wrestling / News

Pete Dunne Says WWE Has Treated Him Brilliantly, Discusses Getting Experiences Working Around the World, and Working With Triple H

June 10, 2017 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Pete Dunne WWE UK Champion PROGRESS

– Sam Roberts recently interviewed Pete Dunne for the Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast. Below are some additional highlights from the show (transcript via WrestlingInc.com).

Dunne on having a good experience in WWE: “WWE has been absolutely brilliant to me and they’ve looked after me in every way that they can, and even from stuff like training in social media, that kind of stuff. And along with having exposure on these sorts of shows, bringing us out to America and training in the [WWE] Performance Center, and doing all of that, at the same time they’re allowing me to do the independents. And I’m a bit different than most [professional] wrestlers, I think, in that I’ve always looked at independent wrestling as developmental. I didn’t necessarily have to be signed to WWE to be learning that stuff. I’ve always tried to pick up as much knowledge as I could. Now, I continue to do so. Now, I also have access to the Performance Center and even access to people like Triple H, the great minds behind sports entertainment. So the thing for me is the best of both worlds. I love independent wrestling and it’s not something that I wanted to leave behind straight away. But equally, I’m learning the way TV is done and the WWE style has been completely new, so I’m still learning on both sides.”

Dunne on getting experiences around the world: “I figured I’d have to travel around the world and pick up as much experience as I could. I even figured at one point that I’d have to hold off if there was an offer from WWE. I’d have to hold off to keep building that brand and that name value, so when I got to WWE it was an immediate transition. And I was completely wrong in that. I didn’t know that this sort of deal was even an option. I’m so glad that it is – it’s the best of both worlds.”

Dunne on WWE letting him be the character he created: “In the last 11 years, I’ve almost self-trained myself by wrestling people who are better than me and traveling the world and sort of making my own mind up and creating my own character. And again, speaks to how great WWE is. They’ve let me be that person, that character that I’ve created on the independents.

Dunne on his spot in the UK division: “I think one being the fact that I managed to get myself out there and learn when there wasn’t really much to learn in British [pro] wrestling. I paid for my own flights to Japan, America, China, all these different countries try to gain the knowledge I didn’t have back home. And then, the second thing is, even while I was doing that sort of stuff, I was getting better and better and I felt like I was getting to the point I wanted to get to in [pro] wrestling and I was starting to achieve what I wanted to achieve. And when I put myself out there and said, ‘what do these other people have that I don’t have?’ I wasn’t different enough, so I spent the last year-and-a-half making myself as different as possible. I tried to design a character that stands out from the pack.”

Dunne on Triple H commenting on wrestler’s mimicking Triple H including Dunne at PROGRESS – Chapter 43: “I don’t think I’ve ever been more intimidated than the first time he brought it up. I thought we were getting away with it scot-free. I didn’t think he would be paying any attention to what we were doing whatsoever, but he has seen it and it seems like he appreciates it. He was laughing along with us, so that’s cool. He’s taking it all in good humor.”

article topics :

Pete Dunne, Triple H, WWE, Jeffrey Harris