Released WWE Superstar reveals that many people were "salty" because of a backstage decision that Triple H made
Triple H hasn't competed in the ring for nearly three years now, although he technically had a "match" during the ThunderDome era. However, in 2021, tragic news emerged that he was dealing with heart issues. A released WWE star detailed a decision that The Game made in NXT that led to some people being "salty".
Triple H didn't wrestle at all in 2020, making it the first year since he started his wrestling career where he didn't compete at all. In early 2021, he challenged Randy Orton to a brawl that ended in a no contest. Behind the scenes, 2021 may have been devastating for The Game as the years of work he put into NXT was undone with the rebranding into NXT 2.0.
Released WWE star AJ Francis, formerly of Hit Row, spoke on the Behind Enemy Lines podcast and revealed that Triple H insisted on giving Francis' faction the creative freedom they wanted:
“Triple H got in their a**. Triple H was like, ‘don’t write anything for them. Let them do what they want to do, let them say what they want to say. We can’t tell them how to be them, we can’t tell them how to do this, let them do their thing,” said AJ Francis.
He went on to admit that there were people who were salty because they didn't get the same creative freedom despite being on the show for longer.
“There were some people, because I would see the looks and I would hear the conversations when they didn’t think I could hear them. Or didn’t realize I was in the other room of the locker room,” he said. “People would be salty because they didn’t get that kind of freedom. And they’ve been on the show for a lot longer time,” added Francis. (H/T WrestlingInc)
It's interesting because it means that The King Of Kings would give creative freedom on a case-by-case basis. The rebranding of NXT into NXT 2.0, however, might mean that creative freedom is as limited as it is on the main roster.
Triple H is no longer in control of NXT
I wonder what @tripleh is thinking right now? They’ve completely killed everything he built with @wwenxt from the ground up! #WWENXT #wwereleases 😱😱😱😱😱 https://t.co/rwFL2h5DgX
While Triple H was out with legitimate heart issues that were cause of major concern, it was Shawn Michaels who handled NXT. However, things would quickly change as WWE decided to turn NXT into a developmental territory again rather than the third brand.
The 14-time world champion was credited with turning NXT into a unique product, with it serving as a brand that catered towards the more hardcore audience. NXT 2.0 is more main roster-like, and tends to tread finely on the PG boundaries as much as it can.
The focus has also been shifted to pushing younger superstars with a good look, and it's the complete opposite of what The Game did between 2012 and 2020 in NXT. There weren't many reports on his reaction to the change, apart from the fact that he was upset about it.