Tag: paul triple h levesque

Triple H, Stephanie McMahon said to be aware of WWE ad issues

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Whether WWE will change anything remains to be seen, but the promotion has been made directly aware of how much fans dislike the increase in advertisements during the TKO era.

Actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. — a WWE superfan and the son of rap icon Ice Cube — appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show today and revealed a conversation he had with Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Stephanie McMahon about the oversaturation of ads on WWE programming. The conversation took place around the start of 2026, so there have not been any changes yet, but Levesque and McMahon didn’t push back on what Jackson was saying. He was told that WWE is working on potentially having better placement for the ads.

“I told this to Triple H and Stephanie when I did Stephanie’s show,” Jackson said. “I told them, the ads and the timing of them are horrendous. This was like five, six months ago or something crazy like that when I went to do Stephanie McMahon’s pod. Afterwards, because I did it at WWE headquarters, Triple H comes down, we’re all talking, and I brought up my transgressions. And I was like, ‘Dude, the ads are crazy. Like, it’s almost unwatchable.’ And, like, they know. It’s just about, they’re working on placement of them maybe.

“I get it, Roman Reigns’ entrance is seven minutes long, but that doesn’t mean that’s the time to throw the ads in. I should not — there should never be a moment where I miss IYO SKY’s entrance because ‘we are back from commercial break.’ It’s a level of respect for them. It’s fine in the middle of a match, but at least picture-in-picture me.”

Fan complaints about the ads peaked during WrestleMania 42. WWE touted that it set a new record with 32 marketing partners for the event, including Snickers, 2K, Riyadh Season, Ram, DoorDash, Wingstop, Wheatley American Vodka, Minute Maid, The General Insurance, MUG Root Beer, and Chumba Casino.

McMahon’s podcast episode with Jackson was released in January 2026. He co-hosts his own podcast “No-Contest Wrestling” that is produced by ESPN/The Rich Eisen Show.

MVP takes jab at Triple H: How many people did ‘The Nose’ get over?

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On the latest episode of his Marking Out podcast, MVP took a jab at Paul “Triple H” Levesque while comparing him to The Undertaker.

MVP and co-host Dwayne Swayze debated whether Undertaker or Triple H were more valuable to WWE during their in-ring careers. Comparing the two, MVP said Undertaker was far more willing to get other talent over. MVP, while poking fun at the size of Triple H’s nose, said Randy Orton and Batista are the only two stars he can recall Triple H getting over.

“Undertaker had the Giant Gonzalez that he had to try to make something out of. Look what Undertaker did with Mr. Kennedy. You can go down the list and you can think of talents that Taker worked with that he elevated and got them over,” MVP said. “How many people you remember ‘The Nose’ getting over? Triple H, in his career, how many people can you associate with him? And I’ll give you two: I’ll give you Randy, I’ll give you Batista. Take them away, who else can you remember the ‘Triple Nose’ getting over?”

MVP said that, even when Triple H would lose to someone like Jeff Hardy, he would not truly put them over. Instead, Triple H would sell the loss like Hardy was lucky to get one over on him.

While outright admitting that he does not like Triple H, MVP did credit him for being a top guy who was able to draw a lot of money.

“Triple H, top guy, drew a lot of money, was a player. Undertaker, top guy, drew a lot of money, was a player,” MVP said. “If Undertaker made — let’s just say for the sake of our conversation, through the course of his career, 10 other guys. And ‘The Nose’ got two or three other guys over that he elevated them. In the big scheme of things, the big picture, who was more valuable for the company?”

In the past, MVP has said that he has “zero respect” for Triple H due to the personal interactions they’ve had. And while MVP has questioned some of Triple H’s booking of Black talent, that is not the reason why he does not like Triple H.

MVP departed WWE in 2024 due to frustration over the promotion’s refusal to relaunch The Hurt Business. The faction are now known as The Hurt Syndicate in AEW with MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin.

Triple H comments on Brock Lesnar WWE retirement tease

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Paul “Triple H” Levesque didn’t offer much clarity while addressing Brock Lesnar’s apparent retirement at WWE WrestleMania 42.

