79-year-old wrestling veteran admits he was wrong about Triple H and defends him from recent criticism (Exclusive)

A 79-year-old wrestling veteran defended Triple H amidst the heaps of criticism that he has been facing, and admitted that he was wrong about The Game in one particular aspect.

On the latest episode of The Wrestling Time Machine, host Mac Davis asked veteran journalist Bill Apter about the criticism that Triple H has been getting, both from AJ Styles' son as well as from Bret Hart.

The 79-year-old Apter admitted that he was wrong in initially believing that The Game's rise in WWE had to do with him marrying Stephanie McMahon. He defended him from Bret Hart's criticism and said that he's well above the nepotism accusations:

"When Triple H married Stephanie [McMahon], it was going around the business that hey, he's going to be big and it doesn't matter what he does, boss's son-in-law. I'll tell you one thing. I might have thought that too. If you look at the way he has climbed the ladder in the company, backstage, in the office, etc. That's no longer the guy who got this position because he married the boss's daughter. He's well above that now."

Triple H's job as head of WWE creative isn't safe, says ex-Manager

Many assume that, regardless of the circumstances, The King of Kings' role as the WWE Chief Content Officer, or head of creative, is completely safe because he was the one who led WWE into that glory period (along with Nick Khan) in the first place. However, in 2025, the sentiment on that slowly seems to have changed.

One interesting thing that happened recently was that Cody Rhodes spoke about Triple H's potential replacement in an interview with ESPN. He named five superstars who could take his spot as the head of WWE creative, and those names included himself, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Bayley. He stated that these are the five stars who have enough pull backstage and experience to make a difference. Rhodes explicitly said that he would pick himself first in that position.

On Story Time with Dutch Mantell, the ex-manager of Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio, said that if somebody is openly vying for Triple H's position, he may not be as safe in his role as some might expect:

"If all three are vying for it, that's telling me something there because they have some, I think, internal—I'm gonna use the word 'strife.' I've never used that word before, but [there are] some internal disagreements that haven't made their way out yet. So if he's throwing his name out at this point, I think Triple H, he may be in a little more trouble than what they're letting on."

In 2023, Vince McMahon made an unexpected comeback and took over WWE creative again, but once the TKO merger was made official, they were quick to give Triple H the keys to the castle, as there were now multiple people who had authority over McMahon.

The Game is now unchallenged in that position, and some fans have cited Shawn Michaels could be a logical replacement for him in the event of a sudden exit. That's perhaps because Shawn Michaels is the head of all things NXT and has gotten a lot of praise for his role in the handling and development of WWE's up-and-coming talent. The women's division in NXT, especially, has thrived under Shawn Michaels, and this has been something of a pain point when it comes to Triple H's creative direction, according to many fans.

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