Triple H On WWE NXT And The WWE Draft, Bret Hart's Recent Comments, Brock Lesnar, Shinsuke Nakamura

To hear Paul Levesque talk about NXT is akin to hearing a father beam with pride about his firstborn son.

By day, Levesque is the WWE's executive vice president of talent, live events and creative. By night -- though much more infrequently these days -- he's 14-time world heavyweight champion Triple H.

But for all intents and purposes, Levesque is the heart and soul behind NXT, WWE's developmental territory, which has grown to become a legitimate third brand, providing in-house competition for Raw and SmackDown.

Created in 2012, NXT was designed to develop new talent and, in Levesque's words, "bring in a new era of WWE." But even the father of NXT himself has been surprised at how quickly it has grown into something more.

"It's hard for me to imagine that just a few short years ago, NXT was kind of just a concept that we had," Levesque said. "How quickly it has become something so much more than that."

With an old-school feel to the way it's booked and presented, the brand has created a cult following, offering hard-core wrestling fans a much different product from what WWE has traditionally aired on television in recent years. In fact, Levesque outright refers to NXT as the "bedrock" of the WWE Network, where it exclusively airs.

In response to Thursday's announcement that 2K Sports is releasing a collector's NXT edition to their "WWE 2K17" video game, limited to just 50,000 copies on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Levesque took time to answer questions on a number of topics, including NXT's growth.

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Brock Lesnar's UFC 200 Purse Revealed

Brock Lesnar's purse for defeating Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200 last night was $2.5 million, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

This is not only Lesnar's biggest UFC payday but the highest guaranteed pay for any UFC fighter in history. Conor McGregor was previously guaranteed $1 million in March for UFC 196.

Lesnar will also receive money for pay-per-view sales.

Triple H and Vince McMahon react to Brock Lesnar's win over Mark Hunt

Brock Lesnar hasn't competed in the UFC for over 4 years, but with his impressive win over Hunt, he managed to still cement himself well within the top 10 best heavyweights in the world. It was an incredible feat, and his performances also had his WWE colleagues excited about the news.

Moments after UFC 200, ESPN spoke to both Triple H and Vince McMahon about the victory.

"To come back after all this time, and put on that kind of performance, speaks to the once in a lifetime type of athlete that Brock is," Triple H said.

Vince McMahon on the other hand, stated that "Brock is the most formidable combat athlete in the history of the country."

Watch the clip above where former UFC contender Chael Sonnen also reacted to these statements. In case you missed the milestone UFC pay-per-view event, you can still watch video from the heavyweight contest here.

Brock Lesnar Victorious in Return Fight at UFC 200; Addresses Fans in Passionate Post-Fight Speech

The “Beast Incarnate” is back, and he is NOT messing around. Brock Lesnar, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world, returned to MMA this weekend at UFC for his first fight since 2011, defeating “Super Samoan” Mark Hunt by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Wanting to avoid the stand-up game of a knock-out specialist, Lesnar spent the majority of the fight taking Hunt to the ground, reigning down with rights and lefts in the first round as the clock ticked down. The second round was fairly uneventful, with Hunt able to mostly avoid Brock’s ground game, and no significant damage being done. In the third and final round, Hunt came out strong with a right hook, but once again WWE’s most dominant athlete took him down, slowly destroying his opponent with a flurry of rights of rights and lefts to the head to cement his victory.

Following the fight, Lesnar shook off questions about a second fight, instead speaking passionately to the American people, rallying them to come together. Brock thanked the fans in attendance and the men and women in uniform all around the country stating, “from sea to shining sea, from one white boy to all nationalities, we gotta stand together.”

Dana White on WWE Negotiations For Brock Lesnar, Vince McMahon, WWE Promotion on UFC Shows

UFC’s president Dana White spoke to members of the press tonight following the UFC 200 weigh-in for tomorrow’s massive event, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In a fight many assumed would never happen, the “Beast Incarnate” himself Brock Lesnar will return to the octagon, squaring up against the “Super Samoan” Mark Hunt.

