Triple H

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and around professional wrestling.

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Triple H Addresses Use of Blood in WWE

While All Elite Wrestling has made liberal use of blood since launching three years ago, WWE has not attempted to follow suit in an attempt to make its product more edgy and adult-oriented.

In an interview with David Shoemaker and Oliver Lee Bateman of The Ringer, Triple H said he doesn't see WWE bringing back blood in matches any time soon.

"The world has changed. The world has evolved. I don’t think it’s necessary. If we have talent that gets [cut open], usually you’ll see them roll out and they’ll get looked at to make sure that there’s nothing dangerous. I’m just of the opinion right now, given the state of the world and the pandemic, and at the end of the day, what we do is dangerous enough without intentionally making it more dangerous. Yes, we did [feature bleeding] for a long period of time, but we’ve changed that practice. And it’s irresponsible to go back."

Triple H addressed the use of blood as part of a larger discussion about WarGames. He said during the interview that Survivor Series would feature two WarGames matches.

Historically, WarGames bouts have been incredibly violent and bloody bouts. NXT has done a variation of WarGames multiple times in the past, without the use of blood.

WWE has largely eschewed the use of blood since going to a TV-PG format in 2008. There was a time when the company would stop matches as they were going on to have medical professionals examine wrestlers if something happened that accidentally resulted in blood.

Some superstars have been able to get away with blood in matches, most notably Brock Lesnar. The former UFC champion infamously gave Randy Orton a huge gash on his head during their match at SummerSlam 2016.

For the most part, though, WWE has shown it doesn't need blood to have great matches.

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Dolph Ziggler Addresses New WWE Leadership

Much has been made about the changes at the top of the WWE corporate and creative structure in the wake of Vince McMahon's retirement in July.

Triple H has taken over as chief content officer and is in charge of all creative decisions. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are sharing CEO duties.

Despite the changes in leadership, Dolph Ziggler said in an interview on the In the Kliq podcast there have been no noticeable differences in how things are run.

"I haven't really noticed anything different, you know? Everyone's like, 'Oh cool, someone else is calling the shots,' but it's still–it's all this group, team effort where everyone is pitching ideas," Ziggler said (h/t Robert Gunier of Wrestling, Inc.).

There was one point when Triple H was being groomed as McMahon's successor on the creative side. He ran NXT for several years before it was rebranded as "NXT 2.0" in September 2021.

Khan and Stephanie McMahon have been working on the business side of WWE for years. It's not a surprise that, at least for some superstars, everything is running smoothly with this group in charge.

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Several IMPACT Wrestlers Set to Become Free Agents

In the midst of WWE being aggressive in signing and re-signing many superstars who were released by McMahon, there could be more wrestlers making a comeback in the near-future.

Per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select (h/t Amit Shulka of Ringside News), a number of IMPACT wrestlers have contracts that are going to expire very soon.

Among the potential free agents are Mia Yim, Maria Kanellis and IMPACT tag team champions Matt Taven and Mike Bennett.

Yim's deal expires in October. Kanellis told Fightful Select she is signed through the Bound for Glory show scheduled for Oct. 7 and has had talks with WWE, AEW and Women of Wrestling.

It's unclear exactly when Taven and Bennett's contracts expire. Bennett and Kanellis are married, so it would make sense if their deals ran out at the same time.

Yim was released by WWE last November after a failed attempt to rebrand her as Reckoning in the Retribution stable. She did have a good run in NXT from 2018 to 2020, including beating Bianca Belair twice and having a feud with Shayna Baszler over the NXT women's title.

Kanellis and Bennett spent three years in WWE from 2017 to 2020 before being released by the promotion. The previous creative team never really figured out a way to use them during that run. They spent a lot of time competing on 205 Live and appearing in skits involving the 24/7 championship.

Taven has never worked for WWE or AEW. He has bounced around to various promotions throughout his career, including IMPACT, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor.

