WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque held his pre-WWE NXT Takeover: New York conference call today to discuss next Friday’s event. HHH talked about how busy they are at this time of the year and also, how great it is to be in WWE’s backyard for the Takeover event. HHH said that he is really excited for the show and then mentioned Tommaso Ciampa’s injury and how they have had to make changes to the show, but thanks to the great talent that they have, they can do it.

HHH said that he is disappointed that we did not get the Gargano vs. Ciampa main event as they pay-off to their feud, but at least they have an epic match instead with Adam Cole in the spot, due to Ciampa’s injury. HHH said that himself, Shawn Michaels and Michael Hayes were really excited at the end of the last taping and then ran down the card, before stating that he will now take the questions.

The first caller asked about WWE having Tommaso Ciampa debuting on the main roster when they knew that he was injured. HHH said that they knew that Ciampa would need the surgery at some point, but that the decision was still made to give him some main roster exposure and that then, he could take off and get the surgery, but the injury escalated so he needed to get the surgery as soon as possible. The same caller asked if the plan was to get him through Takeover and then get it done, or did a doctor step-in and say that it was needed to get done now. HHH said that they knew that he would need surgery and that Ciampa was at a point where they thought that it as manageable, but the situation changed and Ciampa got progressively worse, so they did what they had to do.

The next caller asked about the ripple effect of Tommaso Ciampa’s injury, especially with Johnny Gargano not being on WWE television as of late and has Gargano’s call-up been rescinded. HHH said that from the NXT standpoint, it is a full creative change, as once Ciampa got hurt, they needed to make a lot of decisions, including Gargano’s main roster spot and that options were discussed and they made decisions from there. The same caller asked what the conversation was like with Vince when HHH says that they need Johnny and you can’t have him. HHH says that he would never say that you can’t have him and said that none of this stuff happens unless Vince signs off on it as it is all one team and about the overall product and a creative synergy between both. HHH said that when something like the injury happens, they all sit down and discuss options and go with the best ones and said that sometimes, the best storylines come out of chaos and it is an internal conversation about what is best for everyone as dominos fall and it affects everyone, but they come up with a plan and Vince signs off on it.

The next caller asked about the progress of the UK Performance Center and how Triple H monitors it. HHH said that so far, it has been really great and he can watch how things are going on the show. HHH said that he watches and notes improvements as it happens and said that there are a lot of obvious and not so obvious payoffs that they are getting from the WWE UK PC. The same caller asked about HHH’s match with Batista at WrestleMania 35 and what will be different from their previous matches. HHH said that this time, it is more about doing the match just for the enjoyment of it on a personal standpoint and said that it is an opportunity for Batista to finish his career on his own terms as he has gone on to be a movie star, but also wants to end his career on his own terms. HHH said that he is excited that Batista wanted to do this with him and hopes that they can go out and deliver a match that the fans will enjoy.

The next caller asked about WWE SmackDown Live moving to Friday nights when it moves to FOX and if Triple H had his way, would he rather have Takeover on the Thursday or Saturday. HHH said that he thinks that weekends are better for a show, so Saturday is his gut reaction and said that they are working on the shift to Friday on FOX since that will change a lot of things for the company and that there is a lot of work to be done. The same caller asked about Sasha Banks and Bayley defending their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships against anyone and if that means there will be no NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. HHH used the old never say never phrase and said that he is not sure at this point that there is a need for them and that it also comes down to the depth of the roster and having enough teams to even have a division and that they want to be able to deliver on all brands.

The next caller asked if the amount of signings have grown since NXT itself has grown. HHH said that absolutely and talked about the tryouts that they have had and that it continues to grow. HHH then put over the process of bringing in and managing talent. The same caller asked if there were any talks of doing more house shows or even another brand. HHH said that those are things that they are constantly evaluating and right now, NXT does about 200 events a year including Florida and yes, there is room for more, but they want them to be profitable to and right now, NXT is profitable and they want to keep it that way and will always evaluate new opportunities.

The next caller asked about Stokely Hathaway being signed to the company and if that means more managers are coming in. HHH said that as the business changes, with different talents coming in, he thinks that managers are something that may come back and said that the business is cyclical and that having characters that can do a lot of things brings value to the table. The same caller then brought up the SmackDown move. HHH said that the one factor is that they have the dynamic of doing two nights of television in one building since it is so many days apart and puts them in re-assessment mode. HHH said that one thing people do not give Vince enough credit for is his ability to morph and adapt the product and talked about how Vince McMahon was not afraid to walk away from pay-per-view revenue and start the WWE Network and talked about Vince’s philosophy to always look at things with fresh eyes.

The next caller talked up the Pete Dunne vs. WALTER match at NXT Takeover: New York and asked when the next NXT Takeover UK event will be. HHH said that an announcement on that will be coming shortly. The same caller asked if WrestleMania would benefit with fewer matches with more time, such as NXT Takeover. HHH said that it is a constant battle of giving as many people as possible something to as leaving people off of the WrestleMania card is a hard thing to do because they do not want the talent to feel left out. HHH said that it is different with Takeover and he loves leaving the fans wanting more when it is over. HHH said that WrestleMania is the WWE’s biggest show of the year and it is epic, so it needs to feel that way and that they are always evaluating it.

The next caller asked if Keith Lee is dealing with an injury. HHH said that there are things that happen that cause them to change direction, which means that they had to put a pause on Lee vs. Dijak and that there was a situation that caused them to change creative. The next caller asked if Aleister Black and Ricochet will be back in NXT after Takeover. HHH said that is to be determined and nothing is written in stone at this point.

The last caller asked for an update on Lars Sullivan. HHH said that it is one of those situations where he will say that you will have to wait and see and that there is much more to come. The same caller asked about how Sean Waltman (aka X-Pac) did as a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center. HHH said that they are constantly bringing in talent as they grow and that they want people with a wealth of knowledge and are constantly looking for that as they continue to grow. HHH said that Waltman did extremely well and that the future will see where things go. HHH said that a lot of factors go into being in the system and they want to stay true to that and will see what the person has to offer and what they want to offer and then go from there. HHH said that it was great to see him and was like the old days.

HHH thanked everyone for being on the call and noted that a lot of the call was about Ciampa’s injury, notig that he can’t say enough about Ciampa and his leadership, but also wants to talk about the great level of talent on this show. HHH said that after Takeover, he is excited to go to San Jose on June 8th as that building was a springbaord to getting WWE NXT to where it is today.