Tag: Paul Levesque

Triple H Set to Headline WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025

The Road to WrestleMania is officially underway, and while the Royal Rumble will set the stage for WWE’s biggest event of the year, another WrestleMania tradition is also making headlines—the WWE Hall of Fame. This year’s headliner has already been revealed, and it’s none other than the man currently shaping WWE’s future: Triple H.

According to PWInsider, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque will lead the 2025 Hall of Fame class. Despite being in charge of the company’s creative direction, the decision reportedly caught Levesque by surprise. The news was broken to him in a meeting by his wife, Stephanie McMahon, alongside fellow Hall of Famers The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.

A Legacy Built in the Ring

While Triple H has been at the helm of WWE’s creative resurgence in recent years, his Hall of Fame induction is a recognition of his legendary in-ring career. Levesque first gained national exposure in WCW in the early ‘90s before jumping to WWE, where he became one of the most decorated and influential superstars in history.

Over the course of his career, Triple H racked up an impressive 14 World Championship reigns, in addition to capturing the Intercontinental, European, and Tag Team Championships. He also cemented his legacy with wins in the 1997 King of the Ring tournament and both the 2002 and 2016 Royal Rumbles. Beyond the accolades, he was a founding member of D-Generation X, one of WWE’s most influential factions, alongside Shawn Michaels.

A Fitting Honor for “The Game”

With an unparalleled impact both inside the ring and behind the scenes, Triple H’s Hall of Fame induction feels like a long time coming. As the mastermind behind WWE’s creative direction, it’s ironic—but fitting—that he’ll now be the one deciding who joins him in the class of 2025.

Who else will be inducted alongside Triple H? And what does this mean for the Hall of Fame ceremony during WrestleMania weekend? Stay tuned as more names are revealed in the coming weeks!

Kevin Owens Shocks WWE Universe: Piledriver on Cody Rhodes and Chaos with Triple H Over Winged Eagle Title

The aftermath of Saturday Night’s Main Event turned chaotic when Kevin Owens not only left Cody Rhodes battered after a brutal piledriver but also attempted to steal the iconic Winged Eagle Championship.

In the show’s main event, Rhodes successfully defended his Undisputed WWE Championship against Owens in a hard-fought battle. Post-match, as Rhodes celebrated in the ring with the Winged Eagle title—a belt he’s long spoken about as a symbol of his championship dreams—Owens struck with a ruthless attack. The shocking piledriver left the champion needing to be stretchered out of the arena, leaving the WWE Universe stunned.

But Owens wasn’t done. Seizing the historic title, Owens marched up the ramp, seemingly intent on taking the belt with him. However, his path was blocked by none other than WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. Video posted to X (formerly Twitter) captured the heated confrontation as Triple H intercepted Owens at the stage. The two men exchanged words before the confrontation escalated, with Triple H knocking the championship out of Owens’ hands and shoving him multiple times. Officials quickly intervened to separate the two as tensions flared. WWE later posted its own video to X.

According to PWInsider, Triple H recovered the Winged Eagle title and ensured it was safeguarded after Owens was escorted to the back. WWE later shared its own video of the incident on social media, sparking widespread speculation about what’s next for Kevin Owens and his apparent fixation on the historic championship.

Cody Rhodes has been vocal for years about his love for the Winged Eagle design, which holds sentimental value to him as a callback to a classic era of WWE champions. While Rhodes got to fulfill his dream of wearing the title for one night, Owens’ actions cast a dark shadow over his victory celebration.

The fallout from Owens’ attack and his confrontation with Triple H promises to be explosive. Is this the beginning of a bitter rivalry between Kevin Owens and WWE management? And what consequences await Owens for his actions? Stay tuned, as this story is far from over.

Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque Teases Upcoming Changes In WWE

WWE will be transitioning through various programming changes in the near future, with “WWE Raw” heading to Netflix come January 2025 as well as “WWE Smackdown” moving to the USA Network and “WWE NXT” going to CW in October. However, according to Chief Content Officer and Head of Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque, “NXT” leaving the USA Network will not be the only change coming to the gold brand later this year. 

Speaking at the Money in the Bank 2024 post press conference, “The Game” went into detail about WWE planning ahead toward making more changes to “NXT” in the fall. He also explained that, over time, the audience will see various differences to “Raw” and “SmackDown” as we inch closer to December. 

“We are just getting started. I really feel like that. We got a whole fall thing coming up with CW for NXT. Which by the way Shawn is just killing it right… Whether that’s talent development, recruitment, NXT in general. I can’t say enough good stuff about it. I’m in awe of what they’re doing down there… When they move to CW, when SmackDown makes the move to USA, when Raw makes the move to Netflix. We’re just getting rolling. We’re lining up all this stuff that’s gonna happen. A lot of the changes you see now, we are slow rolling things out. When we get to the fall, when we get to the winter, there’s gonna be a lot.”