When asked how negotiations went with WWE and who he had to work with to make it happen, White spoke openly and noted that he had a lot of respect for Vince McMahon, despite calling him an “animal” at the negotiating table.

“It was Brock’s team, me, Vince and Triple H. Vince and I have had our ups and down, and Vince is a tough character to deal with. He’s an animal. It’s one of the things I respect about him, and I think he’s loosening up a little bit on the UFC.”

WWE.com streamed the entirety of Brock Lesnar’s UFC 200 weight-in, and has begun promoting the fight on social media heading into the bout. Dana noted that he will be returning the favor, and we will be seeing WWE advertising and promotion coming from UFC soon.

“Yeah. The fact that they did this – I wanted to reciprocate, so yes. And they’re doing [it too]. If you look today, Brock’s weigh-in will be on all social media for WWE. This deal couldn’t have worked out any better.”

Brock Lesnar on Stephanie McMahon Saying WWE Is Not “Necessarily” Supporting His UFC Fight: “I Don’t Care What She Says”, Talks UFC 200

Brock Lesnar recently did an interview with MMAFighting.com and below are some highlights:

Stephanie McMahon saying WWE was “not supporting the fight necessarily”:

“I don’t know, I don’t care what she says.”

How a loss might affect his WWE drawing power:

“I really don’t give a s–t.”

Returning to The Octagon for himself:

“This isn’t about my fans. This is about me living my life, being the person that I want to be. Granted, without the fans and everything, none of us would be able to do this. I get that. But I don’t sit up at night wondering is my drawing power gonna be hurt or are my WWE fans gonna tune in and watch me do this. I don’t give two sh*ts about that. This is about me. I want to get in there and be an athlete again. That’s what this is about.”

Possibly doing another fight and how his current camp is going:

“I don’t know, I feel really good. Training camp is going great. I’m happy. I’m happy with my life. I’m happy with everything. Since I left the Octagon after I got beat by Overeem and kind of forced out of the cage because of my illness it haunted me for a long time. Well what do you do? Well, here I am. And before it’s too late, I want to get back in the cage and have fun with it.”

Stephanie McMahon Talks WWE Not “Necessarily” Supporting Brock Lesnar in UFC, Why UFC is Not Competition to WWE, Social Media

While attending the Cannes Lions advertising festival in France last week, Stephanie McMahon spoke with Lara O’Reilly of Business Insider and below are some interview highlights:

O’Reilly: How much do you listen to what fans say on social media and how much does that influence what you do as a company, but also storylines?

McMahon: I think it’s one of the secret sauces to our success if you will is that our fans are a part of our show. They engage, they chant, they cheer, they boo. There’s a problem when they don’t react. So, in essence, every live event is like a focus group. So we are getting that real-time feedback from them, in the arena.

Another reason why I think social media was so successful for WWE is because of that fan engagement, because they are a part of what we do, therefore, even when they are not live in the arena, they have influence through social media. I think that it’s so important. A lot of brands just push messages out on social media, but that’s not what social is about. Social is about engaging, it’s about a conversation, it’s about listening and then responding, it’s an ongoing conversation with our fan base.

So when you consider the fact that our fans influence what happens in a match – a lot of it is improv, so they can dictate the flow if something’s not working, you can make an adjustment on the fly. They dictate what’s being said. They can often chant or you can get a feeling they are not engaged with the content, so you have to find a way to transition around that.

O’Reilly: Brock Lesnar [an NCAA wrestler, turned-WWE star, who is now rising to UFC fame] is a really interesting story right now. You’ve not necessarily ever done cross-brand promotions with the UFC before. Are you realizing there is a place for both UFC and WWE? Do they compete in any way? And also the fact that he’s flipped from one to the other and then back again.

McMahon: Brock is a unique proposition, but just to get to the broader question: UFC is not a competitor to the WWE because we are entertainment and UFC is competitive sport. It’s very different. WWE is all about protagonists and antagonists where ultimately our conflicts are settled in the ring with action that is akin to Hollywood. It’s incredible stunt-like action and the match itself tells a story, but our audience is engaged in the characters and their storyline. It has to be relatable to them so that they care to see the tragedy or triumph and we’re at an advantage because we can script it.

