WWE superstar GUNTHER has heaped praise on Triple H and suggested he wouldn’t be where he is without his leadership.
The current World Heavyweight Champion, who had a record-breaking Intercontinental Title run under The Game’s creative control, admitted he has benefited from always having a connection to the boss.
He exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘He always supported me and saw something in me. In general, I think he is somebody that is very disciplined when it comes to his long term goals with certain people and sticking to them.
‘I don’t know if I would be here without ever being more or less connected with Triple H in that sense.’
The Ring General hailed the former world champion – whose real name is Paul Levesque – for the way he handles his talent, and compares him to a football team’s head coach.
He added: ‘At the end of the day, Triple H right now, he’s our matchmaker, he’s the head of creative. And what that role kinda is in our sport is like, he’s the head coach to what a football team would be.’
GUNTHER is grateful for the way Triple H handles things, because it gives him the freedom to be himself.
‘All I can do is I can do me. I can do that better than anybody else,’ he explained. ‘And in my case, it’s “take it or leave it.” ‘
While GUNTHER has soared under Triple H, he isn’t sure that would have been the case when former owner Vince McMahon – the subject of new Netflix docuseries Mr McMahon – was in charge before stepping down amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
In 2019, the 37-year-old Austrian wrestler got his first taste at the main roster, only to be eliminated in minutes at that year’s Survivor Series.
Even when he was called up to SmackDown two years ago, he didn’t have much of a bond at all with McMahon.
‘The creative ideas from his side, obviously, was never my kind of thing. But that’s subjective. It’s a taste thing. I think the success can’t be denied,’ he said.
‘But I was just under him for maybe three and a half months, and in that time, I had half a conversation with him.’
Things are very different under Triple H, who once described GUNTHER as ‘straight money’ when he was working as WALTER on the NXT UK brand.
‘Everybody wants to face WALTER until they get chopped for the first time, I’ll tell you that! It’s the old Mike Tyson – everybody’s got a plan until you get punched in the mouth,’ he told Metro.co.uk in 2021.
‘That chop sounds good on TV until you take the first one and then you’re starting to think, “Why did I come here again?” ‘
In less than two weeks, GUNTHER will be in Manchester when WWE takes over the Co-Op Live arena on October 16, having originally been booked against Jey Uso because the latter won the IC Title.
He teased: ‘I’m excited to to see who my opponent is going to be in Manchester. I’m always very excited to come to England, at the end of the day. I’ve had many great moments there, and I think the fans are very special.’
Tickets for WWE Live in Manchester on Wednesday, October 16th, are available now from Ticketmaster.co.uk.
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