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Welcome to PWInsider.com’s coverage of Paul Levesque’s post-Takeover: Phoenix media call.
Lévesque welcomed us to the call and said tonight was an amazing show. He said the locker room for NXT continues to raise the bar and he was very proud of them tonight.
The first question was the idea of seeing NXT Women’s Tag Team titles. Levesque said there’s always a possibility. He joked that people clamored for them on the main roster and now that you have them, people ask about them on the NXT. He said it all depends on having the talent to do it and it being the right fit.
Levesque was asked about the tag team division. He said that they have strong divisions everywhere in NXT. They have a bit more focus on it and the talent to drive it. They have meaningful tag teams and guys are stepping up to do their best. War Raiders and Undisputed Era was just crazy. He put the teams over. He said that the Street Profits vs. Forgotten Sons bout was strong and said their roster is deep. He expects to see a resurgence of tag teams on all levels. The things that drive the future begin in NXT. It seems like it’s slow but when you look back it doesn’t seem so slow.
I asked Levesque about Sonjay Dutt and Abyss coming in and what their roles would be behind the scenes for WWE. Levesque said they are always looking forward to talented people who can contribute to WWE as a whole. It doesn’t matter where they are from. He put over Sonjay Dutt and Abyss coming in and is looking forward to where they fit and how they can best contribute to the company. Levesque declined to say when they were starting with the company and joked he knew I would know the second they walked in and didn’t want to deprive me of breaking news.
Dave Meltzer asked about the order of matches on the show. Levesque said a lot of thought goes in and sometimes, you go with your gut feel about how it’s going to lay out and work for the show. He used Bianca Belair as an example, noting you have to take a talent’s experience level into account and want to do the best to showcase everyone.
Levesque was asked about fans aren’t pushing for everyone to go to the main roster and instead want to see them stay in NXT. He said he’s thrilled with that because if someone drops the title and goes up tomorrow, it becomes predictable and that’s not a good thing. You want to have everyone do a positive. He’s thrilled to have fans happy to see talent anywhere they are – that’s a good thing.
Levesque was asked about Velveteen Dream not wrestling on the show. He pointed out Adam Cole wasn’t on the show either until they went off the air. He said there needs to be variety. There’s only so many spots on a show. Not everyone fights on every UFC card. Dream had star moments on the show even though he didn’t wrestle on the show. He said there’s lots of little steps at being a star. People forget he’s only been in the business for a minute and the rate and level he “gets it” is amazing. You want him to take the best steps possible, so you don’t put him in a position to fail. He doesn’t foresee that for Dream, but you have to keep things in mind. The future couldn’t be brighter for Dream or Belair, but the world isn’t patient. If you don’t win the title in your first match, there’s a feeling that you’ve ruined them but that’s not the case. You just have to take the time to tell the story.
They were asked about the Women’s Tag Team title floating around and even popping up in NXT and NXT UK. He said they have had talks about lots of ideas but he’s not sure what the final idea will be. It’s going to be about doing what’s best for the women’s division and said that he thinks the tag team environment will benefit so many talents.
He was asked about Tegan Nox. He said that they put you back together when you get hurt and then it’s on you to get yourself back to the ring. She’s working hard and when it’s time for her to return, she will. She’ll be back soon. He said it’s been frustrating to see her so close to a breakthrough and then have something bad happen, but she’ll push through.
Levesque was asked about the pressure he puts on himself creatively to continue to top NXT. He said that you hope the stories are there to back things up. He said that once that is done, he’s reliant on his roster to deliver and bring something incredible. They don’t fail to deliver. They are young and hungry and have something to prove. They deliver. That’s them, whether it’s NXT or UK. You give them the ball and they run, and they’ll run it through a wall. He couldn’t be prouder of them.
Levesque was asked about the War Raiders entrance tonight and when the decision is made that it’s time for an entrance like that. He said they had some Vikings call and offer to come in. He said you try to showcase talents so that you can try and make them bigger stars than they would be just walking out. You try to set the table and the template and let them come out. Then, it’s all on them. If you come to the ring and don’t deliver, no one cares. You give them a little bit of extra shine and hopefully it comes across as organic, not forced.
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