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Several AEW stars have different opinions about Triple H. While some praised him, others took shots at The Game.
Triple H is a polarizing figure in the wrestling industry. He is currently the WWE Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development and the Executive Producer of NXT.
The Game has worked with several current AEW stars while they were still in WWE. He also tried to sign some AEW stars before they joined Tony Khan's company. In addition to his interactions with AEW stars, The King of Kings led WWE's third brand into direct competition for nearly two years with AEW's flagship show Dynamite in what was later called the Wednesday Wars.
All this led several AEW stars to talk about Triple H in the past few years. Some of them praised him, and one even called him an idol of his. Nonetheless, others took shots at The King of Kings.
Here are three AEW stars who took shots at Triple H and two who praised him.
#5. AEW star Lio Rush took a shot at Triple H
Lio Rush kicked off his wrestling career in 2014 and joined WWE three years later. Rush spent nearly a year on NXT before moving to the main roster to become Bobby Lashley's manager. Nonetheless, in mid-2019, several reports suggested the former WWE Superstar had a lot of heat backstage over issues regarding his attitude.
After a few months of absence, Rush returned to compete on 205 Live for nearly five months. In April 2020, WWE released him from his contract as part of the budget cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 27-year-old recently joined AEW. In an interview on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette, he praised AEW CEO Tony Khan and took shots at Vince McMahon and Triple H:
"Tony is such a great guy. I think that played a huge part in me wanting to be in AEW too, because I didn’t want another boss like Vince. I didn’t want another boss like Hunter. People have different opinions about Hunter, but me and Hunter, we kind of always butted heads for multiple, stupid reasons. But I didn’t feel like that with Tony. And I felt super connected with him and I felt like he was relatable. I felt like he cared about the same things that the boys in the back cared about," Rush said.
The current AEW star also revealed that his constant disagreements with The Game led to his release from WWE:
"I feel like we were just always disagreeing all the time and it sucked because obviously I looked up to Triple H when I was a kid and stuff like that, so it was weird trying to break that separation from being an admirer of his but now, at the same time, I’m an employee of his and he is my boss, so it was hard for me to separate the two and it was kind of disappointing every time I had a conversation with him – but the lack of communication leading up to the initial release was with Hunter," he told Sportskeeda.
Rush made his in-ring debut for AEW at Double or Nothing, participating in the Casino Battle Royale. He recently teamed up with Dante Martin to defeat Lee Moriarty and Matt Sydal on Dynamite.
#4. AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes praised Triple H
Despite the competition between the two companies, AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes praised Triple H. Rhodes spent nearly a decade in WWE, where he shared a locker room with The King of Kings.
In a recent interview with Inside the Ropes magazine, the former AEW TNT Champion disclosed that Triple H was his role model and is still his favorite wrestler:
"Triple H is probably my favorite wrestler and was a role model. I only watched from a distance, but he reminded me a lot of my dad in the sense that I watched him do all the work, be this executive, and then go out there—and he was only part-time for the most part other than when I first started and had that run with him and Teddy and Shawn. He really was a model in terms of, 'OK, you can do both. You can do both, but you have to be really disciplined. You have to take it really seriously,'" Rhodes said.
The Game and the American Nightmare shared the ring several times during Rhodes' time in WWE. Nonetheless, Dustin Rhodes' son never defeated Triple H one-on-one.
#3. AEW star Taz took a shot at Triple H
Like Cody Rhodes, Taz spent several years working in WWE, where he shared a locker room with Triple H. That did not stop him from taking a shot at The Game nearly a year ago.
In April 2020, Rhodes topped AEW's rankings. That did not sit well with a fan who criticized AEW's management on Twitter:
"Lmfao! If let’s say HHH, was #1 on a ranking system in WWE, people would lose there mind...but the executive in AEW is in every main storyline and involved in the new championship tourney and it’s awesome...haha so funny how that works," the fan wrote.
Taz, who joined AEW in 2019, responded to the fan's tweet, defending his Executive Vice President. In the process, he took a big shot at The King of Kings:
"[Triple H] has been #1 in their (WWE) INVISIBLE ranking system for around 15 years! Also, [Cody Rhodes] puts over talent & doesn’t bury & crush people behind their backs, I can go on forever with this, sir u think u know what the deal is...but u have no idea what u are talking about regarding this," Taz wrote.
Throughout their long wrestling careers, Taz and Triple H collided in the ring only once. The two squared off on SmackDown in April 2000 in a World Heavyweight Title match. The Game successfully defeated the Human Suplex Machine to retain his title.
#2. AEW Executive Vice President Matt Jackson praised Triple H
Although Matt Jackson never worked with Triple H, he showered The Game with praise.
A few years ago, Triple H tried to convince The Young Buck to join WWE. The Cerebral Assassin contacted the older Jackson right before he and his brother signed with AEW. Despite the deal falling through, Triple H's personality impressed the former AEW Tag Team Champion:
"He was great. Charming dude. He said all the right things (...) The conversation would start with me saying we’re so sorry, we’re going to pass on this, thank you so much, and an hour later I’m talking about our next phone call in two weeks. He’s a magician and no wonder he has the job he has because he’s a charming guy and he’ll charm your socks off," Matt told Fightful.
The Young Bucks joined AEW in 2019 as Executive Vice Presidents and in-ring performers. They later disclosed that they preferred joining AEW over WWE after meeting with AEW CEO Tony Khan. The brothers are currently one of the top tag teams in AEW and part of The Elite stable.
#1. AEW CEO Tony Khan took a shot at Triple H
Last June, Triple H insisted that WWE has the best female wrestlers in the world during a media call ahead of NXT TakeOver: In Your House. He also added that even those who are not in WWE want to join the company.
The Game's claims received a lot of criticism from several female wrestlers. AEW CEO Tony Khan also fired back at Triple H, calling his comments crazy.
"I think where people got offended yesterday is when he said, 'Everybody wants to work there.' That was like, people are confusing the two things. If you want to say like, 'Hey, I think my show is the best. I think my product is the best', there’s nothing wrong with that. Like you should feel that way. That’s good. But when you say it like, 'Anybody of any value wants to work here', that’s not true. It’s crazy. There’s plenty of people who work in AEW that have no interest in working there," Khan told Busted Open Radio.
Khan has been openly critical of WWE programming. He recently spoke about competing with WWE, claiming that his promotion won the Wednesday Night Wars.
"From the start AEW consistently did better numbers than NXT, and we won that war. AEW is now the Wednesday night show," he told Barstool Sports.
The Wednesday Night Wars lasted between October 2019 and April of this year as Triple H's NXT and AEW Dynamite aired simultaneously. WWE then moved NXT to Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays.
