Michael Cole Explains What Makes Triple H Era Better

The differences between the Paul "Triple H" Levesque "era" of WWE and that of Vince McMahon are noticeable to fans of the product, but it's also being felt backstage.

Veteran WWE commentator Michael Cole discussed the changes on "The Pat McAfee Show" ahead of the Netflix debut of "WWE Raw" on Monday. Cole said he believes everyone, from the talent in the ring to the production crew, is reinvigorated by the lightened schedule with fewer live events, as well as the new regime. He said Levesque takes a step back himself, and lets the talent across the board do what they do best.

"I think that freedom has really allowed the superstars, and I know for me and I know for Pat as well, has allowed us to be more entertaining, to be more relaxed, to be able to sit back and enjoy this product as a fan," he said. "Also, who knows characters better than the character? Seth Rollins knows his character better than anyone on the planet, so why not allow him to be able to bring that character forward."

Cole said that Levesque understands he has an "all-star team" in the company, from the talent to the announcers to camera and audio people, and those who handle props. He agreed with McAfee that Levesque has "empowered" everyone behind the scenes as they put all their energy into WWE's television products.

"I've seen everything in this business for nearly 30 years," Cole said. "I have never had as much fun as I've had the last couple of years. Not only working with you, but working with Paul [Levesque]."

credit "The Pat McAfee Show" Wrestling Inc.

Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, SEC reach deal over settlements

The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has settled charges against former WWE CEO Vince McMahon over his failure to disclose to the sports entertainment company's board and others that he signed two settlement agreements worth $10.5 million with two women in order for them not to reveal potential claims against himself and WWE.

The SEC said McMahon, without admitting or denying its findings, agreed to cease-and-desist from violating certain provisions, pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE approximately $1.3 million.

"Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies. There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today's resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading," McMahon said in a statement. "In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I'm thrilled that I can now put all this behind me."

Manhattan federal prosecutors declined to comment.

McMahon resigned from WWE's parent company in January 2024 after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit accusing him and another former executive of serious sexual misconduct. At the time, McMahon stepped down from his position as executive chairman of the board of directors at WWE's parent company, TKO Group Holdings. He continued to deny wrongdoing following the filing of the lawsuit.

The SEC said Friday that one agreement was signed in 2019 and the other in 2022. One agreement required McMahon to pay a former employee $3 million in exchange for the former worker's agreement to not disclose her relationship with McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon.

The other agreement obligated McMahon to pay a former WWE independent contractor $7.5 million in exchange for the independent contractor's agreement to not disclose her allegations against McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon, the SEC said.

Ann Callis, a lawyer for Janel Grant, who is a former WWE employee who filed a lawsuit against the company and McMahon, accusing him of sexual battery and trafficking, said in a statement that the SEC's charges are confirmation that McMahon broke the law to cover up his behavior.

"The SEC's charges prove that the NDA Vince McMahon coerced Ms. Grant into signing violates the law, and therefore her case must be heard in court," Callis said. "While prosecutors for the Southern District of New York continue their criminal investigation, we look forward to bringing forward new evidence in our civil case."

The Associated Press does not normally name people who make sexual assault allegations unless they come forward publicly, which Grant did.

McMahon has denied Grant's allegations.

By McMahon not disclosing the agreements to WWE's board, legal department, accountants, financial reporting personnel or auditor, it circumvented the company's system of internal accounting controls and caused material misstatements in its 2018 and 2021 financial statements, the commission said.

The SEC's order found that, because the payments required by the 2019 and 2022 agreements were not recorded, WWE overstated its 2018 net income by approximately 8% and its 2021 net income by about 1.7%.

Once WWE learned of the settlement agreements, it issued a restatement of its financial statements in August 2022.

"Company executives cannot enter into material agreements on behalf of the company they serve and withhold that information from the company's control functions and auditor," Thomas P. Smith Jr., associate regional director in the New York Regional Office, said in a statement.