After losing to Oba Femi on Sunday night, Lesnar left his boots and gloves in the ring before becoming visibly emotional as he seemed to bid farewell to the crowd. There has been no official confirmation of a retirement yet — and Levesque claimed during an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter that he did not have a conversation with Lesnar backstage after the match.

“Well, it certainly seemed that way,” Levesque responded when asked if this was the end for Lesnar. “Brock is not a walk back through the curtain and have a long conversation guy. Brock is a walk back through the curtain very angry and go to his bus and that is the end of it. So there was not a discussion had after. I will say this — [Lesnar is] probably the most famous combat sport athlete of our generation. One of a kind, nobody like Brock Lesnar.”

It was expected that Lesnar would be retiring soon, with him admitting recently that he was only back in WWE for a short time. Most rumors suggested that Lesnar would retire at SummerSlam this August given that the PLE is being held in his former home state of Minnesota.

Levesque, keeping kayfabe, suggested to SportsCenter that the retirement decision was one Lesnar made in the moment after losing to Femi. Praising Femi, Levesque called this result a changing of the guard.

“The one thing that nobody gives him credit for is the intelligence of a fighter. They see Brock as this hulking brute. ‘The Beast,’ right? They see him as all that,” Levesque said. “There comes a point in time when somebody comes along that’s bigger and badder and just pushes you to a place that you can’t come back from. The smart ones know when that happens, and they call it a day.

“I don’t think that was a planned thing. I think Brock went to the ring, he walked into a wall called Oba Femi. Brock walked up to the next big thing and ran into a brick wall. And the intelligence in him said, ‘Maybe I should call it a day.’ And he took his boots off and he put his gloves down and he walked away. That is not a statement of Brock being afraid of it. That is an intelligent man meeting something that cannot be stopped. It is as much of a statement of Oba Femi as it is Brock Lesnar. You witnessed a changing of the guard at the apex of our business.”

Femi vs. Lesnar aired on the ESPN TV simulcast portion of the WrestleMania night two broadcast, with WWE clearly pushing Femi as one of the company’s biggest stars for both the present and future. It was Femi’s first-ever WrestleMania match after being called up from NXT at the start of 2026.

Triple H praises WWE WrestleMania 42 main event: ‘One of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Appearing on ESPN after the conclusion of WrestleMania 42, Paul “Triple H” Levesque had very high praise for the show’s main event.

Night two of Mania concluded with Roman Reigns defeating CM Punk to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Levesque told SportsCenter that it was among the greatest wrestling matches he’s ever seen.

“Just epic,” WWE’s Chief Content Officer said. “You can see the passion and the pride of two guys that absolutely to the very core of their soul believe that they are the best in the world. And they’re out there to prove it to each other, they’re out there to prove it to the 55,000+ fans that were here tonight. Everything about them screamed, ‘I have to show I am the best.’

“And you see it all the way down to the end. Knock-down, drag-out fight that just someone won’t give. And you finally get to the end of it, no one really loses. But Roman Reigns comes out the winner. Roman Reigns is the new World Heavyweight Champion. To me, one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen, doesn’t get bigger.”

The match went nearly 34 minutes before Reigns got the win, beginning his first title reign since dropping the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. Reigns said after the show that he will not be a part-time champion and plans to be around all summer.

Becky Lynch says Triple H made sure she still got paid during WWE hiatus

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While appearing on a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Becky Lynch revealed the truth about her WWE contract status during the year she was away from the company.

Lynch was gone from WWE between May 2024-April 2025. At the time, she didn’t feel like her babyface run was working and was “kind of tired” from wrestling so often, raising her daughter on the road, and writing her book. Lynch didn’t intend on going anywhere else, but Paul “Triple H” Levesque insisted on extending her contract so she would still get paid.

“I told Hunter, I said, ‘Look, I’m stepping away. I’m not going anywhere else, but I just need some time.’ And he was great about it,” Lynch said. “He was like, ‘Hey, okay, all right, look, but let’s just extend your contract so you can at least get paid.’ Which was just so nice of him.

