Triple H: We’re Going To Miss On Talent. At Some Point, They’ll Want To Be In The Biggest Promotion

WWE has put more recruiting efforts into athletes over the years and have significantly changed their approach since September, highlighted by the WrestleMania week tryouts in Dallas that were open to current or recently graduated college athletes only.

WWE has also targeted athletes, but hasn’t signed every athlete or wrestler they’ve come across with notable names such as Eddie Kingston, Thunder Rosa, and Jade Cargill participating in a WWE tryout but leaving without a WWE contract.

Speaking to The Athletic, Triple H commented on WWE’s change in focus when it comes to recruiting.

“It always bothered me, like, (to get into wrestling in the past) you’ve almost got to be someone with nothing else going on or can’t take no for an answer and dig and dig and dig. But that pool is so small, people trying to get into this business,” he said. “As I met more people, and you become savvy to the world of athletes, you realize the NFL is letting go 500 players a year. … You look at that massive pool of incredible athletes (from all sports). If you take that pool and 10 or 5 percent have big personalities that would be good for your business, you’re talking about a talent pool that’s 1,000 times bigger than right now.”

A much larger pool could mean more potential to miss on someone and not sign them after a tryout. With more options than ever in the world of wrestling, those athletes have a chance make it elsewhere.

“Are there going to be some we miss where they say they’ll stay in the business, go find somebody else to train them? Yeah. Good for them. Probably sooner or later, we’re going to see them and realize we were wrong and should hire them. And at some point, they’ll want to be part of the biggest promotion in the world and come back here,” he said.

WWE has already made two offers to football players coming out of the WrestleMania week tryout. You can learn more by clicking here and here.

Elsewhere during the interview, Triple H commented on the changes made to NXT 2.0. You can find his full comments by clicking here.