AEW president Tony Khan recently purchased Ring of Honor and has been trying to reestablish the brand. Kanellis, Bennett and Taven could look to go back to the promotion if they want to see what the next iteration of ROH looks like.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: profanity).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and AEW.

Roman vs. Tyson Fury Match Potentially Discussed

Logan Paul may not have been WWE's first choice for Roman Reigns' opponent at Crown Jewel.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said WWE initially wanted to set up Reigns vs. Tyson Fury.

"I'm sure, at some point, they want to do that [Reigns vs. Fury]. They did that faceoff [at Clash at the Castle] for that reason," Meltzer said (8-minute mark). "But the time is not now, because Tyson Fury is going to finish his boxing career before he does something like that. Or he's got a fight on the horizon, he didn't want to risk that fight by getting hurt in a wrestling match, so it was Logan Paul."

Fury and Reigns briefly shared the ring after the latter's win over Drew McIntyre but did not come to blows. Instead, Fury took to the ring and led a sing-along with a defeated McIntyre, much to the confusion of the audience watching at home.

While the staredown seemed to indicate an angle was on the horizon, it was instead largely dropped in favor of Reigns' announced match against Paul for the Saudi show. The YouTuber-turned-boxer-turned-wrestler has been impressive during his short wrestling career, but there is almost no one who views him as a legitimate threat to unseat Reigns.

Fury, by contrast, was far less impressive during his WWE debut against Braun Strowman in 2019. That said, Reigns has publicly said the lineal heavyweight champion is capable of being a star in pro wrestling.

“I think he is 100 percent built for what we do," Reigns said on Behind the Gloves. "He’s a sportsman, he’s a showman, he’s a great entertainer. He has a deep, you know, a great experience of what it takes to be that guy, to be in that position. So I think it’s just only a matter of time and obviously on what he wants to do. So I think it’d be a perfect fit for sure.”

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Randy Orton Remains Out With Back Injury

No news is, well, not great news in regard to Randy Orton's WWE return.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported Orton remains out of the picture with a back injury.

Orton has not been on television since he and Matt Riddle lost a tag team championship unification match to the Usos on the May 20 edition of SmackDown. It's been essentially radio silence in the four months since, with no word from WWE or Orton's camp about when he may be back in action.

With Riddle being laser-focused on his feud with Seth Rollins in recent weeks, even the onscreen mentions of Orton have been few and far between.

Unless WWE is planning a surprise, it would be a shock to see Orton back in the ring before the calendar year flips to 2023 at this point.

Booker T Names His WWE Mount Rushmore

Booker T is playing it safe with his WWE Mount Rushmore.

"I'm not one of these Rushmore-like type guys," Booker T said on his Hall of Fame podcast. "But as far as WWE Mount Rushmore, it would definitely be Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena and, probably, Triple H."

Some may quibble with Triple H making the list over Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker or Hulk Hogan—though the latter can be left off for very justifiable reasons—but Booker came up with a straightforward, no-frills list that's hard to find issue with.

Austin and The Rock defined the Attitude Era, while Triple H and Cena both had reigns of excellence that spanned multiple eras in WWE.

Perhaps the only surprise factor in Triple H being included on the list was the fact Booker took the loss to Hunter at WrestleMania 19. Most fans and critics felt Booker T should have gone over in that feud, particularly because of the questionable content in some Triple H promos leading up to the match.

In the end, it doesn't appear Booker harbors any hard feelings for the loss.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

WarGames is coming to Survivor Series.

WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque revealed the WCW-originated concept will make its Survivor Series debut this year, replacing the traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series match concept.

“We’ll have a men’s WarGames match and a women’s WarGames match. The tradition of the Survivor Series has ebbed and flowed and changed slightly over time, but this will be similar to that,” Levesque told David Shoemaker and Oliver Lee Bateman of The Ringer. “This will not be Raw versus SmackDown. It will be much more story-line driven. I still look at it as a traditional component to Survivor Series in there because it’s large teams of people competing. We just upped the ante a little bit with WarGames and made it evolve.”

