10 Things To Expect With Triple H Running WWE Creative
5. Tradition To Shine Through
Remember, as he once told Jim Ross, Triple H isn't just a student of the game, he is the f**king Game.
Love him or hate him, few can argue that Paul Levesque is not a lover of professional wrestling history and tradition. This is someone who had the original domed-globe NWA Worlds Championship on his office wall for years, who did all that he could to give Ric Flair his mojo back, who constantly pushed for WWE to use the WarGames concept, and who repaired plentiful broken bridges between Vince McMahon and stars of the past - including the utterly iconic Bruno Sammartino.
As shown in so much of his NXT booking, Hunter places an emphasis on letting the in-ring action take centre-stage, with the focus on trying to tell a logical story in a nuanced fashion where it pertains to matches and rivalries. Levesque has also been keen to use squash matches to introduce new characters or gimmicks, allowing audiences to see what a star is about and allowing said star to gain some momentum.
Elsewhere, the example of NXT shows promos that, whilst not always entirely non-scripted, have a more natural feel and freedom to them. Similarly, the various commentary teams across the history of the Black & Gold run of NXT were allowed to show their personalities and clearly weren't constantly berated through their headsets.
That's not to say that Triple H is a slave to nothing but the past, but he's shown a deft touch at splicing new-school mentality with old-school fundamentals of the business.