UFC, they can make a big star but the second that person loses, they lose credibility, and how do you continue to make that star rise? So I think we have the best of both worlds and the opportunity to tell the stories in the way we want to tell them.

In Brock Lesnar’s case it was really a special case that we are allowing him to do this fight [against Mark Hunt on July 9]. But like you said it’s not really a cross-promotional opportunity, but we are allowing him to participate in that fight.

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Brock Lesnar's UFC return is uncharted territory for pro wrestling industry

The curiosity that has always been Brock Lesnar's MMA career took another turn on Monday morning when it was announced that Mark Hunt, perhaps the hardest puncher in the UFC, would be his opponent at UFC 200.

The announcement and Lesnar's claim he's coming back due to being unsatisfied with how he was robbed of the prime of his career by diverticulitis came at a convenient time - right before UFC 200, and after Conor McGregor was pulled from the show. UFC 200 was going to do well with a Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones light heavyweight title fight, but it may not have challenged the all-time records.

Lesnar claimed the conversations for his return went back three months, saying he made the first call to Dana White long before the UFC pulled the McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight from the show.

It's a unique situation because it's the first time Vince McMahon, the billionaire owner of the WWE, has ever put one of his top attractions in a situation totally out of his control. Lesnar, who works a part-time schedule for WWE, mostly big events and does regular television appearances building those events, is next scheduled for SummerSlam, on Aug. 21 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. A UFC win by Lesnar would absolutely strengthen his image and name value to WWE with the eyes that are on UFC 200.

But what about a loss? And there are different types of losses. The intrigue with Hunt, is that he may not be the best fighter in the heavyweight division, but he also may have the highest chance of delivering the worst kind of loss, the walk-off knockout that is his specialty.

From a pro wrestling standpoint, the worst kind of loss opens up unanswered questions. This is uncharted water. Nothing like this has happened in modern American pro wrestling or MMA so there's no precedent as to how the worst kind of loss would resonate to the pro wrestling audience.

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Brock Lesnar talks about prescription drug abuse during first WWE stint

Ahead of his return at UFC 200, Brock Lesnar talks about abusing alcohol and prescription drugs during his first WWE stint and a mid-flight altercation it led to.

Brock Lesnar's return has been far from quiet.

Lesnar, who has been entered into the USADA testing pool, has been controversially granted an exemption to the USADA provision requiring a four-month notice for athletes coming out of retirement. This exemption is a source of much ire for his UFC 200 opponent Mark Hunt who believes Lesnar has likely been using PEDS. But PEDS are not the only drugs to come up recently in discussions with Lesnar.

On Thursday, Lesnar went on ESPN's Highly Questionable with Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones in a bit of promotion for his return to the UFC. The interview touched on an assortment of topics, including Lesnar's abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs during his first stint with the WWE and what led him down that road.

"That was the early years of me when I was a young performer in the wrestling ring. You go through things in life such as you become rich and you become famous and you're naïve and you're young and to top it all off you're travelling 360 days a year. The wrestling is fake but the things that go on in the ring - the ring is still a very non-forgiving environment to be in so you're dealing with a lot of different injuries at one time.

"Not only that, I'm not a man to be on the highway. I'm not a man to be in a hotel room every night. I'm not a man to be in an airplane every day and it took all that for me to discover that and to cope with all that was my best friends, vodka and Vicodin."

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Brock Lesnar Drug Tested By USADA Ahead Of UFC 200

We mentioned in a report this week that Brock Lesnar received a USADA exemption for his return to MMA, but the U.S. Anti Doping Association wasted no time in testing Lesnar when he became eligible.

According to Yahoo's Kevin Iole, Lesnar was tested by USADA Wednesday. The results should show up on the agency's official website next week. This comes after Lesnar's opponent Mark Hunt did an interview saying that Lesnar was 'juiced to the gills.'

