Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including Hulk Hogan today, Hunter part of a new Trump initiative, SummerSlam predictions, why AEW needs to axe the overrun, Collision thoughts, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Tag: HHH
WOL: WWE WrestleMania night one preview, Vince McMahon-friendly Hall of Fame ceremony recap
There is so much to cover today on the pre-WrestleMania 41 edition of Wrestling Observer Live.
From Friday’s SmackDown, Rey Mysterio was apparently injured during a trios match so how will it affect his match Saturday with El Grande Americano?
Cody Rhodes left John Cena laying but, other than that, it was kind of an uninspired, by-the-numbers Smackdown go home show for WrestleMania. I discuss that and more.
Plus, an “Everyone Loves Vince” edition of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, Mariah May updates, Naito and BUSHI speaking at Road to Dontaku night one, and more.
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Wrestling Observer Radio: Punk return, why HHH wasn’t at RAW, Dynamite and NXT reviews, more
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including all the ratings notes from the return of CM Punk and AEW going head-to-head with War Games, why HHH was not at RAW, Wembley ticket sales, American MVP, AEW and NXT TV reports plus Rampage spoilers at the end. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Tay Melo, Alexa Bliss give birth
1:30: Ratings
16:52: Triple H not at Raw on Monday, update on Wembley Stadium sales, Stardom PPV lineup
22:01: North American MVP award thoughts
25:09: AEW Dynamite report
1:06:35: WWE NXT report
1:14:58: AEW Rampage spoilers
Wrestling Observer Radio: Smackdown, Rampage, Vince working his way back in, tons more
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the latest on Vince McMahon getting his hand back into the WWE pot, the talent meeting on Friday and what HHH said, notes from the Impact PPV including the women headlining, Jon Jones, Rampage, Smackdown, tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Vince McMahon updates
14:39: Impact Hard to Kill notes
18:59: Dragongate corrections
20:25: Jon Jones returns, Francis Ngannou out of UFC
30:17: AEW Rampage recap
45:02: WWE SmackDown recap
1:02:34: Q&A
Wrestling Observer Live: WrestleMania, ROH Supercard, NXT, HHH health, WrestleMania attendance, more!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including WrestleMania this weekend, Supercard of Honor with many surprises, NXT’s PPV, Triple H’s health status and what the future could hold for the company, WrestleMania attendance, Randy Orton talks NXT stars hurting people and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live: Vince/Seth, Mania card, HHH, news, and more!
On this week’s Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Andrew is joined by Garrett Gonzales.
They discuss Triple H’s in-ring retirement announcement and what this means for his future, and the impact it has on NXT.
Vince Mcmahon is expected to “handpick” Seth Rollins’ Wrestlemania opponent. The speculation is this will be Cody, but how will they present him?
They also discuss Dynamite from this past week. How did it compare to previous shows, and does their show format help or hurt when it comes to building ratings?
Also discussed are WWE’s secondary titles being left off WrestleMania, NXT Stand & Deliver, lack of build, and ROH Supercard of Honor anticipation.
WWE’s Triple H announces in-ring retirement, talks near-death experience
In a clip from an extended interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that will be released later Friday, WWE’s Paul “Triple H” Levesque said that he is done in the ring and nearly died during last September’s cardiac event.
“As far as in-ring, I’m done. I would never wrestle again. I have a defibrillator in my chest so it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to get zapped on live TV,” he said.
In September 2021, Levesque suffered what WWE called a “cardiac event” that Smith later said was a genetic heart disorder.
Levesque said his problems started when he had viral pneumonia and inflamed lungs and that it got increasingly worse when he was recovering at home.
He said that his wife, Stephanie McMahon, saw he was coughing up blood and was told by medical personnel shortly thereafter to head to the emergency room as soon as possible.
Levesque explained that a good ejection fraction of the human heart (a measurement of the percentage of blood leaving your heart each time it contracts) is between 55-60%. When he was told to go to the ER, he was at 30%.
At the time he was admitted, he was at 22%.
“I was in heart failure…bad,” he said, later saying it dropped to 11% by the next morning when he was getting more tests.
