WWE is ramping up its ID program with the introduction of two new title belts.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque sent out a social media post on Tuesday announcing that men’s and women’s championships have been created for the ID (Independent Development) program. Created in October 2024, WWE ID is a system where WWE partners with independent wrestlers and training schools. Indie wrestlers who sign WWE ID deals receive financial support from WWE, in addition to other benefits like mentorship and access to training facilities.
The top independent wrestling prospects have been ID’d… and now, we’re ready to spotlight the best of the best.
The inaugural WWE ID Champions will be determined by a tournament taking place on the “top independent wrestling promotions.” The belts will then be defended on the indies. Further details about the tournament — including the participants and when it will be happening — have not been announced yet.
Kylie Rae, Jack Summit (Jack Cartwheel), Aaron Rourke, Marcus Mathers, Bryce Donovan, Zayda Steel, and Zara Zakher are among the talent that’s been signed to WWE ID.
Official matches involving WWE ID prospects take place on the indies and are spotlighted on WWE ID’s social media accounts. Victories can earn prospects an opportunity to compete on WWE Evolve, a new series that debuts on Tubi this March.
Been trying to come up with a way to say ‘Thank You’ for the immense honor announced yesterday.
I have had the incredible pleasure of a 30+ year [career] of creating memories and moments…meeting life-long friends (which I’m rethinking both @Undertaker & @ShawnMichaels right now) and of course, the most incredible wife and mother @StephMcMahon.
…and the opportunity to entertain the best fans in the world.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out, I appreciate the kind words and well-wishes.
With Charlotte Flair set to return this weekend, a source says her presentation will fully embrace her Flair family legacy with a ‘Top Girl’ attitude and ‘flare’ to her character. There’s also talk of championship gold coming her way sooner rather than later.
Goldberg said on his CarCast podcast that he’ll be undergoing stem cell therapy as part of the preparation for his retirement match that’s happening in WWE later this year. Neither a date nor an opponent for the match have been announced yet.
With 90 days having passed since she was released from her WWE contract, Nixon Newell (the former Tegan Nox) posted that she is now officially a free agent. She is taking bookings at [email protected]. Indi Hartwell is also now entering free agency after being released on the same day as Newell. Hartwell’s first post-WWE appearance will be at WrestleCon’s convention in Indianapolis this Saturday.
I fully believe that Mustafa Ali could be the face of a company, could be the World Champion of a company. You could sit me down with any sponsor, with any publication, with any TV show. And I dress like a star. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m mentally, physically healthy. You’re not going to hear anything bad about me in the news. I’m not getting arrested. I’m not failing a drug test. I’m the epitome of a professional.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque will indeed headline the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
After a report of the impending induction leaked Wednesday, WWE confirmed the news of Triple H’s induction on Wednesday evening, including releasing video of Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker announcing the news at a meeting in Stamford, Connecticut at WWE headquarters.
The news was presented as a surprise to Levesque at a town hall meeting on Wednesday also featuring WWE president Nick Khan, and TKO Group CEO Mark Shapiro
Levesque’s wife Stephanie McMahon also made an appearance:
Stephanie noted in a social media post that the news was also a surprise to her, and congratulated her husband:
You got me too @ShawnMichaels and @undertaker! It is my honor to witness your brotherhood. Thank you for making the Executive Decision because you know Paul never would! Congratulations to my King, @TripleH! You have more than earned your place in Immortality #WWEHOF class of… https://t.co/yifO2OnBCp
Levesque is a 14-time World Champion in WWE, and was also inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X. He had his last match in 2019 on a WWE tour of Japan, and officially retired from in-ring competition in 2022 after suffering from heart failure in 2021.
Triple H has served in a variety of front office positions in WWE since his full-time in-ring career wound down in 2010, including multiple executive vice president titles. He has served in the role of chief content officer for the company since September 2022.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque will reportedly be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
On Wednesday, PWInsider reported that Levesque will headline this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony. He was informed of his upcoming induction today at a WWE town hall meeting with company employees. During the meeting, Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels surprised Levesque with the news. He was said to be caught off guard and emotional in response.
The induction will make Levesque the tenth wrestler to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice and the eighth to be inducted as both an individual and as a member of a group (Sean Waltman and Barry Windham are in twice as members of two different teams). He was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 with Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Chyna, and Shawn Michaels as D-Generation-X.