WarGames features teams competing in an elimination 5-on-5 match, featuring two rings side-by-side and covered by a massive steel cage.

Dusty Rhodes came up with the concept in 1987 after watching Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. It debuted as part of Jim Crockett Promotions and then became a staple for WCW, becoming one of the most iconic match types in wrestling history. The 1991 and 1992 WarGames matches are among the best cage matches of all time.

The concept vanished from wrestling when WCW sold to WWE until Levesque brought it back in 2017 while running NXT. Eight WarGames matches have been held in NXT since its return, all of which received positive feedback from fans.

With Levesque now taking over WWE's creative direction from Vince McMahon, it appears he's determined to bring the WarGames revival to pro wrestling's biggest stage.

“Survivor Series has been an amazing event for 36 years. And it needs to evolve a little bit and this year seemed like the right time to do it,” Levesque said. “We’re going to go to the TD Garden in Boston on the 26th, and it’s already about as close as you get [to] sold out without us [announcing the WarGames matches]. But you know, this is about serving our fans. I wanna give them everything they can have.”

Recent Survivor Series iterations were fraught with largely bland creative decisions, featuring matches that pitted SmackDown vs. Raw with little-to-no stakes. Making matters worse, the WWE draft often came in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series, leaving performers fighting against the brand they were just representing on television not long ago. Too often, it felt like filler programming, with even stellar matches falling flat due to the lack of stakes.

That should not be a problem for the 2022 Premium Live Event, with Levesque eschewing the red vs. blue pattern to create storyline-driven matches.

The Bloodline seems like a mortal lock for the men's WarGames match after adding Solo Sikoa to the fold at Clash at the Castle. Logic would dictate a group of wrestlers wronged by The Bloodline—Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens and Matt Riddle being among the shortlist of potential candidates—taking them on in an all-out blood feud.

The women's match will likely feature Damage CTRL, the new stable featuring Bayley, IYO SKY and Dakota Kai, and a pair of partners taking on a group that includes Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka. The groups put together a well-received six-woman tag at Clash at the Castle, and settling their feud inside WarGames would make storyline sense.

Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah could round up the face side of the equation after losing the women's tag team championships to Sky and Kai.

Regardless, Survivor Series is shaping up to be a must-watch event for the first time in a long time.

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WWE head of creative Triple H is reportedly planning for there to be far more synergy between NXT and the main roster than there was during Vince McMahon's time at the helm.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Dave Meltzer said Triple H is going to "use the main roster to create more interest in NXT."

On Tuesday's episode of NXT, Solo Sikoa was a surprise challenger for the North American Championship against Carmelo Hayes. Sikoa won the title, which came as a shock to most since he recently got called up to the main roster.

At Clash at the Castle, Sikoa interfered on behalf of his cousin, Roman Reigns, and helped him beat Drew McIntyre to retain the undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Sikoa was subsequently made an official part of The Bloodline.

By virtue of winning the North American title, it seems as though Sikoa will be pulling double duty on both NXT and the main roster moving forward.

Putting the championship on Sikoa made some sense based on the aesthetic of The Bloodline, as Reigns and The Usos are all in possession of titles.

Now, Sikoa will have a title as well, and it will give the commentators every opportunity to plug the NXT product while he is holding it.

Triple H has plenty of incentive to get more eyes on NXT since he created it and his best friend, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, is now in charge of the brand.

Some efforts were made under McMahon to cross-promote between NXT and the main roster, including main roster veteran Dolph Ziggler winning the NXT Championship earlier this year and feuding with Bron Breakker.

McMahon's interest in NXT often felt fleeting at best, though, whereas Triple H figures to be fully committed to making it a key part of WWE's overall presentation for the long haul.

At the conclusion of Tuesday's NXT, WWE revealed a new logo for the brand, transitioning from the color splash back to something that more closely resembles the old black and gold color scheme.

The "2.0" moniker was also removed from the logo, which suggests NXT could be more similar to the NXT of old that Triple H created and cultivated before McMahon took on a more active role and put Michaels in charge last year.