“So I was like, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I promise, pinky promise.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, but you might as well get paid while you’re doing it.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, all right.’ So that was very nice. And I thought it would be like three months. It ended up being a little bit longer than three months. 10 months, I think it ended up being.”

Spending more time at home was the biggest benefit of the hiatus for Lynch. She also took time to focus more on acting opportunities, including a role on the short-lived Paramount Plus series “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.”

At WrestleMania 42 night one, Lynch is challenging AJ Lee for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental title. The Saturday card also includes a match with Lynch’s husband Seth Rollins facing Gunther.

Stephanie McMahon: WWE Hall of Fame induction is ‘biggest thing ever in my career’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has defined so much of Stephanie McMahon’s life — and she’s grateful to be taking her place in the company’s Hall of Fame.

A new episode of McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast debuted today with her husband Paul “Triple H” Levesque interviewing her about her upcoming Hall of Fame induction. He asked McMahon how it feels to be going into the Hall of Fame.

“My God, it feels — it’s such an honor,” she responded. “And I’m so grateful. It’s the biggest, I never, ever imagined it. And it’s just the biggest thing ever in my career. And, you know, I’m really proud.”

Levesque feels McMahon is one of the most deserving people who could ever join the Hall of Fame. But when she was surprised with the news, Levesque could tell that McMahon couldn’t understand why she was being inducted. McMahon addressed whether she’s come to accept that she’s worthy.

“Well, I don’t know that worthy is a word I would use. But like I definitely am accepting and I’m in such a great place and I’m so excited and I’m just so grateful,” she said. “You know, that’s the thing. It’s like, no matter what happens in WWE moving forward, this has been my life. And I’m so grateful to have had this remarkable, incredible life surrounded by these characters and people who are probably the most honest sort of truthful versions of themselves, right? Because when you’re on the road with people and I don’t know, I love our community.”

McMahon said she’s gone through several iterations of the draft for her speech and has written it in pieces, remembering new things throughout the process. People within WWE have told McMahon that they were struggling to put together the video package for her induction because it has to encapsulate nearly 50 years of history into such a short video.

For McMahon, WWE is the only place she’s ever wanted to work, calling it the “best business in the world.” She loves that she’s gotten to do so many things over the years both on-screen and behind the scenes.

“So to have had all of this, you know, this is my world,” McMahon said. “WWE is my actual world and always has been.”

Levesque became emotional toward the end of the podcast while discussing how deserving McMahon is of her induction. He credited McMahon for making WWE a family instead of a cutthroat, Wild West-type business.

“There’s very few people that I could look at and say deserve it more. Like, truly. I don’t say that because you’re my wife. I don’t say that because it’s you. I say that because of your accomplishments and what we’ve done and, you know, the things you’ve accomplished and especially the stuff that you’ve accomplished that people don’t even see,” he said.

“People come along and participate in the business. People come along and add to the business. Very few people change the business… You put the culture in what we do. It didn’t exist before that. It was just the f***ing Wild West. It’s just what the business was. And then you came in and sort of changed it.”

The 2026 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is taking place in Las Vegas at midnight Eastern/9 p.m. Pacific this Friday night, streaming live on the ESPN app in the United States and on YouTube internationally.

2026 WWE Hall of Fame class —

  • Stephanie McMahon
  • AJ Styles
  • Demolition (Ax & Smash)
  • Dennis Rodman
  • Sid Vicious (posthumously being inducted as a Legacy Award winner)
  • Bad News Brown (posthumously being inducted as a Legacy Award winner)
  • WWE Immortal Moment Award: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant from WrestleMania III

Triple H says WWE has ‘no backup’ for top-tier stars

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Paul “Triple H” Levesque believes WWE’s top-tier stars like Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk are irreplaceable.

Ahead of WrestleMania 42, Levesque sat down with SmackDown commentator Joe Tessitore for a long-form interview posted by WWE. Levesque said there have been “a lot” of surprises on the road to WrestleMania. As a booker, factors like injuries disrupt your plans and change the original vision you had. Levesque feels that injuries in WWE have an even greater impact than they do in other sports, where there is always a backup ready to take over.