Levesque has also played a significant role in the WWE Hall of Fame itself. In 2013, Levesque helped mend fences with Bruno Sammartino, which saw him return to the company to be inducted. Levesque is also said to have influenced the creation of the “Legacy Wing” of the Hall of Fame from 2016 to 2021 that saw legends such as George Hackenschmidt, Mildred Burke, Lou Thesz, Pat O’Connor and others inducted.
Chelsea Green believes that women are equal to men in WWE’s new era.
While promoting WWE’s partnership with Netflix, Green was interviewed by The Sports Agents podcast in the United Kingdom. During the discussion, Green was asked how things have changed for women in WWE with Vince McMahon gone and Paul “Triple H” Levesque now in charge. Green — who was sure to praise the female wrestlers from previous eras who paved the way — said Levesque has made women feel equal to men in WWE. Green said she loves her job and feels safe and supported.
“Well, I think you’re kind of talking about a whole different group of eras coming together. Because if we’re talking about Vince versus Triple H, we’re also talking about Attitude Era versus now, we’re talking about divas versus women, we’re talking about — you know — Trish Stratus versus me,” Green responded. “And I really think that — first of all, we would not be here without that side of things, right? We in 2025 would not have the success that we have if it wasn’t for that Attitude Era, the Bellas, the Trish Stratuses, the Litas, the Mickie Jameses. They set the tone for us.
“I can’t speak on what their era was like because I wasn’t there. But now in this new era, I know that I come to work, I love my job, I feel safe, I feel supported. Triple H makes women specifically feel absolutely equal to men. We are out there main eventing WrestleManias now, something that, you know, unfortunately that previous era didn’t get to experience. But they set the table for us, and now we’re sitting at it. We’re enjoying these amazing meals. And I couldn’t be happier.”
Green is WWE’s first-ever Women’s United States Champion. She won the title by defeating Michin in a tournament final last month at the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event. A rematch between the two happened on SmackDown last week with interference by Piper Niven helping Green retain.
Triple H recently confirmed to Jimmy Traina on the SI Media podcast recently that WWE Raw on Netflix’s runtime will be flexible.
Raw has only been a two-hour show for the last three months while airing on the USA Network. It is expected to return to a three-hour format beginning with tomorrow’s premiere on Netflix. However, Levesque says they can be flexible about exactly how long each episode goes.
Levesque said:
“It’ll be flexible in that I don’t think necessarily the the time constraints of network television or cable television apply. It’s a slightly different form, it’s a slightly different platform. I think much like many shows, whether dramas, whetherwhatever, but episodic shows, they have the ability to do whatever the show needs to have done. So if this episode needs to be an hour, great, it’s an hour. This next episode needs to be 42 minutes, it’s 42 minutes. It’s what makes for the best product. Now I’m not saying that we’re going to be 42 minutes, but clearly we’ll deliver the product in a way that is is best for Netflix and and for their business model and and what is best for our storytelling.”
Levesque believes that the “sweet spot” for wrestling is between two and three hours.
“Sometimes you get into the two hour show and you just don’t have the real estate on that program to get everything in there you want to get in and all the stories that you want to get in and all the characters that you want to get in and there are people that are getting left off.”
One of the benefits of having a flexible run time, Levesque says, is that it allows WWE to let segments run long without taking away from other stories on the show.
“Sometimes 3 hours can feel long; sometimes two hours is not enough. Somewhere in the middle to me is the sweet spot,” he continued.
Jesse Ventura is impressed by the leadership he’s seen from Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
After signing a Legends contract with the company, Ventura made his WWE return at Saturday Night’s Main Event last weekend. The classic series is now back as a quarterly special on NBC/Peacock — and Ventura will be providing commentary for the events. He made a Substack post this week reflecting on his return and praising the new regime that exists in WWE.
“First of all it was truly an honor to come back home to the WWE. First off, I have to thank my son, Tyrel Ventura, for putting the wheels in motion last summer. It’s been such an incredible feeling to return to the place where my career essentially began or, more accurately, really took off from,” Ventura wrote.
“A few thoughts on the new regime at the WWE. The biggest thing I noticed was how different the energy and vibe is backstage. You don’t feel a battle of ego’s like you often did back in my day. From the executive level to the locker room level you instead feel a very strong sense of teamwork and creativity. Everyone is running in the same direction. Fueled by a desire to see everyone succeed, not just themselves. I think this speaks volumes about the leadership of Paul ‘HHH’ Levesque.”
Ventura added that he loved interacting with the new generation of wrestlers backstage at the show. He believes that Levesque, Nick Khan, and everyone on the WWE team are creating a “truly incredible and unique environment” that hasn’t existed anywhere else he’s been in wrestling.