McMahon was the leader and most recognizable face at WWE for decades. When he purchased what was then the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, wrestling matches took place at small venues and appeared on local cable channels. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and the company's weekly live television program, "Raw," made its debut on Netflix on Monday, where it had 4.9 million views globally and averaged 2.6 million households in the U.S., according to VideoAmp.

WWE’s ‘Monday Night Raw’ Netflix Debut Draws 4.9 Million Views

The first episode of WWE‘s “Monday Night Raw” to stream live on Netflix pulled in 4.9 million views globally.

That is according to Live+1 data provided by Netflix, with a view defined as total hours viewed for the program divided by its runtime. The 4.9 million views came from countries like the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Latin America, but did not include 92 countries/territories where Netflix doesn’t yet distribute WWE, including France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.

The Netflix debut of “Raw” was also viewed by 2.6 million households in the U.S. according to VideoAmp, compared to the 1.2 million households “Raw” was averaging in 2024.

It is difficult to make a direct comparison between the Netflix and USA Network viewership for “Raw,” as linear channels measure their viewership differently than Netflix does. For the sake of some comparison, however, the final episode of “Raw” on USA Network averaged approximately 1.596 million viewers across its two-hour runtime, according to Nielsen Live + Same Day data. From the beginning of October through the end of December, “Raw” averaged approximately 1.65 million viewers per week on USA Network.

During the first “Raw” on Netflix, Roman Reigns defeated his cousin Solo Sikoa in a Tribal Combat match for the sacred ula fala and the title of Tribal Chief. Later, Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan to regain the women’s world championship title, Jey Uso defeated Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk won a brutal main event match against Seth Rollins.

The night also saw John Cena kick off his 2025 retirement tour, while Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson opened the show and later appeared alongside Reigns. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan made an appearance toward the end of the show, but was met with a barrage of boos from the crowd.

This is the latest in push by Netflix into live streaming. Previously, the streamer aired a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul that drew an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 108 million live viewers globally. The event peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, with 38 million concurrent streams in the US. Over Christmas, the NFL matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million viewers on Netflix, while the earlier Chiefs-Steelers bout brought in 24.1 million viewers.

source: variety.com

Paul and Stephanie at the WWE Raw Netflix Premiere

Triple H Responds To Criticism Of WWE Video

During the post-show press conference for WWE RAW on Netflix, Triple H discussed creating the RAW cold open video and their purpose behind it.

The three-minute cold open video featured the use of several “insider” terms, such as “heel,” “face,” “shoot” and “work,” and the WWE CCO explained how the goal was to provide something for everyone while also presenting WWE to new audiences.

You can check out some highlights from the media scrum below:

On their goal with the opening video: “I think when we first started talking about Netflix and this opportunity tonight. And you look at Netflix’s audience, it’s everybody. And it’s one of the things I think Netflix does so well, they have something there that appeals to everybody. They have something for young people, they have something for older folks like different products, different things, documentaries — they have everything under the sun on Netflix and there’s something for everybody. So when you have the opportunity to appeal to those people, you want to give them a little of everything. And we felt like it was important for us to sort of pay homage to the past, talk about what this business is. Like if you’ve never watched this, if you grew up and you never saw it, what is it?”

On criticism of the use of insider terms: “That was the intent, to capture the emotion — and let people know, ‘We’re not hiding what we do.’ You know, I saw a lot of chatter today from people saying like, ‘Oh my God, they said heel and face and shoot and work and one promo.’ Like, we’re not hiding what we do. That’s what we do. And to be honest, I think most of the world understands those terms and sort of now, they’ve almost transcended our business. I see people talking about that in other [venues], ‘He’s a heel, this guy.’ It’s transcended our business. It’s what it is, people know what we are. We talk about it, we’re not insulting anybody’s intelligence.

“But we’re an art form. Absolutely an art form that captures people’s emotions. It’s not — we don’t take ourselves as seriously as most other people take us. So it was all part of trying to capture that and say, ‘If you’ve watched, watch this and hopefully we honor what you love. If you’ve never watched this, watch this, we’ll explain to you what we are.’ That was the attempt.”

