guidelines such as the planned highspots and the winner of the match then things will REALLY get better.

 

[BrookeDudley]

This is an awesome idea. They can show their creative side. This is another sign that Triple H is changing things for the better. This will filter in guys with better mic skills and that's what is needed. You can tell Triple H has that mindset and it's awesome. Things are changing and it needs to.

 

[Dirk]

We complain about wrestlers being too generic, but if they only have bullet points, their personalities SHOULD come through more clearly.

On the downside, will this mean the end of the Ziggler's, JoMo's and more of people like Miz? If so, I'm following IDR's pilgrimage to TNA and staying there.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

This is great news to hear. Vince should of adhered to the old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." There is a number of things that worked in the old days that were gotten rid of because of McMahon's wanting to be in complete control of everything & in part, wanting to distance himself/company from the old school wrasslin mentality. HHH is a student of the game, he's learned from some of the best in the biz (Flair, Kowalski, HBK, Nash, Hall, Austin) and is taking what he's learned from them & incorporating it with what worked in Vince's vision of what pro wrestling should be.

 

[tom9422]

We complain about wrestlers being too generic, but if they only have bullet points, their personalities SHOULD come through more clearly.

On the downside, will this mean the end of the Ziggler's, JoMo's and more of people like Miz? If so, I'm following IDR's pilgrimage to TNA and staying there.

I don't really think it'll be the end of Ziggler, in fact, he's one of the few guys where it really seems like he's being himself, or an exaggerated version of himself. Listen to him in interviews, he kinda is that kind of arrogant showoff douche he wants you to think he is, only quieter. Miz seems to have his schtick down. JoMo? Eh, he always seemed forced.

It's definitely going to weed out those without natural charisma, keeping the Kofi Kingston's and the Uso's of the roster lower on the card, or even off it.

Seriously, you can always tell who has it and who doesn't. Even with CM Punk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSgiQEPYu4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ajBoQhFfc

The first link was his debut and the second was the one we all remember from earlier this year. I don't have to ask everyone which they think is better, its obvious. I would bet 50 bucks right now that the first one was scripted, while we all know that the second was Punk's personality shine through.

 

[theBec2101]

I think it will work. HHH has been doing a great job thus far. He has or had great mic skills why not learn and take notes from him. Then if you fail u can say you told me too, just kidding. No but HHH was great on the mic and was able to both feed off of and feed the crowd.

 

[M]

I'm really really liking this idea and it could pay off incredibly well in a couple of years.
What HHH is effectively doing is giving the young crop of talent down at NXT a chance to be able to deal with the inevitable improvisations that have to be done while maintaining a good promo standard, which means they can go in more directions than just the singular line that reading from a direct script allows them to do - more flexibility = less situations where everybody knows a promo is going nowhere but nobody can do anything about it because that's what the script is calling for.

If this works out and they stick with it we could end up seeing a vastly improved product with much better promo segments - I now have more hope for the product for when HHH takes full control, good work HHH.