The next assignment for Ventura will be at Saturday Night’s Main Event in San Antonio, Texas on January 25.
Ventura, a former wrestler and iconic commentary voice, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. He served as governor of Minnesota from 1999-2003.
Complete rundown of Full Gear, including addressing perception issues, why the crowd was difficult, business notes on attendance and PPV, timing, the Worlds End show and what it looks like, the head-to-head battle on 12/28 in Orlando and the Continental Classic.
A detailed look at the Conor McGregor sexual assault lawsuit, testimony, keys to the verdict, reactions from McGregor, Dee Devlin, Nikita Hand and others. We also look at the aftermath with companies breaking ties with McGregor, supermarkets and shops no longer carrying his products and the UFC lack of reaction, and how that compares with boxing history with top draws.
The business of Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul and explaining the numbers
Linda McMahon nominated by Trump as Secretary of Education and media coverage
Survivor Series coverage
The Ricky Starks GCW controversy, what happened, why it happened and how it could and should have been avoided
UFC 309 coverage with business notes, what’s next for the fighters, Jon Jones’ future and more
A look at the life and career of Mighty Inoue, who passed away this week, a Japanese wrestler from the 60s to 90s and later a referee, including the brief period when he was the top star in the IWE and his legendary bouts in Japan against all-time greats.
Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame balloting notes
The life of Colosso Colosetti, who was a star for three decades in Mexico and held several titles in the U.S. as well. We look at his biggest matches, and there were a ton of them.
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past two weeks
Advanced ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and New Japan shows in the U.S. We also look at a key thing regarding ticket advances and sales in the U.S.
Former ROH star wins major world title in fantastic match in Mexico
Notes on an upcoming international event at Arena Mexico
Mistico talks his match with Chris Jericho
AAA’s biggest feud for 2025
Coverage of all the Japanese tournaments going on in Stardom, Dragon Gate, All Japan and New Japan
Kenny Omega’s return and New Japan/AEW Wrestle Dynasty update
Historic X-Over show notes
Former WWE talent openly talks about going for a gold medal in the 2028 Olympics
The second oldest male wrestler ever in a match took place over the weekend featuring one of the most famous wrestlers ever in his country
WWE star makes surprise appearance at an international show
Bloodsport notes
A look at AEW’s upcoming schedule
AEW moves the Brisbane show
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Bellator fighters talking publicly about not getting fights
Lots of notes on the death of fighter Trokon Dousuah after a fight in Alberta and the backstory of all that happened
Value of WWE & UFC skyrockets
Lots on the Netflix debut and Saturday Night’s Main Event
Dwayne Johnson box office notes
Royal Rumble tickets
WWE changing how it handles comp tickets
How Comcast internal changes will affect WWE
Crown Jewel and Bound for Glory PPV updates
Lots on new WWE signees
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
During WWE and Netflix’s media event at Netflix headquarters yesterday, Paul “Triple H” Levesque discussed how WWE can keep things fresh by giving talent some time off television. Levesque pointed to Drew McIntyre – who returned on Raw this Monday after not appearing since Bad Blood – as an example of that:
As we create more and more stars, it sort of creates this opportunity for stars to be able to come in and out, because you’re not reliant on the same people every week to get you to where you need to get to, right?
[McIntyre] was dying to come back. He wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t injured. ‘Let’s just give you a little breather here for a second.’ And whether that’s spending some time at home enjoying your family, whatever that is, or whether that’s, ‘Hey, I have this other project I want to work on. I have this project that Netflix has come up with, I’m going to work on that.’ Whatever. Us having that ability to morph and shift things around and keep things fresh, I think is a tremendous opportunity for us. So, I’d look for more of that too.
I just saw Jelly Roll the other day and he’s still raving about wrestling. Every time I see him he says the same thing, ‘I got another 100 pounds [of weight loss] to go, baby, and I’m doing a match with you guys.’
Jim Ross is voicing the opening video for this Thursday’s Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers NFL game on Amazon Prime Video. Ross tweeted: “If you’re watching @PrimeVideo [tomorrow] for the @Lions vs @packers showdown check out the cold open that I voiced over this morning.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque doesn’t sound overly worried about the buffering issues Netflix experienced for its Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight.
Jake Paul defeated the 58-year-old Tyson in their boxing spectacle last Friday. The broadcast experienced significant buffering issues that frustrated viewers, but it was still a hugely successful night for Netflix. The streaming company has claimed a peak audience of more than 60 million households worldwide for the main event.