It's worth noting that a first time failure of USADA's policies can result in a two-year ban from the sport.

Mark Hunt Accuses Brock Lesnar Of Being, “Juiced To The Gills”

In an exclusive and explosive interview with UFC FIGHT WEEK on FOX Sports UFC Fighter Mark Hunt accused his UFC 200 opponent Brock Lesnar of being, “juiced to the gills.”

Recently it was announced that due to the short notice of the fight Brock would be exempt from USADA testing.

Below is an excerpt from the full interview featuring Hunt’s response to Brock’s exemption. The full interview can be found HERE.

“I don’t think that’s fair. I think it’s load of bulls***, I think it’s rubbish,” Hunt told UFC FIGHT WEEK on Fox Sports in an exclusive interview. “I don’t think anyone should be exempt from testing. If they’re trying to clean the sport up — mixed martial arts — this is a bad way to do it. I don’t care who you are. It’s ridiculous.

“I don’t think it’s a great move. I think he’s juiced to the gills — and I still think I’m going to knock him out. So I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t think he should be allowed to get a four-month exemption otherwise everyone else should. Otherwise I should start juicing.

“How are you going to clean the sport up doing that s***? It won’t happen. I don’t think it’s fair.”

“I’ve already voiced my opinion to (UFC boss) Dana (White) about it but apparently he (Lesnar) has been getting tested but he’s probably been off a couple of cycles anyway.

“I think everyone should be tested equally and fairly. Make it an even playing field otherwise you might as well get everyone juiced up and have the juicing UFC competition and the non-juicing (competition).”

Hunt goes on to talk about his confidence going in to the fight and how he believes he is going to knock out Brock Lesnar. In one of his final statements in the interview he closes by saying:

“He’ll probably be super strong being juiced to the gills but it doesn’t mean anything, man. I’m ready for anything he has.”

UFC lifts ban on Ariel Helwani, MMAFighting.com

Two days after the UFC removed MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani, E. Casey Leydon, and Esther Lin just prior to the UFC 199 main event in Inglewood, California, the promotion has lifted what Helwani said was a lifetime ban from attending events as a credentialed media member. The UFC released the following statement on Monday evening.

"Following a conversation with the editorial team at SB Nation, UFC will not prevent MMAFighting.com from receiving media credentials to cover live UFC events. We respect the role the media plays in our sport and beyond, including MMAFighting's ability to report news. However, in our opinion, we believe the recurring tactics used by its lead reporter extended beyond the purpose of journalism. We feel confident our position has now been adequately communicated to the SB Nation editorial team.

UFC's goal as the world's leading mixed martial arts promotion is to cultivate interest in its world-class athletes and events, and deliver for the fans. We will continue to introduce this sport and its athletes to new fans across the world, and we will do so by working alongside media across all platforms."

This news follows Dana White's assertion to TMZ that Helwani would not be permitted to cover UFC events on-site for as long as he was president. The ban apparently stemmed from Helwani reporting the return of Brock Lesnar on UFC 200, which was published before the UFC's own planned announcement during last Saturday's pay-per-view. Heavy backlash ensued against the UFC by multiple mainstream media outlets for the promotion's actions.

Rumor Mill - WWE Potentially Seeking UFC Fighters to Appear at SummerSlam as Part of Brock Lesnar Deal

Since news broke that Brock Lesnar would be fighting at UFC 200 in July, there has been a lot of speculation as to what WWE would be getting in return for Lesnar appearing at a such high profile UFC event. It seems quite obvious that UFC will be promoting WWE in some fashion, likely the WWE SummerSlam PPV in which Lesnar will return to a WWE ring.

Additionally, PWInsider.com is reporting WWE might be seeking UFC fighters to appear in a segment at SummerSlam, similar to the way Ronda Rousey appeared at WrestleMania.

Specifically, WWE might want some of the female UFC fighters to appear at SummerSlam in an angle involving the women, and a particular name that has come up is Paige VanZant (pictured above), who recently placed second in the finals of Dancing With The Stars.

