WWE Executive Triple H was recently interviewed by USA Today’s For the Win to discuss the Mae Young Classic, the importance behind it and whether the tournament can lead to an all women’s show. Highlights of the interview below.
The importance behind the Mae Young Classic: “Women got into the business for the same reason I did and everyone else did at some point. They saw it, they thought it was the greatest thing they’ve ever seen, thought I got to do this and ended up doing it. For the guys, there is a pot of gold at end of rainbow. For the women, they got on the rainbow and took the journey to be on the journey. There is no pot of gold at the end. There wasn’t a whole lot in it for them. I’m thrilled to be able to say jump on that rainbow if this is what you want to do. A lot of little girls will watch this and say they want to do it, and that pot of gold is now there in a way never existed before. We put that responsibility of these (women) in this tournament and they knocked it out of the park. I can’t wait for the world to see it.”
Setting up the brackets for the tournament: “It’s the same challenge in that respect as the Cruiserweight Classic. Who is going to match up the best and give us the best product? Styles make fights and it’s no different in our business, even with the entertainment component. Even in the first round, we had to look at who’s going to be able to do what we need. You look at it and say, ‘This talent doesn’t have as much experience so who has more and would be able to get more out of them? And then, do these styles match up?’ We were tweaking that thing until the day of (the taping). We were changing it, moving pieces and changing the story and the arc.”
The chance of an all-women’s show if the Mae Young Classic is successful: “Never say never; you could end up there. We’re experimenting with a lot of different things as far as programming. But the women are a lot different. With the women, you hopefully have opportunities for a lot of these women to beef up the roster on RAW, Smackdown, NXT, and while it’s still a work in progress, we have the intention to be in the United Kingdom as well. We want the women to have the same opportunity as the men to be everywhere. You don’t need a separate show, as long as opportunities are everywhere. It makes it feel like less than for them.”
Triple H also discusses finding the talents for the tournament and the rise of female heroes in sports and entertainment.
You can read the full interview here.
What did you think of the interview? Have you enjoyed the Mae Young Classic match-ups so far? Would you like to see an all women’s show in WWE? Let us know in the comments below!
