WWE News: Triple H On ‘NXT’ Going Head-To-Head With AEW: ‘Bring Your Best’
The arrival of All Elite Wrestling has caused a stir in the wrestling industry. The upstart promotion is backed by a billionaire family and has a weekly show set to air on TNT this fall, which gives it all the tools to become a major competitor to WWE. The powers that be at AEW, however, claim that they are simply an alternative to WWE as opposed to a threat. This claim is supported by Triple H, who doesn’t appear to consider AEW a threat, either.
As quoted by 411Mania, “The Game” recently sat down with The Pat McAfee Show to discuss NXT going head-to-head with AEW on Wednesday nights. The current WWE executive — and mastermind behind NXT — shot down any notions of a war between both entities, and claimed that “competition is great” while wishing AEW the best of luck.
“I see it as us putting on the best show possible. I think at the end of the day, the winner is the fans. And they’ll choose what they want to watch. I’m confident in NXT, I’m confident in the talent. There is not one person I would trade anybody for. I can look at that show and say, ‘Bring your best, we will. And good luck.'”
While both companies have played down the “Wednesday Night War” aspect, they have taken shots at each other. At AEW’s inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Cody Rhodes smashed up a throne with a sledgehammer in what was clearly a reference to Triple H. This incident came after “The Game” called AEW a “p***ant company” during the D-Generation X Hall of Fame acceptance speech earlier this year.
Back in July, The Inquisitr also reported how Vince McMahon mentioned AEW during a WWE conference. The reason for him acknowledging the new promotion was in regards to his refusal to bring back the hardcore stylings of WWE’s “Attitude Era.” This came after AEW featured bloody spots during matches at their early pay-per-views.
WWE’s history of trying to eliminate their competitors suggests that Triple H’s encouraging words towards AEW might not be reciprocated by McMahon and other WWE officials.
After McMahon bought WCW and ECW in the early 2000s, he said that he wanted to crush his competition. Since then, WWE has monopolized the industry by expanding their territories globally and raiding the independent scene for its biggest stars.
It remains to be seen how WWE will respond to AEW in the long-term, but at least there’s another big company around at the moment that gives the wrestlers somewhere else to perform. WWE isn’t the be-all and end-all anymore.