NXT still figures to be used primarily to build new stars, but all signs point toward it being better connected with the main roster and not pigeonholing itself to the point that it is devoid of veteran wrestlers.

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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Stone Cold Praises Star Power of Lesnar, Reigns

WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin is arguably the biggest draw in professional wrestling history, so his opinion on the stars of today tends to carry a great deal of weight.

In an interview with veteran wrestling journalist Bill Apter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Austin gave his take on the biggest stars in the business currently:

"[Brock Lesnar] is still, after almost 20 years, the biggest draw, him and Roman [Reigns], in the business today. Brock Lesnar has had one of the most amazing, different runs in the history of the business, and no one will ever do it like Brock Lesnar has done it. Whether it is Suplex City or in the Octagon."

There is little doubt that WWE agrees with Austin's assessment, as it has gone back to the Lesnar vs. Reigns feud on multiple occasions, including three times at WrestleMania.

At WrestleMania 38 in April, Austin made his in-ring return and had his first match in nearly 20 years, beating Kevin Owens in the main event of Night 1. Naturally, Night 2 was headlined by Reigns defeating Lesnar to unify the WWE and Universal Championships.

Lesnar got a rematch at SummerSlam in a Last Man Standing Match, and The Tribal Chief was victorious again thanks largely to interference from The Usos.

Since making his WWE main roster debut in 2002, Lesnar has been a major attraction. His stock was bolstered even more after a stint in UFC that saw him hold the UFC heavyweight title.

WWE has been trying to push Reigns as a top star from the start of his time on the main roster as well, and while he wasn't well received for quite some time, everything changed two years ago when he turned heel and embarked on the best run of his career.

While WWE has many other performers who are on the brink of top star status, Lesnar and Reigns are the old standbys at this point, and that will likely continue to be true for as long as they are with the company.

WWE Superstars, Employees Reportedly Happy Under New Management

Many within WWE have reportedly seen their morale improve since a change in management occurred in July.

Vince McMahon stepped down from his roles as chairman, CEO and head of creative and entered retirement in July amid a WWE board of directors investigation into allegations that he paid millions of dollars in hush money to multiple women who previously worked for WWE in exchange for them remaining silent about alleged sexual relationships and encounters with McMahon.

In place of McMahon, Triple H was named the new head of creative, and McMahon's daughter, Stephanie McMahon, became chairwoman and co-CEO along with Nick Khan, who previously served as WWE president.

According to PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson, the management change has "energized" people across the company, including wrestlers, production workers and other employees.

Those who work for WWE reportedly have a better work-life balance than they did under Vince McMahon and are under less stress since they don't feel obligated to keep up with Vince's breakneck pace.

It was also suggested by those who spoke to Johnson that there was a fear of repercussions or the possibility of getting fired if a misstep was made under Vince, whereas that isn't the case with Stephanie, Triple H and Khan calling the shots.

There is no question that the WWE product has been received far more favorably by fans since the management change occurred, and it has been far more unpredictable in a positive way as well.

A big part of that has been Triple H bringing back talent that was either released or didn't re-sign when McMahon was at the helm.

Dakota Kai, Karrion Kross, Scarlett, Dexter Lumis, Hit Row, Johnny Gargano and Braun Strowman have all been surprise returns, and it has made it feel like anything can happen in WWE.

The on-screen product has been more fun to watch, and based on Johnson's report, that good feeling has permeated backstage as well.

Bobby Fish Open to WWE Return

Former NXT star Bobby Fish isn't ruling out a WWE return now that his brief run in AEW has come to an end.

In an interview with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston (h/t Bill Pritchard of WrestleZone), Fish confirmed last week that he could not come to terms on a new contract with AEW, making him a free agent.

In that same interview (h/t WrestlingInc's Phil Hall), Fish said he was keeping the door open for any and all offers, including WWE: "I'm open to all options and offers at the moment. I do know that there have been quite a few people have gone back through those doors."

