MSK took the opportunity they were given and ran with it, and they’re seeing the rewards for their efforts in NXT.
Triple H took part in a media call after NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day had concluded and spoke about the many highlights from the show, which included MSK winning the men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Earlier in the call, HHH was asked by Spectrum Sports’ Jon Alba about the talent evaluation process changing, noting MSK is one of the several names ‘fast-tracked’ to NXT TV in recent memory. HHH explained that they look at putting talent on television when they’re ready to succeed, but focused on MSK’s Wes Lee and Nash Carter and praised them for being “pro’s pros” and how well they’ve adapted to life in NXT.
As a follow-up question, WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard asked about MSK’s ability to reinvigorate the tag team division and NXT in general in a short amount of time, and HHH said that MSK just gets it, but they also come in with the right attitude and want to be coached.
“The moment I met them, from them coming in and having a tryout with us and I talked to them for a period of time, everything has been—obviously the people here, in the PC, they are the eyes and ears—Matt Bloom, Sara Amato, this whole team here, Shawn [Michaels], everybody’s that’s here, I trust their opinions. So when they are talking and saying ‘These two are pro’s pros, these two are sponges. You tell them something and they’ve got it.’ They have an instinct for it, they’re humble, and part of being coached is wanting to be coached.”
“It’s a funny thing to me, sometimes I hear people talk about just letting people do things and they don’t need to be coached, they don’t need to be written for or they don’t need to be produced. I cannot disagree with that any stronger. Look—Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback arguably in the history of football, and it’s like saying he doesn’t need to be coached. They give you more coaches, they give you more help, and somebody like that can take things to another level, but everybody needs to be coached. Everybody needs to be produced.”
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“When Vince McMahon is in a scene backstage, back years ago, he wanted somebody else to produce him and to coach him and to get him there. It’s the truth of what we do and it’s the truth in life, in my opinion, and to think otherwise is ego. When you’re open to it, when you’re a sponge to it, when you’re just willing to—and not every opinion you get is right—but you take them and digest them, try them on and see what works, honestly and openly and see what works and what doesn’t. I can’t say it enough—that is those kids—it’s MSK to a ‘T’. That is them, and it’s why they succeeded to the level that they have. When they walked in the door, we gave them just a whiff of an opportunity and they grabbed it, but then it was a breath of fresh air.”
Triple H also spoke about the bigger picture in regards to what MSK adds to the NXT Tag Team division, agreeing that it feels like a return to form. He also named several of the other teams on the roster and said they did face some setbacks this year but everything’s coming together and creating some excitement now.
“They were the spark, but then you talk about GYV, are the most technically sound teams and from a heel standpoint, they’re just there. We were just at a point where we were rolling them in in the US and they got stuck overseas. There were a lot of things that happened in moments where they got stuck where they were, and as they loosened up and the timing was right for everything, so you roll it all together and you get lightning in a bottle, and I feel like that’s what we’re getting here. Again, to your point, back to form on the tag team division. It’s exciting, you see Legado [Del Fantasma], Oney [Lorcan] and Danny [Burch], GYV, MSK,” Triple H said, “This is a division you look at and you go, ‘Holy cow, I’d take any one of those guys.’ It’s exciting.”
(If you use any portion of this transcript, credit WrestleZone.com with a link back to the post)
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