There have been mixed reactions in WWE and NXT to Triple H making an appearance during the NXT TakeOver: London show in December only a few days after he wasn’t on RAW because he was selling the attack he suffered at the hands of Roman Reigns at the TLC pay-per-view. There was also talk about some workout footage he posted on social media that week that showed him lifting weights like a pro while he was injured in the storylines.
The majority of those in WWE felt that if anyone else was involved in a major injury angle on television and posted training footage of themselves on social media, it would get them heat with WWE management. Those same people, however, are fully aware of the fact that the regular rules generally don’t apply to top stars or anyone named McMahon.
As far as HHH’s NXT appearance goes, the consensus is that would never happen to anyone else, as they simply wouldn’t be booked on an NXT show if they were injured in the storylines.
At the same time, there were those in NXT that were upset with the wording of Roman Reigns’ promo on that week’s edition of SmackDown, as he spoke as if no one had seen or heard from Triple H since he beat him up at the TLC pay-per-view. The feeling was that Reigns’ words made it seem like he was going out of his way to act like the NXT TakeOver: London event didn’t happen, as he essentially ignored it. There were some who took it a step further and were of the opinion that Reigns’ promo made it seem like NXT is a brand that the main roster doesn’t pay attention to or watch, which could give the viewers the impression that it’s not important enough to care about.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was acknowledged that Triple H probably shouldn’t have made the appearance at the NXT TakeOver: London show in the first place, however the feeling was that one way or the other he was going to “take his victory bow” in front of the sold out NXT crowd.
Those on the main roster felt they had a more legitimate beef, as they did the injury angle and Triple H missed RAW on Monday to sell the TLC attack, Reigns did the promo about HHH missing in action since TLC at the SmackDown tapings, which they feel everyone knows is really taped on Tuesday, so they felt he should have purposely kept himself off of the NXT TakeOver: London show, which was on Wednesday.
Regardless of which side has the bigger argument, the feeling was that Triple H should have appeared on RAW the next week, not the NXT special, and Reigns shouldn’t have made comments under circumstances that would make the NXT brand come off as a second rate brand that isn’t worth watching, especially considering it aired on the WWE Network.
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