“Oh, there’s a lot of them [surprises]. Because sometimes it’s surprises of the way that you think a crowd is going to react to something and they react different,” Levesque said. “Sometimes it’s — when you’re putting stuff together in your mind, Dusty Rhodes used to say this all the time to me, ‘In your mind, you see things 100 percent. If you can get 70 percent of that to come out on the screen, that’s a grand slam.’ In your mind, you picture it perfect. In execution, it’s different. There’s a million variables that can change it that bring it down a notch, or two, or three, or 20, or whatever it is, right? So things turn out differently. Fans begin to react to things differently. What you thought you had locked in four months ago is not the path anymore. The path has changed.

“The other thing about our business is, unlike a sport, and as bad as it is, if you lose your quarterback, if you lose your first-string offensive lineman, if you lose your star center or star guard in the NBA, you have a second-string guy to back them up. And you hope that those second-string guys are pretty good. There is no backup Cody Rhodes. There is no backup Randy Orton. There is no backup Roman Reigns. There’s no backup CM Punk. It’s different because it’s the individual attraction.”

Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Rey Mysterio were some of the names who suffered injuries prior to WrestleMania 42. Rollins and Mysterio have returned in time for the event.

All four of Rhodes, Orton, Reigns, and Punk are available and will be headlining this Saturday and Sunday. Rhodes vs. Orton is the night one main event, while Punk vs. Reigns will close things out on night two.

Triple H knew there was no ‘serious malice’ in Cody Rhodes AEW throne smash

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Paul “Triple H” Levesque joining Cody Rhodes on his podcast this week, there was one topic in particular that the two had to address.

There was a moment at AEW’s inaugural show in 2019 where Rhodes, while making his entrance, took a sledgehammer and smashed a throne that was clearly supposed to look like Levesque’s. They cleared the air on “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” with Levesque saying he knew there was no serious malice in what Rhodes did. Instead of viewing it as a shot, Levesque saw it as Rhodes trying to make a name for himself by doing cool stuff.

Levesque and Rhodes’ conversation about the moment is transcribed below:

Rhodes: You never once, when I came back, asked me about clearly taking your throne, making it imagery in my entrance away from here, starting my own thing, and taking your hammer to it.

Levesque: I saw it as your hammer because it was smaller than mine [laughs]. No, look, that kind of sh*t to me is like, I remember when people brought it to me and were showing it to me and I was like, ‘F**k yeah, all right, good for him.’ You know what I mean? That’s the kind of sh*t you do, you’re trying to make a name for yourself, you’re trying to get out there, you’re trying to do some cool sh*t, trying to do some different stuff.

Believe me, if I would have thought there was malice in it, and maybe indirectly there was some at the time, I don’t know. But if I would have thought there was any serious malice in it, I would have called you and said, ‘Hey, dude, like, are we okay?’ Because I was so close to your dad, but then I always felt like a connection to you. And when you were here, and it was difficult for me when you left, because I couldn’t say like, I couldn’t over the top go like, ‘Dude, get the f**k out of here and go out there and make a name for yourself and make yourself, what you said, desirable and we’ll f**ing come chasing after you and bring you back.’ Sometimes you got to get out of the rut you’re in. You just got to bite it off and go in a different direction. Make the left turn, right? And it was so difficult, but during that time, I remember thinking like, all right, that’s getting out there. That’s being bold and making a statement.

Rhodes: You did tell me, because you said, ‘Go rattle the cages.’ And you kind of made yourself the target for me to rattle in terms of the optics of wrestling. And there was no malice for sure because this is after I won the Ring of Honor title. One of the first texts I got back to was yours: ‘Congrats.’ As I was walking to the hospital in Lowell because my lip was busted open holding my first World title.

Levesque: You know, it’s one of those things where you see somebody going off, doing their own thing, and having success. And I’m like, ‘F**k yeah, Cody. Come on.’ Like, get yourself in that spot where we’re like, ‘Hey, we should go like, I don’t know what he did different, but let’s go get him.’ You know what I mean?

Rhodes: I’m glad the feeling is good on it versus — because I’m thinking, man, if he’s mad about it, it’s a long road to whatever the payoff is.

Levesque: He’s waiting on that receipt [laughs].

