The WWE has been going through a lot of behind-the-scenes changes and drama lately, not the least of which being the investigation into Vince McMahon's alleged payments to former employees. Stephanie McMahon stepped in as interim CEO not long after stepping down from her post as Chief Brand Officer, and now another familiar face is potentially mixing things up. The current big boss' real-life hubby Triple H is reportedly telling WWE wrestlers that he’s back, following his recovery from a cardiac episode in 2021, but what does that mean exactly?
Word is traveling fast that Triple H arrived at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and he allegeldy discussed something that many in the wrestling fandom didn’t expect: his return. The report comes from wrestling reporter John Pollock, who took to Twitter to share the WWE legend’s alleged words that have people talking.
According to multiple sources, Paul Levesque was in Orlando today and spoke at the Performance Center. Of the people I heard from, Levesque stated "he's back" - it is unknown what that entails but that was the wording I was given.June 22, 2022
Triple H telling people “I’m back” is surprising, especially in light of what is going on right now in and out of the WWE. Since his heart attack, Triple H officially retired as an in-ring performer, but reportedly began taking on his other office-related obligations as far back as May (via WrestlingInc.com). The implication could be that he’ll take on a more active role behind the scenes than he had previously, though we can only speculate on what that would mean overall.
One avenue of speculation is whether this means Triple H will once again take on a leadership role in NXT, which would make locational sense, given he's said to have made these declarations within the WWE Performance Center. Triple H ushered the brand into a new era of popularity and acclaim, with many big pro wrestling athletes across different companies being products of that era.
Unfortunately, that ride came to a crashing halt when NXT tried to compete against rival AEW in the ratings. NXT then rebranded as NXT 2.0 with Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard masterminding the rebrand, with Shawn Michaels doing the day-to-day. Triple H’s return might signal he wants to try and mix things up with the developmental brand again, which is something that will surely excite a number of wrestling fans.
That possibility generally sounds more likely than a plan that would involve in-ring work, especially given the nature of Triple H’s heart attack. The wrestler explained when he first made the announcement to Stephen A. Smith that he had a defibrillator in his chest and that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to see him get zapped on television. Wrestlers have come back from life-changing injuries, to be sure, but I’d say the odds are slim that Triple H wants to return to in-ring action anytime in the near or even distant future, given his past comments to CinemaBlend. Luckily, those with Peacock premium subscriptions still have a noteworthy catalog of his best matches to look back on.
There’s also a possibility that Triple H hasn’t had a chance to visit the WWE Performance Center since returning to his duties at work, and that the importance of this whole report is overblown. Still, with his wife Stephanie McMahon in power as CEO, and Vince McMahon tentatively on the outside, it does create an interesting narrative where he may be welcomed back into an area he wasn’t before due to changing circumstances. Either that, or wrestling fans are all conditioned to think the McMahon family is just as dramatic and cutthroat behind the scenes as the character personas they portray on television. We may never know, but we'll hopefully learn more about what’s going on with Triple H soon.
NXT 2.0 airs on USA on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. With so much happening internally at the WWE, now might be a great time to tune in and see if any changes start cropping up.