“I was nosediving and at the one-yard-line of where you don’t want to be for your family and your future,” he said.
He got emotional when talking about the real life consequences of his situation, especially with three young daughters.
“There are moments when they are putting you out for stuff and you think ‘Is this it?’ Do you wake up…that’s tough to swallow,” he said. “It makes you think differently about life. It doesn’t make you any less driven for the things you want to do, but it certainly makes you appreciate the things you have — your friends and your family.”
The full 15-minute-interview will air on Smith’s ESPN+ show at 5:30 PM Eastern.
Figure Four Daily: Lance Storm on Dynamite, Impact, HHH and more!
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including tons of thoughts on this week’s Dynamite and Impact, the idea on the Internet that HHH was a failure, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
October 18, 2004 Observer Newsletter: WWE leaving Spike TV, Pat Patterson resigns from WWE, more
It was a wild week for World Wrestling Entertainment, as it had its biggest house show week in company history, a Hollywood Reporter story broke regarding its attempt to up its rights fees and possibly leave Spike TV, and behind-the-scenes creative problems led to the resignation of the No. 2 man on the creative side from the original expansion period, Pat Patterson.
The company’s 12-show European tour grossed an estimated $7.4 million, by far the biggest week when it comes to live shows in company history. Even with lackluster business elsewhere, it virtually guarantees a strong quarter. The company played to sellout crowds on nine of the 12 shows, including both Smackdown shows on 10/7 and 10/8 in Belfast, Northern Ireland playing to full houses and grossing about $1.1 million on the two nights. The company topped $1 million for the Raw taping and was expected to come close to that number for the Smackdown tapings in Manchester. They also did nearly $950,000 for a sold out Raw show on 10/8 at Wembley Arena in London.
September 20, 2004 Observer Newsletter: WWE Unforgiven review, TNA developments
Normally, one show, particularly like Unforgiven, is here today and gone tomorrow. There have been worse shows, although most WWE PPV shows were better. But there are some scary signs, and more people than ever before seem to be picking up on them.
The product is stale. Without some badly needed switches of key talent, there are no new match-ups. On the Raw brand, they came up with the scenario in the summer of 2002 to build up HHH vs. Randy Orton as a top program. Orton seemed to be the most improved character of the year, with his superstar look and improving ability. He came off like a superstar in matches with Mick Foley, Chris Benoit, Edge and Chris Jericho, in building to the big angle. The angle was rushed. The wrong guy turned. The first match took place too soon. And the people didn’t care.
WWE’s Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque recovering from cardiac event
Image: WWE
WWE announced Wednesday that longtime star and current executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque suffered what they are calling a cardiac event last week.
“Paul Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H, underwent a successful procedure last week at Yale New Haven Hospital following a cardiac event. The episode was caused by a genetic heart issue and Paul is expected to make a full recovery.”
No other details were provided.
The 52-year-old has been semi-retired since 2018, wrestling sparingly at events like WrestleMania and the Saudi Arabia super shows. He hasn’t been in the ring since June 2019.
He was in Las Vegas for SummerSlam weekend and led the open tryouts the company had there.
Levesque is WWE’s executive VP of global talent strategy & development and is a driving force behind NXT which has been in the news lately due to philosophy changes led by his father-in-law Vince McMahon that include a new approach to recruiting and a new look.
Levesque has been married to WWE’s chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon since 2003. The couple has three daughters.
August 2, 2004 Observer Newsletter: SummerSlam 2004 card finalized, Raw Iron Man match, more
After the first 60:00 singles match on live U.S. TV in 23 years, and the first ever to a national audience, the SummerSlam show for 8/15 in Toronto has finalized its top seven matches.
The Raw brand top matches will be Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton for the World title, HHH vs. Eugene, Chris Jericho vs. Batista and Kane vs. Matt Hardy. The Smackdown brand matches will be JBL vs. Undertaker for the WWE title, Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero and John Cena vs. Booker T for the U.S. title.