Fish was referring to Superstars who have made their return to WWE under Triple H after getting released while Vince McMahon was in charge. Most of those who have returned thus far worked closely with Triple H in NXT.

That was the case for Fish as well, as he was part of the NXT roster from 2017 to 2021, spending most of that time as part of the Undisputed Era stable with Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong.

Strong is still in NXT, while Cole and O'Reilly are in AEW. Fish teamed with them briefly in AEW, but Cole and O'Reilly got injured, and Fish's contract expired at a time when he wasn't being used.

The Undisputed Era reunion in AEW ultimately fizzled, and Fish will now have the opportunity to go off on his own, which isn't something he has done much of over the past several years.

It is unclear what WWE's level of interest would be in bringing back Fish at 45 years of age, but there could be some interest in pairing him with Strong again in what would be a semi-reunion of Undisputed Era.

Fish was a multi-time tag team champion in NXT and took part in no shortage of memorable matches and rivalries, so a return would likely be well received by the fans.

If nothing else, Fish could be a valuable asset in terms of helping to develop younger Superstars thanks to his extensive experience.

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Former Las Vegas Raiders president Dan Ventrelle is making a move into the world of professional wrestling, accepting the position of WWE's executive vice president of talent.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Ventrelle's new role will see him report to WWE head of creative and executive vice president of talent relations, Triple H.

Ventrelle joined the Raiders organization in 2003 and served in multiple roles, including executive vice president and general counsel, before getting elevated to the interim president last year.

The Raiders named Ventrelle the full-time team president following the 2021 season, but in May, it was announced that he was no longer with the organization.

Following his departure from the Raiders, Ventrelle released a statement in which he alleged that the Raiders fired him for bringing employee complaints to the attention of the NFL after Raiders owner Mark Davis ignored them:

"I have committed almost 18 years of my life to the success of the Raiders as general counsel and president. I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why multiple written complaints from employees that Mark created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct caused me grave concern.

"[He] did not demonstrate the warranted level of concern. Given this, I informed the NFL of these issues and of Mark's unacceptable response. Soon thereafter, I was fired in retaliation for raising these concerns."

Ventrelle's arrival in WWE will mark the latest in a long line of recent personnel moves the sports entertainment giant has made recently.

Vince McMahon, who purchased WWE from his father in 1982 and subsequently served as chairman, CEO and head of creative, retired from those positions in July.

McMahon's retirement came amid a WWE board of directors investigation into allegations that he paid multiple former female WWE employees millions of dollars in exchange for their silence regarding alleged sexual encounters and affairs with McMahon.

In the wake of McMahon's retirement, his daughter Stephanie McMahon was elevated to co-CEO and chairwoman, while his son-in-law Triple H is now in charge of creative and talent.

WWE has not been shy about dipping into the sports world in its search for executives in recent years.

Most notably, the company hired former sports broadcasting agent Nick Khan as president and chief revenue officer in 2020. He was elevated to co-CEO following McMahon's retirement.

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Triple H Speaks About AEW

On a weekend that saw WWE and AEW put on two of their biggest shows of the year, Triple H opened up about how much he keeps an eye on what the competition is doing.

In a BT Sport interview with Ariel Helwani (h/t Fernando Quiles Jr. of Wrestling Inc.), The Game was asked if he pays attention to AEW.

"Do I watch it on a week-to-week basis? No," he replied. "Am I aware of what's happening there? To a degree. I'm not following everything they do. There's sometimes I'll see somebody would say, 'Oh, it's very similar to what they do.' I'm like, 'I had no idea.'"

Given how much is on Triple H's plate as WWE's chief content officer, he would never have enough time to watch everything AEW is doing.

But it is reasonable to believe that multiple people on WWE's creative team at least keep tabs on their competition. That's just smart business to glean things from what is happening in the wrestling world.

When Triple H was in charge of the original NXT, it was marketed as WWE's developmental brand where the next wave of main-roster superstars would come from. While that was true in some regard, it was also the company's attempt to appeal to fans of the non-WWE promotions in the world.

Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Adam Cole, Samoa Joe and many others were already established names to the hardcore wrestling audience long before they went to NXT. WWE was well aware of that when those stars were signed to NXT.

If there are things AEW is doing that are resonating with fans, people in WWE should keep tabs on it to see how they might incorporate some aspects of it without directly copying it.

Theory Still "Confident" Cena Match will Happen

Despite some teases of a match with Austin Theory happening over the summer, John Cena wound up not being a part of SummerSlam.

In an interview with CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri (starts at 13:10 mark), Theory said he is "pretty confident" a bout with Cena will take place at WrestleMania 39.

The teases of a feud between Cena and Theory were ongoing earlier this year. The 13-time WWE champion responded to a snarky birthday tweet from the young Superstar in April:

Everyone understands that you have far more talent, strength, and gifts than I ever had. Don’t apologize for that. Ever. An apology should come 20 years from now if you fail to provide the EFFORT needed to turn your potential into your legacy. I hope that day never comes. 🥃 https://t.co/3apKiTwgDw

— John Cena (@JohnCena) April 25, 2022

After his surprise Money in the Bank win in July, Theory cut a promo for the live crowd when the show was off the air saying "nobody can touch me, not even John Cena."

The two met face-to-face on Raw during the episode celebrating Cena's 20-year anniversary in WWE.

According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Angel Aramboles of WrestlingNews.co), Cena wasn't available to work SummerSlam on July 30 because he was filming Season 2 of Peacemaker.

Depending on Cena's schedule, WrestleMania would be an ideal stage if he's going to work another match in WWE. The event is being held at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Cena's last televised match was a loss to Roman Reigns in the main event of SummerSlam 2021 for the WWE universal championship. He also worked a six-man tag match with Rey and Dominik Mysterio against Reigns and the Usos in September 2021 that wasn't on television.

Theory is a rising star in WWE who has shown solid potential with his first major push. A potential feud with Cena on the biggest show of the year could elevate him to another level if it ends up happening.

Paul Heyman Still Selling Lesnar Attack

It's been more than one month since Paul Heyman was seen on television after being attacked by Brock Lesnar.

Per Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, Heyman was backstage helping out during Clash at the Castle on Saturday, but he didn't appear on the show to continue selling his injuries.

Heyman got laid out with an F-5 through the announce table by the Beast in the SummerSlam main event.

FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY!!!@HeymanHustle gets a #CowboyBrock F-5 at #SummerSlam! pic.twitter.com/LkcbQaHUCx

— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022

Lesnar wound up losing to Reigns in a Last Man Standing Match after being attacked by the Usos and buried under a mountain of tables, ring steps, chairs and anything else that could be found at ringside.

That also marked the most recent appearance for Lesnar on WWE television.

While Heyman's presence has been missed because of what he can do on the microphone, it's smart booking to keep him off TV for a while to get over the severity of the injuries he suffered during the attack by Lesnar.

This also gives the creative team a chance to decide potential next steps for Heyman. It's possible he returns in his same role as special counsel to Reigns, but perhaps Triple H and the rest of the staff have a new idea for Heyman to try when he does return.

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During a press conference following Saturday's Clash at the Castle pay-per-view in Cardiff, Wales, WWE head of creative Triple H discussed his desire to continue stretching WWE's international reach.

The Game was specifically asked about the formation of NXT Europe, which WWE recently announced will be replacing NXT UK next year.

In response (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Triple H mentioned expanding to other parts of the world as well and eventually holding a World Cup-style competition that will have tie-ins with the main roster, including potentially WrestleMania:

"So I think you’ll see NXT Europe—and as I mentioned the other day in some interviews—I think the long-term goal in that is to be in markets all around the world with product that can eventually be competing against each other. World Cup-type scenarios that are feeding into Raw to SmackDown and to WrestleMania."

If NXT Europe is successful, it would seemingly embolden WWE to broaden its horizons even more by potentially establishing NXT brands in wrestling-loving countries like Japan and Mexico, and perhaps even markets that haven't been tapped into as much.