Rhodes: Oh, now it’s happening [laughs].

Levesque: No, man, I never even — I never thought about anything other than, ‘F**k yeah, good for him. Go get it.’

After departing AEW in 2022, Rhodes returned to WWE and has been one of the company’s top stars since. Levesque said it’s been a “dream” to work with Rhodes in his second run.

Rhodes is currently on his third Undisputed WWE Championship reign and will defend the title against Randy Orton in the main event of WrestleMania 42 night one on April 18.

Triple H says there’s ‘no real clear moment’ where he took over WWE creative

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s ascent to head of WWE creative was more of a gradual process than an immediate transition.

While appearing on Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast, Levesque was asked if he considers WrestleMania 40 to be the first WrestleMania where he was fully in charge as WWE’s Chief Content Officer. Levesque said he believes it was, but there’s no “real clear moment” in his mind where he became the sole voice leading creative. There was a transition period where Vince McMahon was still around before resigning from WWE in January 2024.

“I think so,” Levesque responded. “Though, there was — and again, this is where I’m terrible with times — but it’s not like one day, ‘Here, it’s yours’ and everything else went away. There was so many aspects to that of, ‘Hey, Vince is stepping away. You’re going to take this spot, but he’s chiming in.’ And he [was] still meeting with me all the time and still, you know, directing traffic from the side. And there’s no real, it’s a weird, no real clear moment for me. But I would consider it that, yes.”

Levesque said the difficult part of the transition period was that decisions were being made that weren’t fully his. When that’s the case, it can be hard to explain why things are happening.

“At the end of the day, when people are like, ‘Yeah, but it’s your decision, right?’ Yeah, sort of,” Levesque said. “You know what I mean? Like you’re — yes, and you have to defend your position and you have to be able to sell that to people and explain it to people. If it’s a little bit not your position or a little bit, ‘Well, why did this happen?’ And you don’t want to say, ‘Well, because, you know, it wasn’t totally my decision.'”

Levesque added that creative in general is a more complex process than people think. We don’t live in an ideal world, and the public isn’t always aware of why things can’t happen. Sometimes there are injuries or behind-the-scenes issues between talent that limit what’s possible.

In 2022, McMahon “retired” from WWE amid a sexual misconduct scandal. He later forced himself back into power before resigning in 2024 after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed her still-ongoing lawsuit against McMahon and the company.

Levesque was named Chief Content Officer in September 2022 and has held that title since. This week, unearthed text messages between Levesque and Nick Khan showed how concerned Levesque was about McMahon meddling in creative before he was fully gone from the company.

WWE to announce WrestleMania 42 cards on ESPN

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It won’t be long until we find out how WWE is dividing up the cards for each night of WrestleMania 42.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque sent out a tweet this morning announcing that WWE commentator Joe Tessitore will be on ESPN’s Get Up this Tuesday at 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. During the appearance, Tessitore will break down the WrestleMania card and reveal which night each match will be happening on.

“Every match on this year’s #WrestleMania card has the opportunity to steal the show and both nights are STACKED,” Levesque wrote. “SmackDown’s @JoeTessESPN will be on @GetUpESPN tomorrow at 9:35am ET to break down which matches will be featured on Saturday and Sunday.”

It’s expected that Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton will be the night one main event, with World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns closing out the weekend in the headlining spot on night two. The show is being held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the second straight year.

Heading into tonight’s Raw, there are 12 matches officially announced for WrestleMania. Two more bouts are likely to be added to the April 18-19 event, giving each night a seven-match card.

These are the bouts that have been confirmed so far:

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton
  • Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
  • WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • Unsanctioned match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
  • United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
  • Ladder match: Intercontinental Champion Penta defends against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio

Triple H reveals official WWE Elimination Chamber poster

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two hometown stars are featured on the poster for WWE Elimination Chamber 2026.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque unveiled the poster on social media today, with it showcasing Chicago native CM Punk and his wife AJ Lee. The PLE is taking place at the United Center in Chicago on February 28. Punk and Lee’s plans for the show are already confirmed. Punk has a World Heavyweight Championship defense against Finn Balor, while Lee is challenging Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental title.

