Triple H enjoys roles in — and outside — the ring.
Wrestler, executive is a key leader developing talent
Paul Levesque always knew he wanted to get into business when he got older. He just didn’t think it would be the wrestling business.
Twenty-five years ago, Levesque’s dream was to wrestle for as long as he could, save his money and open a chain of gyms.
Then the WWE happened. Then Levesque’s alter ego, Triple H, came along. Then he discovered an affinity for life behind the scenes in sports entertainment.
Today, Levesque is the executive vice president of talent, live events and creative for WWE. At age 47, Triple H is also still an active wrestler, scheduled to face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania today at Camping World Stadium.
“I could never have envisioned doing this,” Levesque told the Sentinel last week. “I got into [wrestling] to be great at it, become a star and be a main-event player. I knew it was a physically demanding business, so I figured if I could get in it, do well ... and be smart with my money, I could open another business, maybe open some gyms since I’ve always been passionate about fitness and health.
“But as I got more into the business side of wrestling, I would see these guys like Blackjack Lanza, Chief Jay Strongbow or George Steele, guys who were big, legendary characters but stayed around WWE. I realized you can really do this forever, and that became my passion.”
In his executive position, Levesque is typically on-site for all Raw, Smackdown and pay-per-view televised events as a writer, producer and talent liaison.
But he’s also the founder and senior producer of the NXT brand, which operates from Orlando’s WWE Performance Center and Full Sail University in Winter Park. Levesque said the training and developmental program was his first real focus as an executive.
“Vince [McMahon, WWE’s chairman] asked me to sit in on boardroom meetings, then asked me what I learned,” Levesque said. “… I didn’t see what we were doing to develop talent for 15 years from now. There’s no path mapped out to get here. It was like a hidden secret, because no one wants to tell you there’s a gap between what we do and what everybody else does, and they’re not teaching it anywhere else. So he started a new department, dumped it on me and told me to figure it out.”
WWE’s training facility — really just three rings and some weight equipment in an empty warehouse — was in Tampa, but when Levesque looked to grow that operation, Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter drew his attention a little way up Interstate 4.
“It was the attractions base,” he said. “I knew strategically that Orlando was easily accessed, lots of people in and out at all times of year and it was a good place for talent to live and train. Then when Full Sail came into play, we realized we could use our own learning experience — almost a WWE college in with the other college — to teach how to be a WWE cameraman or sound guy and have a place to start out.”
Today, the WWE Performance Center trains about 100 wrestlers and the NXT brand that started at 400-seat Full Sail Live filled the Amway Center on Saturday night for NXT TakeOver.
Levesque’s wrestling connections are well-documented — he’s married to McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie, and they make a devious on-screen couple. But Stephanie McMahon is also WWE’s chief brand officer, so it can be hard to separate work from home life with their three daughters.
“We try to,” Levesque said. “There’s clearly things that carry over into our personal lives. At times, we have business conversations at home, but we try to disconnect when we’re with the kids and there are periods where we disconnect when we’re just with each other.
“It can be hard, but Steph’s great because she’s very understanding of that passion for the business. We share that. Without getting too yucky, we’re a great team in that sense, best friends and best everything.”
Levesque said his double life wearing trunks as Triple H or a business suit as Paul has meant he hasn’t had a moment to himself for the last three months, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
“It’s hard to put into words what it’s like to walk out on that platform at that level if you’ve never done it,” Levesque said. “There’s nothing like it. One year when I was injured, during the opening of WrestleMania. I stood in the back with my head out of the curtain, just so I could feel that crowd.
“It’s an addiction, and I am so lucky to do it.”