Triple H also expressed how excited he is about John Cena returning to the ring for a full year after announcing his retirement at Money in the Bank. Furthermore, he stated how grateful he is to be running creative with the current talent on the WWE roster.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Triple H Dramatically Raises The Stakes For WWE King & Queen Of The Ring Tournaments

The 2024 King and Queen of the Ring tournaments will culminate at WWE’s eponymous premium live event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this weekend. Before the finalists head into their respectives battles, though, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque has shared a significant update regarding the stakes of these tournaments.

In addition to taking the proverbial throne, Levesque confirmed (via the WWE Experience event in Riyadh) that the winners of the King and Queen of the Ring series will also receive world title matches at the August 2024 SummerSlam event, which emanates from Cleveland, Ohio. Levesque further clarified that the victors will definitively challenge the world champions of their respective brands, rather than having the option to choose their title match opponents.

https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/1793701796042482171

This week’s episode of “WWE Raw” hosted the first pair of semi-final tournament matchups, with Jey Uso wrestling GUNTHER in the King of the Ring brackets, while Lyra Valkyria collided with IYO SKY in pursuit of the Queen of the Ring throne. Ultimately, these contests resulted in GUNTHER and Valkyria punching their tickets to the finals. The second pair of semi-final faceoffs will take place on tomorrow’s episode of “WWE SmackDown.”

Within the King of the Ring tournament, Randy Orton will tangle up with The Bloodline’s Tama Tonga, who will likely have Solo Sikoa and Tanga Loa lingering in the shadows as back-up. The winner of the Orton-Tonga match will then move on to face GUNTHER in the finals. Similarly, Nia Jax and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Bianca Belair will also square off tomorrow, with the victor advancing to a concluding round Queen of the Ring tournament matchup against Valkyria.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Triple H Confirms A New WWE Draft Is Coming “In A Month Or So”

During an appearance on Impaulsive, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was asked by Logan Paul if the United States Champion could move from SmackDown to RAW when Netflix airs the program in January 2025.

Triple H responded:

“I’m sure we’ll see people float all over places. There’s a thing called, in a month or so, there is a thing called the Draft. That’s when you can switch around and make moves.”

The draft has been a fixture of WWE since 2002, with only occasional breaks including a year away in 2022.

It is unknown when the 2024 WWE Draft will take place as of this writing.

Source: Fightful via WrestleView

Backstage Rumors On Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque’s Role In WWE, TKO

Vince McMahon’s future in the WWE is unclear, with recent SEC filings leading to speculation that the longtime executive might be fashioning an exit plan from the newly-minted TKO Group Holdings, which formed in the wake of WWE’s merger with UFC, under UFC parent company Endeavor. This speculation has led to further speculation about who is running WWE’s creative branch; McMahon, or Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who assumed the reigns of Chief Content Officer following McMahon’s initial retirement. It’s unclear what the power structure is within WWE’s creative brain trust, though some believe the wind is blowing in a certain direction. 

PWInsider Elite’s Mike Johnson recently passed along that rumors within WWE have Levesque driving what he described as “99%” of WWE’s creative direction, with the word being that Levesque has been “knighted” by TKO to lead the promotion, instead of McMahon, a decision which is said to have had a positive effect on backstage morale.

However, this does not mean that McMahon is out of the picture, as the long-time WWE figurehead is currently Executive Chairman of TKO, and has remained active within WWE since his return in January. It is believed that McMahon, as long as he’s around, will always have some input in WWE and that an occasional “tug-of-war” between himself and Levesque may still pop up now and then, with the Chief Content Officer sometimes acquiescing to McMahon’s suggestions.

How much truth there is to these rumblings backstage remains unclear. The most recent word on WWE’s creative process had Levesque running the day-to-day creative, with McMahon overseeing and having final say over certain elements of “Raw,” “SmackDown,” and WWE PLE’s, though McMahon himself had indicated he would no longer be in the day-to-day weeds, as he had been in the past.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Triple H Planning More Surprises

Since Paul “Triple H” Levesque became WWE’s head of creative, he has wasted little time putting his imprint on the promotion’s main roster, including bringing back several former WWE Superstars. Dakota Kai, Johnny Gargano, Hit Row, Karrion Kross, and Scarlett Bordeaux have all made their returns to the company since Triple H took control following Vince McMahon’s retirement, but that might not be the end of the surprises. 

While fans have speculated about the likes of Bray Wyatt, Sasha Banks, and Naomi all coming back to WWE television, Levesque is reportedly working on other surprises. According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he has more coming in the future, but they are not the people about whom people are speculating. 

No information was given about who Levesque could be working on bringing to the WWE roster, and whether or not they are former WWE Superstars or talent who have never appeared before, but he is clearly pushing to make big moves to keep the fans engaged.

Braun Strowman’s return to WWE is the latest comback, with the former Universal Champion making his way back on the 9/5 episode of “WWE Raw,” in which he ran through four of WWE’s tag teams. Since then he has appeared on “WWE SmackDown,” taking out both members of the Alpha Academy.

