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Paul Levesque hosted a conference call after tonight’s Takeover Chicago event, which if you haven’t watched yet you should.
The man himself hosted his own call. He said he didn’t know how they would follow tonight’s call but they will find a way. The talent makes it easy to do. He said that he was really happy with tonight’s show. 11,000 people loved it and they are on their way to the UK. Adam Hopkins then told Mike Johnson he would have to wait because there are people live at the show.
The first person asked about the finish about the main event, waving off the match but then it continued. H said that they were doing what they needed to do since Ciampa was on the stretcher. No bell rang, so it’s all good. He said that the fans didn’t want the outcome but if he was a betting man he would say this isn’t over.
The next person asked if anyone who has come through the Performance Center has surprised him, if someone has gotten bigger than he thought they would be. He said that some talents take a step back while others thrive when they get to NXT. He mentioned that Belanca Belair has no right to be this good so fast, but she is. He mentioned Shayna Baszler being so awesome, so fast. He said the same thing about Velveteen Dream. He said that is what makes him say that this is what makes the system work. He said that people who said that they would make all talents the same are wrong. That isn’t what they do. He talked about other talents that have ascended quickly and its mind blowing. He said as for people that didn’t pan out? They probably aren’t here. He mentioned how good Lars Sullivan was tonight given his experience level. He said he is leaving people out but the system works.
We went to the callers now.
Mike Johnson was first. They all laughed, everyone there. Paul asked him if he left the call from the other day on hold. Hilarious.
Mike asked about Keith Lee being in the crowd. When will we see him? H said he is going to let him get acclimated but he expects big things from him. He is a big dude that can do things that he shouldn’t be able to do.
Jason Powell asked about Nikki Cross. Will she move up to the main roster with Sanity since she lost tonight? He says he never says never but he also doesn’t control the main roster. If they want her, she will move up. If not, she will stay. He thinks she adds something special to Sanity. Just because she isn’t with them now doesn’t mean she won’t be in the future, but he doesn’t know for sure.
He was asked about how deep the NXT roster is, since a lot of talent didn’t even appear. Paul said that it’s definitely really deep. He talked about the past when he brought people down from the main roster but now the roster is so deep. He mentioned all of the people that weren’t even on the show, plus more people are coming in all the time. He likes that he could do another show tomorrow with talents that didn’t appear tonight and have it be great as well. He thinks it’s one of the deepest rosters that they have ever had. All aspects are deep.
He was asked about the development of Velveteen Dream. Could he be seen as one of the biggest stars to come out of the Tough Enough era? Sure! From what he has seen so far, his future is incredibly bright and he has the innate ability to get the business. There is no ceiling for him. He will be as good as he wants to be. Some have self destructed. But in his case it’s up to him. It comes down to talent and what they do with it more than any other factor.
He was asked about Dream’s Hulk Hogan look tonight. Paul liked the creativeness of it and putting entertainment value in, by doing his own thing. He likes when people go out on a limb like that. It’s really cool stuff. He thinks it’s great that he wants to perform. He’s all for it.
How do you assess tonight’s show? H said it’s a little bit of everything, social media, how many watched, etc. He will look at overnights, three days and seven days. There’s so much there so people can watch them when they want to. He said that they could trend number one worldwide on a night that Jay Z and Beyonce dropped an album is an indicator there was a lot of positive interest. The live crowd loved it, and he could watch it artistically and see it for himself. And as far as he knows, no one got hurt.
He was asked why the UK talents don’t fall under the NXT umbrella, and rather fall under on WWE. He thinks it’s ebbing and flowing until it finds its right fit. He mentioned that the UK brand has taken longer to get going than he wanted it to, mostly due to business reasons. As it goes forward you will see it fall into where it should be, and it will be the right place. It does fit in with NXT he said. He intimated that the Global brands will be something of a territory system.
He asked about the Gargano-Ciampa rivalry and if he could compare it to anything he has seen before. He said it is great storytelling. They are close so it’s real. When you can take that and turn it inside out, people invest emotionally, you can go a long way with it because people feel it. Where it goes, we shall see. You have to wait until today plays out to start booking tomorrow. This could go on for a while and people won’t tire of it, but you have to be careful.
The last caller asked about how he feels when NXT stars go to the main roster. Does he prepare himself for them not being as big up there? He said that they prepare them as best as they can but you can’t expect everyone to go up and become the next mega star. He said that over history a lot of people have been great but not “they guy” or even past the middle card. You’d look at them today and see them as Hall of Famers while today you would call them mid card or say that they got screwed by the booking. He said everyone works hard, there is no “deserve”. He said 99 percent of the people work their butts off and they are proud of that. Making it to WWE is the WOW. Longevity and making money is the WOW. That is success. Sometimes people that look at it like the talents are failing? He doesn’t see it that way.
H thanked Chicago’s fan base and everyone that watched. He is proud of the crew from top to bottom. Hats off to everyone for the job they did tonight.
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