Triple H Says Independent Wrestlers Have More Bad Habits Than Untrained College Athletes

Triple H has become synonymous with the “black and gold” era of NXT. During the time The Game was running WWE’s developmental program, top independent stars from around the world were brought in to bolster the roster. Since then, WWE has completely rebooted NXT and has focused on recruiting untrained college athletes.

Many fans assumed Triple H always preferred working with the indie talents. It turns out that is not the case. Triple H believes independent wrestlers often have great in-ring skills but fall short due to various bad habits they picked up along the way.

Speaking with The Athletic. Triple H said that WWE’s focus on untrained athletes being brought in as wrestlers benefits the company. The entire process is streamlined, he says, because you don’t have to break any bad habits. It is a cleaner approach to recruitment and development.

“The tryouts we did before, where there were a lot of athletes and experienced indie guys, I don’t think there’s any less of a ‘That’s a rock star,’” Levesque said. “The indie stuff, half of it is, ‘He’s a good in-ring performer, but the rest is a mystery. He’s got bad habits I have to get him out of.’ This is almost cleaner. It’s a blank slate.”

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Triple H also noted that a larger pool of talent means the company doesn’t have to waste time and resources on wrestlers that might not have what it takes. There is now a six-month period where new talent either sinks or swims. Many don’t even take that long to realize they’re not cut out for WWE.

Triple H is on board with WWE’s latest approach to talent acquisition and training. While many assumed he would hold some contempt for NXT 2.0, the WWE legend is fully behind that, as well. The news may come as a surprise to many in the WWE Universe.

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