During an appearance on the Battleground podcast, Austin Theory discussed how the WWE creative process has changed under Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s regime.
“I would have to say, man, with the creative process now, it’s very hands-on. There’s a lot of opportunity for us Superstars to make tweaks, make changes, have our own ideas and not be shut down. Then, actually having the opportunity to be looking at and say, ‘Well, you know, maybe we could go somewhere with this’, or ‘That’s not really the plan, but you know that might have something to it.’ So it’s very hands-on, but the creative is very creative for all of us because we’re all able to create. When it comes to what we do as sports entertainers, professional wrestlers, is showing our art, so that creativity is so important for us to have in our own hands and I feel that way now that we do have it.”
On NXT:
“You have the Performance Center. That’s where I started when I got signed. Then you slowly get on NXT TV, and then eventually you make it to the main roster. It’s crazy how the feeling of NXT has changed, the caliber of superstars that they have, and the level they perform on, the arenas they go to, and how they showcase those stars. Man, you can’t really argue that it’s not a main roster feel. So to me, I feel like WWE, it’s this universe, and we have all these different planets. You got SmackDown, you got RAW, you got NXT. I think it’s so cool to look at it as, wow, there’s all these new characters. There’s all this new talent. Let’s see how an Austin Theory would collaborate with this star, or Grayson Waller would collaborate with this star. So I look at it more so as anybody that’s on TV in the WWE, whether it’s NXT TV, SmackDown or RAW, you’re looking at a Superstar. That person made it out of millions and there’s a reason they’re there. So for me to go to NXT, it’s not a step back. It’s not a downgrade. It’s not a ‘Oh no. Do I have to get worked on or do I have to get better at something?’ It’s none of that. It’s just about elevating everybody, and all of us being in there together, it just makes us all better and it improves the WWE for sure.”
You can check out the complete podcast below:
