10 Current WWE Stars Who Are Triple H Guys
4. Ronda Rousey
Triple H's belief in Ronda Rousey, a performer he targeted with a prolonged laser focus, was unshakeable.
In many ways, she is the true commendation of Triple H's role as Creator. NXT may never quite shake its own SuperIndy perception. It's a reductive assessment, this, but Triple H didn't really do anything so ingenuous as to be beyond the most committed and discerning of wrestling fans: he drafted in the most adored Indy names on the planet, transplanted them to NXT, presented them as major deals under its more glamorous light, and over-emphasised its credentials as a proving ground. Neville, Shinsuke Nakamura et al. were already proven.
Ronda Rousey was not. Many very respected journalists and insiders questioned her ability to develop under the exposed spotlight. Ronda would fail, they said, having bypassed the sharpening grind of the house show circuit.
And yet, Triple H knew what he was doing. Ronda isn't "developing"; she is thriving.
The rate at which Ronda accelerates around the ring is a heady blur. She was born to fight, and on the incredibly scant evidence of just two professional matches, with Stephanie McMahon (!) and Nia Jax (!!!) in the opposite corner, she was born also to simulate a fight. She is deeply credible selling on the defence. She is frightening and electric on the attack.
Having taken a shortcut paved by NXT's ingenious coaching set-up, she is a bonafide product of the Performance Center.