WWE reportedly reached out to VanZant’s manager and there was at least some communication between both sides.

MMA Journalist Ariel Helwani Thrown Out of UFC 199 Tonight & Banned For Life After Breaking Original Brock Lesnar Story

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani took to Twitter last tonight following an incredible UFC 199 pay-per-view, stating that he and his MMAFighting.com crew had been escorted out by security prior to the main event, and stripped of their credentials. The reason? Helwani was the writer responsible for breaking the news that Brock Lesnar was close to signing a deal to fight at next month’s UFC 200 event; a breaking news report that has now been confirmed and made official.

Photographer Esther Lin and video director E. Casey Leydon were apparently caught in the crossfire, and were also removed with Ariel.

WWE Issues Official Statement on Brock Lesnar UFC 200 Fight, Announces When Lesnar Will Return to WWE TV

In the wake of the Brock Lesnar UFC 200 fight announcement, WWE has issued the following statement:

Brock Lesnar remains under contract to WWE, however, he has been granted a one-off opportunity to compete at UFC 200. Following this milestone event on July 9, Brock will return to WWE for SummerSlam on Sunday, August 21, live on WWE Network.

Brock Lesnar Officially Announced For Fight at UFC 200

In what may end up being the biggest shock in MMA and pro wrestling news this year, Brock Lesnar has been officially announced to fight at next month’s UFC 200 pay-per-view.

The rumors began circulating early Saturday afternoon when MMA journalist Ariel Helwani broke the news that Lesnar was close to signing on the dotted line for his first fight since 2011. This came as a major shock to fans, as the former UFC Heavyweight Champion is currently one year into an extremely expensive three-year deal with WWE. Speculation arose that Lesnar had fought for an addition to his contract prior to WrestleMania – a rumor we are still trying to verify – which would allow him to fight for UFC at a future event.

According to the UFC announcement at 199 tonight, Lesnar is slotted in the co-main event on the card, and his opponent has yet to be named. While the loss of the highly anticipated Diaz/McGregor title fight (which has been moved to 202 in August) was a major blow to what may end up being the biggest show in UFC history, the addition of Brock Lesnar, possibly the sport’s highest drawing PPV star, is massive.

UFC 200 will be main evented by a Light Heavyweight title unification bout between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones. Miesha Tate will defend her title against Amanda Nunes, while the rest of the card is stacked with huge names, including Diego Sanchez, Jose Aldo, Cain Velasquez, Johnny Hendricks, TJ Dillishaw and Frankie Edgar.

Dana White Addresses Brock Lesnar UFC 200 Rumors

Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com is reporting Brock Lesnar is “in serious talks” to compete at UFC 200, and earlier tonight, during UFC 199, Dana White addressed the rumor which you can watch in the video below.

White attributed what he called a misleading rumor to UFC accidentally adding Brock Lesnar to the company website as an active fighter instead of an alumni. After the internet picked up on the error, White feels the Brock Lesnar UFC 200 rumor began and speculation started that Lesnar might be competing at the big event.

“[Brock Lesnar] is under contract with the WWE…for some reason there was a story connected to UFC 200 about Brock because he was in UFC 100 and that thing popped up…Lesnar had a great run here, he retired, I think at the right time, and he had a good run. Now he’s with the WWE and when he signed that deal with WWE I felt that was the right thing to do.”

Goldberg discusses WWE 2K17 and his WrestleMania moment with Brock Lesnar

Playing games represents a kind of pastime in the WWE Universe, for conniving Superstars or dedicated players of 2K’s venerated series of WWE video games.

For Goldberg, however, video games offer a chance to reintroduce a once-in-a-lifetime competitor like himself to a new era of WWE fans. His legend is supported by a resume which includes an unparalleled 173-match winning streak to start his WCW career and two World Heavyweight Championship reigns. His star power continues to shine brightly, fueled by his meteoric rise in WCW and continued success in WWE, all achieved in only eight years in sports-entertainment.

