Wednesday 25 July 2018 20:36, UK
On Raw, WWE's chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon made the historic announcement that WWE is to present the first-ever all-women's pay-per-view 'Evolution' in October.
Triple H could not hide his happiness during an exclusive interview with Sky Sports.
Paul Levesque, to give him his 'corporate name', has had an integral part to play in elevating the women's division to where it is today. He has been a figurehead in recent years in the development of women's wrestling in the company.
By giving women a fair chance to showcase their craft in NXT and the main roster, he has had a helping hand in fine-tuning the exceptional careers of Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and many more.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Triple H gave his thoughts on the latest innovative step in women's wrestling…
How did Evolution come about?
"If you go back three years to #givedivasachance which trended for three days, the desire for this has evolved to where we are now. The opportunity for women to step into what they worked hard for all these decades, to be respected along with everyone else.
"They've earned the spot, they've main evented, they've headlined, they've stolen the show, they've done everything it takes and now, for me, this is the capping moment of that achievement.
"It's the right time for them, the talent pool is deep enough and women can absolutely carry their own event and I wouldn't want to be on the show following this event."
What's the purpose of Evolution? Is it to give women from other brands a voice, is it to showcase talent, or something else?
"To me, it's what WWE is, the history, the legacy, all the women who come before this. From Mae Young onwards, their legacy lives forever. You're going to see that in this event, you'll see the stars of today - Ronda Rousey, Charlotte, Alexa, Carmella, Asuka, Nia Jaxx and then the next kind of level.
"I hate to say the future is with NXT because it's now, they're global stars which you're going to see, the Shayna Baszlers, and then you're going to see the forever, the next generation of superstars of the people competing and the finals of the Mae Young Classic and to me that represents everything from the evolvement of Trish Stratus and Lita.
"It shows where we are now with the women that steal the show on a night-to-night basis on Raw and Smackdown and NXT, and then it shows the women from five to 10 years from now that will be stealing that show in the future. This is not a one-off, this is the current, this is the status, this is where it's at, this is the final line on the 'this is equal'."
Did you ever expect the women's division to come such a long way in such a short space of time?
"In the beginning when we were first changing how we trained the women at the performance centre in NXT, I thought it might take longer. When I really started to think this can take place so much faster is because when we did the Mae Young Classic for the first time last year, as we dug into the women for the show, I started to realise the depth of women out there, doing this on their own, with no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow of trying to pursue their dream. Them just out there grinding every day just trying to make it.
"You've seen them steal the show at Wrestlemania, you've seen them main event, you've seen them have Hell in a Cell and Royal Rumbles and you've seen them do everything along that way. This is that moment, it's a little bit sooner than I originally thought but I'm thrilled that we're here and that's on the drive, dedication and passion of all these women."
On the broader movement going on in women's sport..
"In my mind the thing I always go back to, I wish in some way this wasn't even a conversation. If you want equality then the conversation doesn't happen about equality. To me, do the women need to have their own PPV? No. Can they? Yes. That's what's so big about this event. Will we do it again? Probably, I don't know but the proof point is that we can. Can the women wrestle a guy? Sure.
"Can you do inter-gender matches? Ronda Rousey and our match at Wrestlemania, sure it can be done. Women don't need a man in their match to steal the show. They just need an equal platform and opportunity and if the women have it they will work just as hard, if not harder than anybody else to steal that show. Right now, they still have stuff to prove and that's what this event is. But once they've proved it all hopefully the conversation goes away and it's not seen any different than anything else.
Will it be a mainstay in WWE programming?
"It's a question to be answered down the road. Do we need to have a women's only event? No - just like we don't need a men's only event or anything else. I think that the opportunity is there whoever is the best, the most prominent box office attraction that is the main event. It doesn't matter if that's Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Wrestlemania.
"So can they have their own event? Can it be a mainstay? Yes, and if our fans want it and it's the right thing then we'll give it to them. The WWE universe will dictate to us what the approach is."
Any spoilers on other legends returning or anyone else involved?
"Lots of things can happen and change before October, our intent will be to represent women of the past, present and future. Trish Stratus, Lita, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of women who want to perform, a lot want to be a part of it. Obviously we can't include everyone but hopefully they'll want to be there and be a part of it.
"If they've ever laced up those boots and performed in front of a crowd, then they'll want to be there because it's the biggest thing in sports entertainment. They should all be extremely proud and be smiling big because this is their moment, this is what they all worked so hard to achieve and hopefully, we'll give them the opportunity they deserve to put on the show and I absolutely know that they will."
