Triple H: WWE is ‘on the top of everybody’s mind’ because of ESPN
By partnering with ESPN, Paul “Triple H” Levesque believes WWE has become part of the cultural conversation in a way he could only have dreamed of growing up.
This September will mark one year since WWE PLEs moved to ESPN in the United States. With the deal, WWE discussion has also become a bigger part of ESPN’s daily programming lineup. It was reported that WWE was the third-most-discussed sport on ESPN’s daytime shows during WrestleMania week, only trailing the NBA and NFL. WWE personalities have continued to make appearances on shows like Get Up and First Take during the week of PLEs since then.
Ahead of Night of Champions, Levesque discussed the WWE-ESPN partnership during an interview on The Stephen A. Smith Show. Having personalities like Smith, Mike Greenberg, and Pat McAfee talking about WWE on ESPN is “worth its weight in gold,” Levesque believes. The deal has also helped WWE connect with star athletes from other sports.
“I think ESPN is incredible for us,” Levesque said. “It’s where you go to hear the conversations with people that are either like-minded to you, you love their opinions, hate their opinions, or just do you want to hear those arguments about what you love. For us to be in there, for us to be in that conversation on a day-to-day basis — you see it. You’ll see it this weekend on ESPN linear television where the pre-show is on there for a couple of hours and then we go right into the [main card]…
“The ability for us to be in that conversation on a day-to-day basis, everywhere you go. One of the most frustrating things for me as a kid — and maybe it was for you growing up, I don’t know — but was when wrestling took place, no matter who it was, there was no place to hear talk about it, find out about it, what was going on. You couldn’t have that conversation except for with your friends. This conversation is everywhere now. And because of ESPN, we’re on the top of everybody’s mind. You see it in Danhausen across the NBA with the Knicks in the biggest way possible. You see us connecting with not only the fans but the superstars of those sports as well. So that opportunity for us that [ESPN executives] Jimmy Pitaro, Burke Magnus have created. They’ve just all pushed us to another level in the common, everyday conversation that we can’t get anywhere else. And that, to me, is worth its weight in gold, and it’s awesome.”
WWE Night of Champions promotional push —
To promote Night of Champions, Seth Rollins, Trick Williams, and commentators Michael Cole and Joe Tessitore have been on ESPN this week. The PLE is taking place in Saudi Arabia on June 27 with a 1 p.m. Eastern main card start time. The first hour will be simulcast on ESPN’s main TV channel with the King & Queen of the Ring finals both taking place during that portion of the broadcast.
Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso and IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan are the respective tournament finals. The winners earn World title shots at SummerSlam.
The entire PLE will air on the ESPN Unlimited app in the United States and on Netflix elsewhere.
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.