Its hard to openly criticize Triple H for being proud of what hes doing with NXT and the work the wrestlers, trainers and staff are putting into the product. He very clearly has a lot of pride in whats happening down in Florida. But opening the PPV in the ring and talking up how the fans have turned WWEs developmental program into a bona fide brand just runs counter to everything else we see about Triple H the character. Is he supposed to have two separate personas: the proud NXT father and the ruthless WWE Authority head? If Hunter was on Raw bringing NXT stars up to join the Authoritys ranks (picture Baron Corbin becoming an enforcer for them), then that would be one thing. But hes not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMG9r32zBW4 Again, its tough to say this is a negative, but it just feels self-serving more than anything. If you want to be proud of NXT and boast about it, then it should carry over consistently with your WWE persona. We shouldnt havent to actively separate the two. Kevin Owens doesnt play two different characters between NXT and WWE; neither should Triple H.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
