Triple H on NXT Adjusting to the Changes During the Coronavirus, the Decision to Cancel TakeOver and Bring the Matches to NXT TV

– PWInsider and Mike Johnson recently interviewed WWE executive Triple H. He addressed the decision to cancel TakeOver and take the matches from the card and put them on NXT’s weekly show instead. Below are some highlights.

Triple H on trying to keep the NXT ship steady at the moment: “We’re doing good. Again, we’re like everybody else trying to deal with very stressful circumstances and trying to do the best with circumstances that are changing on a minute by minute basis. If you go back a month ago and tell people that you’re in the situation that you’re in today, it’s almost unthinkable. But here we are. Over the last few weeks we’ve gone to doing all our shows without fans out of the Performance Center to the point of even, for the most part, doing WrestleMania that same way. The decision to shift NXT slightly to not doing a Takeover separate and bringing Takeover and putting them onto the weekly episodic series really just came down to, I think, a decision of amount of content that needed to take place in a very short period of time leading into WrestleMania and everything else, and it just made sense for us to do it in a different factor.”

“When you take into consideration the fact that it’s a separate event, but really no one’s going to be there to see it live anyways, it really made sense for us to do it this way. We’ll start tonight with Keith Lee defending the North American Championship against Dominik Dijakovic and Damian Priest and continue into next week. Not all the matches, at this point, will be able to take place, but we’ll get there down the line and continue to create the content that we can. Right now, I think more than ever WWE’s stance is more than other than ever, people need entertainment and need something out there to put a smile on people’s faces and let them forget about all the things that are going on in the world and the situation that everybody is in and just be entertained. And it won’t be perfect, it won’t be exactly what everybody wants it to be, maybe in some manner. But if they can forget about that and just tune out and turn it on and just let themselves be entertained, hopefully we can do that for you and let you forget about it for a brief period of time.”

Triple H on the NXT talent trying to shift their style without the NXT fans present: “Yeah, I think it’s that way for everybody. I don’t know that necessarily… there is that intimacy with NXT, but no matter what brand it is, Smackdown, NXT, whether it’s WrestleMania or whether it’s Takeover. You’re working for that reaction, and that is really what the performance is about. I think the shifting of that in some way, it’s a totally different mindset working in an empty arena. You’ve heard performers talk about their performance and [they go] bigger in this direction because of that reaction. You don’t have that reaction. So you’re trying to pull your best feelings out, for what those reactions would be and your timing of things. You have nothing to play off of. It’s difficult, but I think talent has done a phenomenal job. I think this is where they’ve all stepped up together as a team, they’ve helped each other out.”

“They’ve looked out for one another and given each other that drive and that advice of looking at things from the outside to help you get through it. It’s been inspiring to see and… I think we all believe right now, and nobody is being required to do any of this, the talent aren’t required to do this, if they have a problem, they don’t perform. And nothing is going to be held against them. Everybody has their own feelings on this, but for the most part, our crew, our staff, our talent, it’s been inspiring to see because they want to do this. Their desire to go out there and continue to perform and let people have that escape, it’s been inspiring. It’s interesting when you go to the Performance Center and you see the people that are there and you’re going around and talking to people and everybody’s having fun. They have a smile on their face, they’re having a blast. They’re all banding together, feeling like they’re in this together and they’re this challenging situation, but they’re all doing their best to make it work out. It reminds me of when we used to go over to Iraq and Afghanistan under trying circumstances performing shows for the troops where we would set up these makeshift arenas with no sleep and in bad circumstances trying to put these shows on. It’s the same thing. There’s a bond and a sense of camaraderie, and it’s hard to put into words, but it’s really, really awe inspiring to see. I’m proud of all of them.”

Triple H on what NXT matches he’s looking forward to fans seeing from the TakeOver card being reconfigured to NXT on TV: “Well, I can tell you the Triple Threat men’s match for the North American title, I can tell you that the Gargano, Ciampa match will be something special. I think that fans are going to find that very unique and something special, and the women’s number one contenders Ladder match, something’s special will take place there as well. And that’s just getting into the meat of it, but there’s more to come from that as well. This whole weekend with WrestleMania and everything else is going to be spectacular. Like I said, the offsite stuff is incredible. The things that we have, hopefully we’ll still be able to put surprises and twists and turns in there that nobody sees coming. And hopefully again, be able to entertain people to the best of the ability in really what are very trying times. My hats off right now to everybody that’s continuing to try to do that, really.”