While appearing on New Hampshire’s Greg & The Morning Buzz radio show this week, Levesque reacted to the huge audience Netflix drew for the fight.
“You mentioned Netflix, like, that’s a game-changer,” Levesque said. “That Tyson fight this past week did 60-something million viewers live. What people don’t get — that’s households. Multiply that times three on average, that’s the amount of people that were watching.”
Netflix will become the new broadcast home of WWE Raw starting in January 2025. Greg & The Morning Buzz asked Levesque if the streaming issues for Paul vs. Tyson made him concerned for Raw’s premiere on the service.
“Look, I don’t want to flex about it, but it was buffering on my end because I was on a plane watching it. So the buffering was expected on my side,” WWE’s Chief Content Officer said. “We were flying back from TV watching the fight and the signal was a little wonky. And I thought, ‘Well, we’re 40,000 feet in the air, it should be.’ But then sort of seeing it online of everybody saying it was buffering. Look, you start putting 60 million households all at once on a streaming service. Put it this way, if our first night buffers and they come and say it was 60-70 million households watching, I’ll be okay with the buffering.”
It was announced this week that the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California will be the venue for Raw’s Netflix premiere. The episode is taking place on Monday, January 6 with John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Bianca Belair, and rapper Travis Scott among those advertised to appear.
At Bad Blood on Saturday night, Paul “Triple H” Levesque made an appearance for what WWE said would be a historic announcement.
Levesque revealed that — at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia next month — the first-ever Crown Jewel Champions will be determined. There will be singles matches pitting the WWE Champion against the World Champion in both the men’s and women’s division. While none of their championships will be on the line, the winners will be awarded the Crown Jewel titles for 2024.
Levesque said this will become the annual theme of Crown Jewel with the top champions of the men’s and women’s divisions facing off to determine that year’s Crown Jewel champs.
“50 carats of diamonds that will signify the winner as the best of the best,” Levesque said after unveiling the Crown Jewel title belt.
Crown Jewel 2024 is being held in Riyadh on Saturday, November 2. If there are no title changes before then, these Crown Jewel Championship matches would be Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther and Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan.
Gunther knows that having the support of Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been vital to his success in WWE.
While speaking with The Metro, Gunther discussed how Levesque has always seen something in him. Gunther doesn’t know if he would even be in WWE without the support he’s gotten from Levesque.
“He always supported me and saw something in me. In general, I think he is somebody that is very disciplined when it comes to his long-term goals with certain people and sticking to them,” Gunther said. “I don’t know if I would be here without ever being more or less connected with Triple H in that sense.”
Then known as WALTER, Gunther started his WWE career in 2019 for NXT UK. He’s now the top champion on Raw and is set for a World Heavyweight title defense against Sami Zayn next Monday. It’s a rematch from WrestleMania 40, where Zayn ended Gunther’s run as the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history.
Gunther told The Metro that, when he first joined the main roster, he did not have the same connection with Vince McMahon that he has with Levesque.
“The creative ideas from his side, obviously, was never my kind of thing. But that’s subjective. It’s a taste thing. I think the success can’t be denied,” Gunther said about McMahon. “But I was just under him for maybe three and a half months, and in that time, I had half a conversation with him.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque is proud of all the hard work Jey Uso put in on his journey to singles gold.
In the main event of WWE Raw last night, Uso won his first singles championship by defeating Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental title. Levesque tweeted a photo with Uso after the match and congratulated him on his accomplishment.
The embodiment of hard work paying off is “Main Event” Jey @WWEUsos. An all-time great in the tag team division, and now has won one of the most historic championships in our business.
“The embodiment of hard work paying off is ‘Main Event’ Jey [Uso],” Levesque wrote. “An all-time great in the tag team division, and now has won one of the most historic championships in our business. Congratulations, Jey…YEET!”
As Raw went off the air, Uso went into the crowd to celebrate with the fans. Jackie Redmond then conducted a post-show interview where Uso thanked everyone who has been on this journey with him. He got visibly emotional as the crowd chanted “You deserve it.”
Uso told the kids in the audience that if they get good grades, listen to their parents, and say their prayers — their dreams can come true too.
The full Uso vs. Breakker match can be watched below.
While thought of as a longshot when first brought up, the 2023 dream of John Cena to bring WWE WrestleMania to London may be closer to becoming a reality after all.
Several news outlets reported Thursday that London mayor Sadiq Khan had a surprise meeting Thursday afternoon at City Hall with WWE CEO Nick Khan and chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque about the possibility of bringing the annual two-night event to London for the first time ever.