Triple H has also been keeping things fresh on the main roster by bringing talent from “WWE NXT” to the shows, with Dexter Lumis, IYO SKY, and Toxic Attraction getting opportunities to shine.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Triple H Promises More Transparency With Talent Moving Forward

As WWE’s new head of creative, Triple H hopes to make communication easier for talent.

For the last month, the pro wrestling world has been rocked by on major scandal. Vince McMahon was revealed to have paid over $14 million in hush money following sexual misconduct with employees. Last Friday, McMahon announced that he would be retiring from his position as CEO of WWE. In his place are his daughter Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan, WWE’s new co-CEOs.

Paul Levesque, better known by his ring name Triple H, is now leading WWE’s creative team. While it’s yet to be seen how exactly the WWE will look under Triple H’s control, he reportedly already has a vision for how the company will operate in the future.

Ahead of last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw, Triple H held a meeting backstage with the roster. According to Fightful Select, the meeting laid out the groundwork for Triple H’s intentions with the main roster going forward.

Triple H promised talent more transparency in the future, including open lines of communication. This has been an issue for the WWE in recent years; talent would sometimes have to wait for hours outside of Vince McMahon’s office in order to talk with him. Triple H also told talent during the meeting that he wants work to be fun.

According to Fightful’s report, the meeting went smoothly and was well-received. Talent is said to be feeling optimistic now that Triple H is in charge.

If Triple H means what he said to WWE’s talent tonight, then things could be looking up for the company. Hopefully, WWE’s new regime is able to make it through this rough patch and find brighter days ahead.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Announces Triple H As New Head Of Creative

There’s a new head of WWE creative in town and the game could have just changed for pro wrestling. WWE revealed today that Paul Levesque (fka Triple H) will be in charge of all responsibilities when it comes to WWE’s creative process. With Vince McMahon announcing his retirement from all of his WWE duties, Triple H was named the replacement for John Laurinaitis as the head of talent relations, and according to WWE, he’s now in charge of creative, as well. The full announcement, which also reveals that Stephanie McMahon is the new Chairwoman of the Board, can be read below:

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE: WWE) and its Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan as co-Chief Executive Officers. Ms. McMahon has also been appointed Chairwoman of the Board, and Mr. Khan will continue to serve as a member of the Board. These appointments follow Vince McMahon’s retirement announcement on Friday, July 22.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to lead WWE together with our unmatched management team,” said Ms. McMahon and Mr. Khan. “We recognize this is a tremendous opportunity and responsibility, and we look forward to serving the WWE Universe.”

Additionally, WWE executive Paul Levesque will assume all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative, in addition to his regular duties.

Vince McMahon suddenly announced his retirement Friday evening before “WWE SmackDown” took place, and Stephanie McMahon kicked off the show to send a “thank you” to her father.  Vince’s retirement amidst a storm of allegations that he haded out more than $12 million in hush money to female employees regarding sexual misconduct over the course of the last 16 years, allegations that led to an internal investigation by the WWE board and numerous external investigations regarding WWE’s handling of the situation. Laurinaitis, who was allegedly also involved in the sexual misconduct allegations, was put on administrative leave last month and is not expected to return to the company.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Big Update On Triple H’s Backstage WWE Position

Triple H is back in the WWE in a big way. “The Game” wasn’t lying when he told the WWE Performance Center that he was excited for what’s to come regarding his future, as it was announced by the company today that Paul Levesque will resume his executive position as Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, replacing John Laurinaitis.

“I look forward to returning to my prior position as head of Talent Relations,” Levesque said in WWE’s official announcement. “I’m healthy, fired up, and ready to take charge.” He added on Twitter that he was “Proud and honored to work with the best talent in the world.”

https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/1550485402166988806

Levesque originally took the position as EVP of Talent Relations back in 2011 before being promoted in 2013 and eventually becoming EVP of Global Talent Strategy & Development. He was also the head executive and creative mind behind “NXT,” but was forced to step away after suffering a “cardiac event” in 2021 that was later found to be a genetic heart condition. As a result, he was forced to announce his retirement from in-ring competition by leaving his boots in the ring at WrestleMania. Although his continued role in company remained something of a mystery for the following months, Levesque remained the figurehead for WWE’s “Next In Line” program.

Laurinaitis, meanwhile, was on leave from the position following a Wall Street Journal report alleging that the former Johnny Ace played a role in Vince McMahon’s “hush money” payments. Longtime WWE executive Bruce Prichard temporarily stepped in the role over the course of the last month, and Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics has noted that Laurinaitis is still considered on administrative leaving following the allegations. McMahon himself stepped down as WWE CEO and Chairman while the company’s board investigates the Wall Street Journal allegations, with his daughter, Stephanie McMahon — who is also married to Levesque — taking up those duties in the interim.

Source: Wrestling Inc.