WWE Announces Vengeance Day Premium Live Event In Washington D.C.

WWE is bringing NXT to the Nation's Capital, as Vengeance Day will take place Saturday, February 15 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.

The announcement comes on the heels on Monday night's successful Raw on Netflix premiere.

“Following a historic night, we are excited to bring the first premium live event to Washington, D.C. in nearly nine years with our great partners at Events DC,” said WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels. “We look forward to showcasing our extraordinary talent in front of a rich wrestling town come February 15.”

WWE is advertising that some of the biggest NXT Superstars will be in action including NXT Champion Trick Williams, NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez, NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo and NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley.

Hulk Hogan Gets Booed During WWE’s Netflix Debut

Although WWE‘s Netflix debut was a hit, not everyone was met with a warm welcome.

During Monday Night Raw, Hulk Hogan made a surprise appearance to push his beer brand’s partnership with WWE, but his quick speech in front of an American flag largely attracted boos from the audience at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

As the camera panned across the audience, thumbs could be seen pointed down as the booing intensified throughout his product plug.

“Well you know, brother, in the wrestling business, when you’re getting ready to draw some big money, you got to shoot an angle, put some hot spice on the feud,” he said on Fox News. “And when I had Trump in the back at the Garden, I said, ‘You know something? This Robert Kennedy Jr., he’s onto something with nutrition.’ But if you tag team us up as the mega powers, you know – the MAGA-powers, RFK Jr. and Hulk Hogan – he can get them eating the right food and I can get all of our kids in shape, brother.”

In addition to a star-studded audience, this week’s Monday Night Raw also featured appearances from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and John Cena. source: deadline.com

Netflix Announces Several New WWE Shows Debuting On Their Platform On January 1

In addition to WWE Raw airing every Monday night on the platform, Netflix will be hosting a number of additional digital and other original WWE shows fans have seen, and some new ones. This week, Netflix announced the following list of WWE programming that will be debuting on their platform starting on January 1, 2025: WWE Top 10 “Monday Night Raw hosts some of the biggest and best matches in WWE history, featuring Superstars John Cena, Triple H, Becky Lynch and more.” WWE RAW Classics “Big E hosts this collection of most-see Raw matches and moments, featuring WWE Superstars and Legends including CM Punk, Becky Lynch and Triple H.” WWE Road to WrestleMania “The Road to WrestleMania goes through Raw, where WWE’s top Superstars raise the stakes in must-see matches and thrilling moments.” WWE Superstar Profiles “WWE Superstars step inside the squared circle in pursuit of championships and glory in front of the WWE Universe.” WWE Legends Profiles “Legendary Superstars of WWE make history with unforgettable matches and moments inside the squared circle.” As noted, WWE Raw debuts on Netflix starting on January 6, 2025 from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA.

Why Kevin Nash Says Triple H Is A Better Fit To Run WWE Than The Rock

Recently, former WWE creative writer Vince Russo floated a conspiracy theory suggesting TKO board director Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson might replace Paul "Triple H" Levesque with his longtime collaborator Brian Gewirtz. While there doesn't appear to be any truth to this, WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash addressed the possibility on "Kliq This." Nash felt fairly confident that Levesque wouldn't be going anywhere, and used a recent social media clip as proof he's better suited to run WWE's creative than perhaps anyone else. 

"They brought back [Shinsuke Nakamura] and they were working out his entrance," Nash began. "It was on Instagram. And they showed Paul walking the production people through what he wanted. 'I want it lit not so much on the top, but underneath.' And he walked them through this entire process of what he saw personally for this guy's entrance. And I was just like...that's what makes the difference between good and great: Detail. And he's dialing this f***in' in, and I'm saying to myself, Dwayne doesn't have the time for that."

Nash compared the respect WWE talent has for Levesque to the respect players had for legendary New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, noting that both inspire their "players" to perform at their best.  

