Not all of us were lucky enough to make it to Brooklyn for this year’s SummerSlam/Takeover weekend, but the folks at the WWE Network seem to have our backs. One of the exclusive attractions of the weekend was an NXT panel featuring Triple H and some core NXT personnel, and last night it finally aired in its entirety after Monday Night Raw ended. Check out some info you might not have known, straight from the mouths of Corey Graves, Kevin Owens, Sasha Banks, Finn Bálor, and inaugural NXT Champion Seth Rollins.
Here are the eight things we learned:
1. Triple H approached Vince McMahon about the initial expansion of the developmental brand.
“I went to Vince… and he said, ‘Go for it. Let’s see where it goes.’ So I started to think, if I had to start over, what would I do?”
2. Seth Rollins enjoys the relative luxury of the WWE Performance Center.
“You have showers. Plural, more than one. That part’s crazy. And a lounge, there’s a lounge in the Performance Center with a refrigerator. I think there’s even a blender in there… In Tampa [at Florida Championship Wrestling], we weren’t even allowed to have food in the building…”
3. Dusty Rhodes was one of the few people Triple H considered a visionary.
“Concepts that he came up with, ideas he had, things he did, whether that be Starrcade [or] War Games… I can’t even begin to say how important his role was.”
4. Triple H says NXT was almost picked up by TV networks.
“We’d had a few offers at that point to go on some different networks, but we’d turned them down because the [WWE] Network was coming.”
5. Sting vs. Triple H was the only match at this year’s WrestleMania not to feature NXT or FCW alumni.
“As I went through every match, I was like, ‘Oh my God… this little thing that started in a warehouse in Tampa blew up, and it has changed the entire landscape.'”
6. Seeing the first NXT Takeover on the WWE Network was motivation for Kevin Owens.
“It drove me crazy that I wasn’t there already. I knew I had the tryout coming up in a month, so if anything, it just reinforced that this is where I had to be.”
7. Sasha Banks owes a lot to NXT coach Sara Amato, also known as Sara Del Rey.
“Having her there and having her background is incredible. She’s one of the best female wrestlers in the whole world, so just to have her there as a trainer… this is where the NXT women’s division is now, thanks to her.”
8. Kevin Owens is a big fan of Bayley.
“When she comes out at a show, the genuine happiness of people in the room is infectious. It even gets to me.”