Lynch vs. Lee being announced for Elimination Chamber was a surprise given that it was expected to be part of the WrestleMania 42 card. But a WrestleMania matchup between Lynch and Lee is likely still in the cards. This will just build on their story in advance of WrestleMania.

WWE has already announced Punk vs. Roman Reigns as one of the main events for Mania, so it would be a surprise if he were to lose to Balor in Chicago.

SummerSlam 1994 was the last time WWE held a PLE/PPV at the United Center. The Allstate Arena in nearby Rosemont, Illinois has traditionally been the location for WWE’s major events in the Chicago area.

Elimination Chamber, with a start time of 7 p.m. Eastern, will stream live on the ESPN app in the United States and on Netflix elsewhere.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 (Saturday, February 28) —

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Finn Balor
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch defends against AJ Lee
  • Women’s Elimination Chamber match: Tiffany Stratton vs. Rhea Ripley vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD
  • Men’s Elimination Chamber match: Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD

Nia Jax explains how WWE changed under Triple H

Posted on by Joseph Currier

When Nia Jax returned to WWE in 2023, the company felt like a different place than it was during her first run.

Jax was released from WWE during a round of roster cuts in 2021 but was brought back in 2023, returning after Paul “Triple H” Levesque gained power as head of creative. On a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Jax opened up about how she benefitted from that two-year absence.

“I feel like I changed in a better way. Like, I got better and I elevated my game a little bit more,” she said. “Not that I didn’t think I had the opportunity in my first part, but I think because it was a different schedule and — I wasn’t really, like, locked in as I could have been. When I had the break and I was able to see what I could improve on, I was able to change it coming back.”

Jax’s first stint with WWE happened while Vince McMahon was still in charge of the company. During that time, she felt like WWE had to be her entire life and everything else needed to take a backseat. Now, there is a healthier balance where she is still passionate about her job without it becoming her entire existence.

“Some of the girls that I came up with, we all kind of made WWE our whole lives. Like, morning, noon, and night, storylines, talking about it all the time and worried about our bookings,” Jax said. “Back in the day, if you got hurt, you were forgotten about. It was hard to get back in the rhythm, so we pushed through things. Like, ‘I’m not hurt, I’m fine, I’m going to stay and I want to skip on all my friends’ weddings and baby showers.’ And then coming back, it felt different to where it’s like, no, WWE is my passion and I love it and I want to be a part of it, but it’s not going to be my entire life. I’m not going to make it like the focal point.”

When McMahon ran WWE, Jax felt like she was working for an audience of one and had to wrestle in the way that McMahon wanted her to. There is now more freedom with Levesque encouraging Jax to show the audience what she can do in the ring.

“I was taught a certain way, like, ‘You’re a certain size, you can’t do these things. Stay away from this. Don’t let them do this to you.’ So I was kind of pigeonholed into a little bit of — and I was afraid to get out of it because, you know, the person telling me is somebody who runs the show and you work for an audience of one. And so this time around, Hunter was more like, ‘Be you. Be you, do you, show them what you can do.’ Because he’s like, ‘I know what you’re capable of.’ So I feel like the difference is just me kind of being myself a little bit more. I’m more adding who I am into my character instead of, like, I’ve got to stay here and make sure that, you know, somebody’s happy.”

Jax was a Women’s Champion under both the McMahon and Levesque regimes, most recently holding the WWE Women’s Championship on SmackDown from August 2024-January 2025. She also won the WWE Queen of the Ring tournament in 2024.

On Insight, Jax noted that she has lost 100 pounds from her highest weight. She participated in the women’s Royal Rumble last weekend but was eliminated by Charlotte Flair.

Triple H visits new WWE Saudi office ahead of Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ahead of the Royal Rumble, Paul “Triple H” Levesque stopped by WWE’s new office in Saudi Arabia for a visit.

The office, located in Riyadh, opened in the latter half of 2025, with WWE calling it a key step in strengthening their presence in the Middle East/North Africa region. Levesque tweeted out a few pictures from his visit today and hyped that exciting things are being planned for the future.