"It's the Triple H era because...people will run through f***ing walls for him," Nash said. "He gets it. And that's the intangible that Brian Gewirtz or Dwayne, they're not going to have."

At one time, Brian Gewirtz was high on the food chain within WWE's creative team, and was known as the architect behind many of The Rock's promos. Having formed a strong working relationship together, The Rock eventually lured Gewirtz away from wrestling to his Seven Bucks Productions entertainment company. 

Triple H Calls Rhea Ripley And Bianca Belair Superheroes: If They’re Not, I’m Not Sure Who Is

Business is booming in the world of professional wrestling. Especially when it comes to WWE, the company has been seeing huge profits in recent years. One of the key factors in this sudden surge in popularity is the fact that Triple H has taken charge. It is also to be noted that now wrestling is not the only profession for wrestlers. The art of professional wrestling also paves the way for talents to enter into the acting business.

Recently, WWE’s Chief Content Officer Triple H was a special guest on the Roommates Show. During the interview, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque shared his thoughts on wrestlers entering the world of Hollywood. He also mentioned that stars like the Original Tribal Chief Roman Reigns and former WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley would perfectly fit in an action movie. He also shared that he sees stars like Ripley, Bianca Belair, and Jade Cargill as Superheroes.

“Wrestling is accepted now. If somebody goes and does a movie or TV film, it’s so accepted to where it’s not, ‘What’s this wrestler doing in this movie?’ Now, they can sort of fit in and people are more accepted of it. I think over the years, you’ll see some of that. Guys like Roman Reigns, and some of our women too. Rhea Ripley or people like that. Especially with action movies and the superhero genre, if Rhea Ripley is not a superhero, I’m not sure who is. Bianca Belair is another. Jade Cargill. If they’re not superheroes, what is?” Triple H said.

[H/T Fightful.com]

Triple H Says Batista Was The ‘MVP’ of Evolution, Praises His Work Ethic

In an interview with The Roommates Show (via Fightful), Triple H praised how hard Batista worked in his career and said that the Animal was the MVP of Evolution. In addition to Triple H and Batista, the group also included Randy Orton and Ric Flair. Triple H said:

“The MVP in Evolution is Batista. Ric was established. I was established. Randy was established coming out of the group, but as we were forming the group, and Ric and I are the ones that put that together, solely. We were the ones that picked Randy and Dave. A lot of people had kind of written Dave off as ‘he’s never going to make it.’ Ric and I were adamant about putting him in the group. As we started to do the group, everybody kept saying, ‘Randy is the breakout.’ I kept saying, ‘You guys are wrong. It’s going to be Dave.’ He was a sponge. He got it. You might not have known it at that time, but the level he put into it and how hard he worked, for me, he was the MVP.”

Triple H Calls Chyna The Real MVP of DX: She Is The Glue That Kept It Together

One of the most popular factions in WWE is D-Generation-X. The members of the iconic group were X-Pac, Road Dogg Jessie James, Badass Billy Gunn, former WWE World Champion Shawn Michaels, Chyna, and the Chief Content Officer Triple H. Recently, Paul Levesque [Triple H] named who he thinks was the MVP of the group.

While speaking on the Roommates Show, Triple H named the Ninth Wonder of the World, Chyna as the real MVP of DX.

“On DX, I would say Shawn, but there is part of me that would say Chyna. Shawn, only because, at the time when we first started and Shawn was in DX with me, I was learning so much from him on a day-to-day basis about the business. Chyna was the glue that held that together. If you look at the crew, I’m like the guy that doesn’t drink or do any other stuff, so I’m easy to deal with.

“Shawn is a mess. Road Dogg is a mess. X-Pac is a mess. Billy is a mess. The glue that sort of held that all together is Chyna because she kept everybody in line. There is only so much shit I can tell them and control them before they’re like, ‘F off,’ and we get in a fight about it. Nobody is going to give her a hard time, so whatever she says goes. She is kind of the glue there,” Triple H said.

[H/T Fightful.com]