NXT UK alone has allowed WWE to explore crossover scenarios from time to time with Sunday's Worlds Collide pay-per-view being a prime example.

At Worlds Collide, NXT and NXT UK Superstars will face each other, and many of the bouts will be unification matches with NXT and NXT UK titles on the line.

Worlds Collide will essentially mark the end of NXT UK, but WWE's figures to go even bigger and better by incorporating even more countries into the mix with NXT Europe, such as Germany, France and Italy, to name a few.

NXT Europe alone could allow for a World Cup tournament if WWE is able to recruit enough talent from multiple countries within the continent.

Expanding out to other continents would expand the talent pool even more and potentially allow WWE to do something truly special.

Soccer's World Cup is among the most popular sporting events in the world because of the fact that the world's best soccer players and teams get to face each other on the world stage, and WWE's version could be similar for wrestling if done correctly.

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Eight months after his memorable appearance in the Royal Rumble, Bad Bunny could be making a return to WWE in the near future.

Speaking to reporters following the Clash at the Castle event on Saturday, Triple H said he's going to have a "conversation very, very soon" with the Puerto Rican rapper.

Triple H noted the meeting is already set. It's just a matter of finding time in Bad Bunny's schedule to make it work.

Bad Bunny has made multiple appearances in WWE. His debut with the promotion came at the 2021 Royal Rumble when he performed his song "Booker T" on the show. He also took out The Miz and John Morrison with a crossbody off the top rope during the Rumble match.

Teaming with Damian Priest against Miz and Morrison at WrestleMania 37, Bad Bunny pinned Miz after an electric chair.

Bunny had a brief run with the 24/7 Championship last year when he beat Akira Tozawa. The 28-year-old was a surprise entrant in this year's Rumble, when he eliminated Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler before being tossed out of the ring by Brock Lesnar.

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Chris Jericho accused WWE head of creative Triple H of moving the goal posts when it comes to the discussion about AEW and NXT.

Triple H made headlines Friday when asked by BT Sport's Ariel Helwani whether NXT's evolution to its current "2.0" branding was related to AEW winning a Wednesday night television ratings battle:

“They (AEW) beat our developmental system, good for them.” - Triple H speaking on AEW pic.twitter.com/5tRNmGGhQu

— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) September 2, 2022

Jericho responded on the Inside The Ropes podcast (via Olivia Quinlan of Wrestling Inc.) by pointing out Triple H's prior comments calling NXT its own brand alongside Raw and SmackDown rather than a developmental program.

"It's just changing the narrative and changing the history, which makes me laugh," Y2J said. "Because when it started, it was not developmental, it was a third brand and, 'It's not a sprint, it's a marathon,' and all the other bulls--t that they said."

Jericho, who's been one of the faces of AEW since becoming the promotion's inaugural world champion in 2019, didn't stop there.

"NXT sucks," he said. "It's not a good show. They know it. ... They probably were punished. That's probably why Triple H said those things, because he's angry that we beat them, and he probably is angry that we exist."

The former WWE Superstar concluded by saying they're worried about their own product more than any potential rivalry and then referenced AEW President Tony Khan.

"We don't care about WWE," Jericho said. "We care about building our fanbase and building our ratings. We will continue to exist, because I'll tell you this: My boss has a lot more money than his boss does. A lot more."

While Triple H's promotion to leading WWE's creative team following the retirement of Vince McMahon has drawn rave reviews, it's also caused renewed friction between the U.S.' top two wrestling companies.

Last month, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported Khan held a talent meeting where he said AEW chief legal officer Megha Parekh sent an email to WWE executives Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan telling them "not to tamper" with AEW wrestlers under contract.

Jericho also referenced the tampering allegations on social media:

Hmmm…well Some higher ups want that to happen sooner than later! #tampering https://t.co/PD8kMGgyJq

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) August 24, 2022

The recent developments suggest there's legitimate bad blood between the sides, which could make for an entertaining finish to the year in the wrestling world.

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