“So great to spend some time before #RoyalRumble in our brand new KAFD [King Abdullah Financial District] @WWE office with our amazing GEA [General Entertainment Authority] partners,” Levesque wrote. “Exciting things to come in the future.”

When opening the office, WWE said it would help bring the company closer to its partners.

Saudi official Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, is the key person in the government handling the WWE partnership. The controversial relationship between the two sides began in 2018 and has grown recently with Riyadh set to host Royal Rumble 2026 this afternoon and WrestleMania 43 in 2027. This is the first time either of those marquee events is being held in Saudi Arabia.

A temporary outdoor stadium that was built over just a few short weeks is the venue for today’s Rumble.

Triple H weighs in on ring work vs. mic skills debate

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Paul “Triple H” Levesque believes charisma is the most important element in making a successful professional wrestler.

Whether ring skills or mic skills are more important has been a frequently debated topic among fans — and Levesque weighed in during an appearance on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike this week. He was asked whether he would rather have a wrestler who is an A+ in the ring and a C on the mic or a wrestler who is an A+ on the mic but a C in the ring.

“I’ll go on the mic,” Levesque responded. “The thing about our business, when people ask me what’s key in our business, the king is charisma. It always is, it always will be. It’s not a knock on anybody, but as you go through the years, you can make a list of the biggest stars, the people that transcended the business in the biggest way, the biggest stars. Sometimes they weren’t the most athletic. Sometimes they weren’t the best wrestlers. They weren’t the best technically skilled wrestlers, but they captivated people’s emotions. It’s what they did. John Cena captivated people’s emotions. Hulk Hogan captivated emotions. Hulk Hogan wasn’t the most athletic by far of his generation, but [he] was the biggest star by far of his generation because he had charisma. It is the biggest thing that you can have.

“I think that you see it in other sports as well. I think that sometimes charisma can carry people to unbelievable moments in their careers, and it makes them bigger stars all the way around. So that’s king in our business. Look, I’m not going to say that in-ring skill doesn’t matter. It absolutely matters, especially in today. You have to be able to deliver in that ring, but you’ve got to be able to get them to tune in first.”

Elsewhere in the Unsportsmanlike interview, Levesque was asked to name the one wrestling storyline that he did not write but wishes that he did. Levesque chose the Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon rivalry, saying he doesn’t know if he could have made that story even bigger than it was but would have liked to give it a shot.

Levesque appeared on both Unsportsmanlike and ESPN’s Get Up during his media tour to promote the Royal Rumble, which is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Saturday. Levesque hyped that there are a lot of surprises in store at the PLE.

Triple H has had discussions with AJ Styles about potential final WWE opponents

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Paul “Triple H” Levesque has had discussions with AJ Styles about which opponents he’d like to face before ending his in-ring career.

While appearing on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike today, Levesque was asked if Saturday’s bout against Gunther at the Royal Rumble could really be Styles’ final match. Levesque kept kayfabe with his answer but noted that he’s had regular conversations with Styles about the goals he has for the remainder of his run.

“We’re going to have to see,” Levesque said. “You know, AJ Styles has not made it a secret this year, 2026, is going to be his last in-ring year. But he has a lot of goals and a lot of people — I know he’s with me every week making a list of people that he would want to face and that he wants to meet in the ring before he retires.

“But as Gunther was disrespecting John Cena about doing the one thing he said he would never do, which is quit or give up, Gunther made [Cena] do that in his final match. AJ Styles has taken offense to that. He put his career on the line against Gunther, saying that if he can’t beat him, if he can’t end this streak for Gunther, then he’s done.

“I, for one, hope that that doesn’t happen. I hope AJ Styles continues because he’s an incredible talent. But if it does, what an unbelievable run he’s had.”

Styles vs. Gunther is happening in Saudi Arabia on Saturday as part of the card for the Royal Rumble PLE. With Gunther having already retired Goldberg and Cena and now looking to do the same to Styles, WWE has filed a “Career Killer” trademark for Gunther’s new nickname.

If Styles makes it through Saturday, it’s unclear when his final match will take place. The only timeline he’s put on his retirement is that his last match will definitely happen in 2026.