Triple H weighs in on ring work vs. mic skills debate
Paul “Triple H” Levesque believes charisma is the most important element in making a successful professional wrestler.
Whether ring skills or mic skills are more important has been a frequently debated topic among fans — and Levesque weighed in during an appearance on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike this week. He was asked whether he would rather have a wrestler who is an A+ in the ring and a C on the mic or a wrestler who is an A+ on the mic but a C in the ring.
“I’ll go on the mic,” Levesque responded. “The thing about our business, when people ask me what’s key in our business, the king is charisma. It always is, it always will be. It’s not a knock on anybody, but as you go through the years, you can make a list of the biggest stars, the people that transcended the business in the biggest way, the biggest stars. Sometimes they weren’t the most athletic. Sometimes they weren’t the best wrestlers. They weren’t the best technically skilled wrestlers, but they captivated people’s emotions. It’s what they did. John Cena captivated people’s emotions. Hulk Hogan captivated emotions. Hulk Hogan wasn’t the most athletic by far of his generation, but [he] was the biggest star by far of his generation because he had charisma. It is the biggest thing that you can have.
“I think that you see it in other sports as well. I think that sometimes charisma can carry people to unbelievable moments in their careers, and it makes them bigger stars all the way around. So that’s king in our business. Look, I’m not going to say that in-ring skill doesn’t matter. It absolutely matters, especially in today. You have to be able to deliver in that ring, but you’ve got to be able to get them to tune in first.”
Elsewhere in the Unsportsmanlike interview, Levesque was asked to name the one wrestling storyline that he did not write but wishes that he did. Levesque chose the Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon rivalry, saying he doesn’t know if he could have made that story even bigger than it was but would have liked to give it a shot.
Levesque appeared on both Unsportsmanlike and ESPN’s Get Up during his media tour to promote the Royal Rumble, which is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Saturday. Levesque hyped that there are a lot of surprises in store at the PLE.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.