Complete HHH Conference Call Recap: Takeover Brooklyn News, Future Takeover Plans, NXT Heading to the UK?, Divas Main Eventing, EVOLVE Deal Rumors, More

Adam Hopkins begins the call and turns it over to Triple H, who is doing the call for the first time from WWE HQ.

Triple H talks about how this Saturday will be a huge turning point for NXT as it begins to carve out its own niche as a brand.

He talked about how the idea came up to run NXT during SummerSlam weekend, and at first he wanted a site close to Barclays. Then the idea of running it at Barclays itself came up, but he was against it. They were going to have to close it off at 6,000 seats, but when all those seats sold during the pre-sale, they ended up going the distance with it and are now at 13,000 seats sold. Triple H added it’s exciting to be in NYC because of the brand excitement and it shows people are interested in the NXT product.

Triple H hyped the “dual main event” for Saturday’s show, with the NXT Title Ladder Match and Women’s Title Match. Triple H provided a big clarification for Saturday in that all 10 matches announced for the Takeover card will not air on Takeover itself. WWE will be taping an hour and a half of NXT TV before the Takeover event, and some of the announced matches will be for the TV taping. WWE will then air the two hour Takeover Brooklyn event.

Triple H then made another big announcement when he revealed a Fan Experience will take place on 9/28 allowing fans a chance to enter and experience the behind the scenes of the Performance Center. It will be open to 40 fans with a full tour, Q&As, witness the different training and classes and see how it all goes over the course of the day. Fans will be a participant in the day, not just a “fly on the wall” with the exception of taking bumps. They’ll be able to do promo class and work on their promotional videos as well as a special exclusive WWE NXT event for them and members of NXT staff. Tickets will go on sale Monday at Noon at www.NXTTickets.com.

Brian Fritz then asked the first question. He wanted to know if NXT plans to run special Takeover events before all major WWE PPVs.

Triple H said the plan right now is to piggyback off WWE PPVs when they are week-long events, like SummerSlam, so that NXT can be part of the entire experience. He added there will be an NXT panel in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon, and he will be in attendance for it.

Triple H said 2015 has been a year in which they try new things, and he wants NXT to stand apart from Smackdown and Raw as its own brand. He added he doesn’t know of too many companies that can sellout a place like Barclays Center three straight nights, and that NXT is a unique brand.

Triple H is then asked with so many NXT talents getting called up to the main roster, how can he keep the brand a viable entity.

Triple H said Vince will always call up who he wants, and he’s thrilled when NXT stars are called up to the main WWE roster. He said that’s not a weakness for NXT, but a strength, as NXT can then make new stars so the brand can thrive.

HHH said he is not raiding the indys for talent, but that he is just looking for talented people. He doesn’t care if they come from the indys, or from other mainstream sports. He noted that Kurt Angle had no indy experience when he came to WWE but look how good he turned out to be. He said it can be tough when longterm plans for an NXT talent on TV get thrown out because they get a main roster call up, but you work with it and adapt. Scott Fishman then asks Triple H about the women in NXT now on the WWE main roster, and Triple H says he feels like a “proud Dad.”

He said the women have been given an opportunity to perform that has never happened in WWE before, and the goal is for them to one say be headlining WWE events. He added Charlotte and Sasha Banks have a goal to headline WrestleMania one day, and that is the belief system they have in place in WWE.

Jason Powell then asked about NXT running opposite ROH in Texas and whether a potential deal with EVOLVE could be to target ROH.

HHH said other companies piggy-back off of major WWE events and it makes sense for them to do the same thing and it’s part of their discovery process for the NXT brand. He added he didn’t know ROH would also be running NYC when they announced NXT Takeover Brooklyn.

On a possible deal with Gabe Sapolsky and EVOLVE, Triple H said he is always looking out for what is best for WWE’s business, and he will do what is right for WWE. If it affects someone else’s business, he said that can’t be helped.

Jan Murphy then asked about Canadian talents who WWE was using to scout them. HHH said it’s the same eyes and ears that are watching the rest of the globe, and added his recruiting team includes William Regal and he is a big part of that. HHH said they are looking for talents globally, and not just in one specific place.

When asked about ticket sales for Brooklyn, HHH said that every time they leap another hurdle, it’s another chance for them to prove this is it’s own brand. NXT guys are selling tickets and selling merchandise. There is excitement all around within the company. They are looking at going international and “The UK is going to be very exciting” then joked the Internet just exploded. Triple H spoke on main roster talents continuing to work NXT events, and he said that if a certain star needs to be moved back and forth, that can happen. He says there is no rule book. He said talents might move back to NXT to help revitalize the brand, but that is not a demotion since NXT is not a bad spot to be in.

The final question was about Apollo Crews debuting this weekend at Takeover Brooklyn.

HHH said Crews is a great talent and they are looking forward to getting him onboard with the “WWE Playbook”. By that he means getting guys into a position where they can be best marketed and used by WWE based on their vision. Crews has all the tools and he’s looking forward to his debut. HHH said there are also going to be some big debuts soon and that will bring fresh blood in as others move to the main roster. He said Crews has that young, hungry fire to him and he’s looking forward to Crews becoming a massive star.

If and when it comes to the UK, I'm there.

AND YOU CAN'T TEACH THAT.