The mayor has been public in his desire to bring major international sports events to London of which WrestleMania was included. He posted on X about that desire in April to which Levesque replied, “Let’s talk.”
He told the Daily Star that “it’s exciting to be working with the WWE team. The meeting was really productive, and talks will continue about how we could turn our ambition into a reality.”
The next WrestleMania is scheduled for Las Vegas with Indianapolis, Indiana, set to host the big event at an undetermined date.
“Sadiq Khan and his team are working hard on positioning London as a sport and entertainment capital of Europe and it has been great to hear more on his vision for how WWE can support them on that journey, ” Nick Khan said, adding “There is a lot that needs to be discussed further but we share the ambition of Mayor Khan in trying to bring a stand-out WWE premium live event to London.”
One of those items that needs to be “discussed further” is likely a site fee which has been a publicly-stated goal of TKO management on both investors calls and speaking events. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also publicly stated their desire to host WrestleMania as their annual commit to WWE for two PLEs a year puts them in the driver’s seat.
With Vince McMahon gone from WWE, Ronda Rousey thinks the company can only improve.
Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports recently interviewed Rousey, asking her if she thinks the new WWE regime can make the company a better place for wrestlers than it was under McMahon. Rousey expressed that she enjoyed working for Paul “Triple H” Levesque and hopes the women’s division gets a more equal share of WWE television time with him in charge of creative.
“Well, I think anyone’s better than Vince McMahon. The only place you can go is up [laughs],” Rousey said. “I really enjoy Triple H and working with him. And honestly, I haven’t been watching, but I saw something from [Natalya] saying that they had a card recently that had just as many women on it as the men. And that’s just what I would really like to see, the women equally represented with not just matches on the card, but time on the show. I feel there’s no place they could go but up. And I’m really, really happy for all the women that are still there and thriving under the new regime.”
McMahon resigned from WWE and its parent company TKO Group Holdings this January following the lawsuit that was filed against him by former WWE employee Janel Grant. McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis are listed as defendants in the suit. It accuses McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.
The lawsuit has been put on pause for six months per a request from the Department of Justice as it conducts an investigation regarding McMahon.
Rousey has been gone from WWE since SummerSlam 2023. In past interviews, Rousey said she doubts that she’ll ever return and would only do so if things “drastically change” with how WWE is run.
WWE has put out a video addressing the controversial way its King of the Ring tournament ended.
On Saturday, Gunther was crowned King of the Ring by defeating Randy Orton in the tournament finals. The match appeared to go as intended — except for a botched finish where Orton accidentally had his shoulder up while being pinned.
Orton was selling storyline knee and back injuries throughout his match against Gunther. He hit an RKO near the end of the match but couldn’t get leverage on the cover due to his hurt knee. Gunther then trapped Orton in a crucifix pin. The referee counted to three, but Orton’s shoulder was clearly up.
After the show, WWE uploaded an interview with Paul “Triple H” Levesque addressing the way Gunther vs. Orton ended. Levesque said the referee’s decision is final and Gunther is King of the Ring, but he’s sure Gunther will want to face Orton again in the future to prove that he’s the better man.
“Coming back here and seeing it back, I saw exactly what you saw. I saw what everybody saw. I saw what everybody is talking about. Didn’t really even seem controversial to me, just seemed like Randy Orton’s shoulder wasn’t down,” Levesque said. “But I’m going to say this: the referee’s decision is final. Gunther is your King of the Ring.
“That being said, especially after what I saw tonight, I certainly want to see that again. I think Randy Orton deserves to have another shot at that. And I think, if I know anything about Gunther, he will want to have another shot at that to take the controversy out — to take the asterisk off of the page where it says King of the Ring for him. I think he will want to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is better than Randy Orton.”
Levesque didn’t say when that potential Gunther vs. Orton match would be taking place. He noted that it will be “a moment or two” until Orton is ready to step back into the ring with Gunther.
“Having seen Randy back here, he’s pretty banged up,” Levesque said. “Both his knee and his back. I think it’s going to be a moment or two before he is ready to step back into the ring with Gunther. But when he is, let’s go.”
By winning King of the Ring, Gunther receives a World Heavyweight Championship shot at SummerSlam. He will challenge either Damian Priest or Drew McIntyre for the title. Priest is defending against McIntyre at Clash at the Castle in Scotland next month.
Queen of the Ring winner Nia Jax is also getting a SummerSlam title shot, challenging for the WWE Women’s Championship. Levesque appeared at King & Queen of the Ring and presented both Gunther and Jax with their crowns.