The long-term plan is to build toward HHH vs. Orton as the big match at Wrestlemania. With Orton garnering so much momentum, this seems like an easy build by putting Orton over as champion and causing dissension in the Evolution group. HHH originally wanted that match for last year’s Mania, but recognized it was too early for Orton, who has really come into his own as a major star in the past two months.
July 26, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Raw 60-minute Iron Man match, more
The WWE will attempt to create history on Raw on 7/26 in Pittsburgh with the longest match in the 11 ½ year history of the show, a planned 60:00 Iron Man match for the WWE title between Chris Benoit and HHH.
A few years ago, the idea of doing a match that long on television would have been considered stupid. Not one was attempted in the 90s. In the 80s, there were a few famous very long matches, and two legit time limit draws, a Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig match for the AWA title on ESPN (taped on November 21, 1986, in Las Vegas, but airing on a New Year’s Eve TV special, which, because of when it aired, is part of what made it memorable) and a Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich NWA title match from Honolulu, taped February 5, 1985, airing about two months later nationally on FNN (the old Financial News Network, which at the time aired Polynesian Pro Wrestling).
HHH NXT TakeOver media call: Fan frustration, NWA all-women’s PPV
Paul “Triple H” Levesque spoke to the media Thursday afternoon prior to Sunday’s NXT TakeOver and gave some rarely aired frustrations regarding how people view pro wrestling these days.
The full audio is available for free down below.
While answering a question about frustrations regarding talents being misused when they get called up to the main roster, Levesque said the following:
“It’s so funny to me sometimes how in our business, everyone is so worried about where someone is going to go or land or how is this going to play out long-term in the future. How about watch it? Do you like it or do you not like it? Do you have to say ‘I like it, but I like this other thing more.” Just watch it or don’t.”
“And stop trying to figure out where everything goes. Fans ruin their own stuff half the time trying to figure out where everything goes and why it’s going there and how, and then trying to pick up their phone and search for the thing to find out what it is can ruin it for them so they aren’t surprised when it happens. I don’t understand that.”
He was also asked about whether they will send talent to the NWA all-women’s PPV headed up by Mickie James or do their own show again. Levesque said they have already done that and to him, equality is equality. If he did an all-men’s show, he would get criticised for that.
He then questioned James’ line about wanting the best regardless of contractual status without mentioning her by name. “From a businessperson’s standpoint, why do we have contractual status? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“If you want to wrestle the best women in the world, come to WWE,” Levesque said.
For the rest of the call, including an update on the SummerSlam weekend TakeOver and the Million Dollar Title, click below.
HHH NXT TakeOver media call: Undertaker, Tuesday move, Jericho
Prior to next week’s busy schedule before WrestleMania, Paul “HHH” Levesque talked to the media about the impending two nights of TakeOver, the move to Tuesday nights, the Undertaker’s recent comments about the current day product, and more.
Full audio is available below.
Levesque said he didn’t know about Chris Jericho doing the Steve Austin podcast until today, but wasn’t surprised as Vince McMahon has always said they are open for business.
Asked about Undertaker’s recent comments about the product being “soft,” Levesque said everyone is welcome to their own opinion and that he respects Undertaker’s opinion and will take it into account. He is looking forward to working with him again and elevating things on a variety of levels.
He said Wednesday’s TakeOver simulcast on WWE Network/Peacock will not feature ad breaks on the Peacock side of things. They are still working with USA and Peacock to figure out how it’s going to work logistically.
He talked positively about the move to Tuesday nights and about how they progressing in moving from WWE Network to USA, maintaining the audience, and being in this for the long term.
He put over how hard Omos and Bad Bunny have been working at the Performance Center, noting their daily appearances and work ethic in getting better.
He answered a question about AJ Styles pestering him for a WrestleMania match and that he views his in-ring days as a bonus and doesn’t have the time to commit to the preparation for such a match. He was flattered at Styles asking and didn’t completely shut the door on an in-ring return, adding Ric Flair bugs him all the time about getting back in the ring.
For more, including his thoughts on some amateur wrestling prospects for WWE, the Heritage Cup being defended in NXT, and more, click below.