During the latest edition of his “Grilling JR” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and AEW commentator Jim Ross commented on whether politics led to Triple H’s push in 1997, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On whether potential and politics led to Triple H being pushed in 1997: “Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. It’s better for this conversation to say, ‘Oh yeah, man. It blew up the locker room and you’ve never seen any controversy like this. It was horrible.’ No, sorry, let’s rewind that one. I knew he was going to be a star and if you couldn’t figure that out, you were just being unobjective and being a typical paranoid wrestler. He was going to take some spots because he was willing to put in the work to see that that got done. Some of his mannerisms and how he navigated the political waters were not universally accepted by a lot of guys that Triple H’s power base affected.”
On critics of Triple H’s in-ring work in WWE: “He was a great heel and he ended up being an excellent worker. Anybody, If people don’t like Paul Levesque’s work, it’s because of politics. You can’t tell me he was a bad worker. That’s bullshit. C’mon, if you don’t like him, just say you don’t like him and no matter how good he gets, you’re not gonna like him. He always had great potential because he was always going to be prepared and educated, and I always thought he had great abilities. Some of his best matches were as that heel that continued to advance and grow. I thought he had a lot of talent.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)