Now that 2K has presented him as WWE 2K17’s Pre-Order bonus character, legions of fans can start asking “who’s next” to battle the man they call Goldberg for virtual supremacy. As for the man himself, Goldberg recently spoke with WWE.com about his involvement with 2K, his WrestleMania showdown with Brock Lesnar and whether he has one match left in the tank.

WWE.COM: How did you find out that you were 2K’s choice for this WWE 2K17 exclusive?

GOLDBERG: I just got the phone call. It was something that we had been in talks off and on over a number of years. As a father and an ex-wrestler, it's a dream come true. To be able to come back and be included in WWE 2K17, it's a huge honor. That the people would even want me back after such a long hiatus is another honor...More?

Bret Hart: "I’ve Never Seen Any Real Genius Come From Triple H", Critical Of Current WWE Product, More

WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart was recently interviewed by Notts TV News. Below are the key highlights:
On Triple H Rewarding Bodies Over Good Wrestling

“I’m always happy to be proven wrong, but I’ve never seen any real genius come from Triple H yet. I sound like I’m always knocking him, but it seems like he’s quick to push the great wrestling to the side and push the bodies, guys who have [good] physiques, all the time. They wonder why CM Punk quit and they wonder why Daniel Bryan got hurt. It’s because they squeeze so much out of those guys.” Hart said, “I’m just calling it the way it is. Triple H is a former bodybuilder. He’s all about bodies. He thought that Hulk Hogan was the greatest wrestler in the world. They think Ultimate Warrior was the greatest wrestler in the world because that’s what they’re attracted to, but he’s not really a wrestling fan like I grew up. I was a wrestling fan. I had wrestling in my blood. All the way through, I was a wrestling fan. I loved great wrestling. Like this year’s WrestleMania, there was no great wrestling on the card. All the great wrestling was two days before in the NXT [TakeOver: Dallas] show with [Shinsuke] Nakamura and Sami Zayn and [Asuka], whatever her name is, the Japanese girl, that wrestled Bayley. That’s what WrestleMania is all about. This year at WrestleMania, I thought it was absent on the bill. There was no wrestling on the card.”

On WWE Giving The Best Spots at Mania to Part-Timers

“This year, there’s something very wrong about all the part-timers like Undertaker [and] Brock Lesnar getting the main event spots and Shane McMahon’s working in a cage. He’s not even a wrestler wrestling The Undertaker and qualifying as a wrestler, I don’t know how the promoter’s kid gets that kind of qualification to main event with The Undertaker. As much as a great job Undertaker did to carry him, but to me, from a storyline standpoint, Vince McMahon’s son got the main event spot, Triple H got the 1,000th time world champion spot. He’s making the top money. Brock Lesnar is making top money. They’re working twice a year, three times a year, five times a year. You look at Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens and Natalya, people who are slogging it out day in, day out, week in, week out, in every part of the world, traveling every day, and they’re all in the opening matches, the pre-card. There’s something wrong with the logic of that. It bothers me. It offends me a lot. They forget who’s pulling the wagons. All these guys are doing the work all year round and they give the money spots to these guys who are part-timers. It’s just not right.”

This guy is so sad. He doesn't seem to realize that NXT is Triple H's baby or that his idol is Ric Flair not Hulk Hogan. Bret Hart has lost all credibility. Hopefully, after Payback, they will stop booking him.

Forbes Reveals WWE's Highest Earners

Forbes has a new article where they used a number of data sources to compile an estimated list of WWE's highest-paid earners. The estimates represent pay for the 2015 calendar year, including base salary, bonus pay and, in one instance, executive compensation for Triple H.

Here's what they came up with:

1. John Cena - $9.5 million
2. Brock Lesnar - $6.0 million
3. Triple H - $2.8 million
4. Randy Orton - $2.7 million
5. Seth Rollins - $2.4 million
6. Roman Reigns - $2.1 million
7. The Undertaker - $2.0 million
8. Big Show - $1.5 million
9. Kane - $1.3 million
10. Dean Ambrose - $1.1 million