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Former WWE Superstar Tino Sabbatelli detailed his conversation with Triple H during the former's initial days in NXT.
The former NFL star was a part of WWE's third brand from 2014 to 2020. His last televised match came in 2018 when he teamed up with Madcap Moss (fka Riddick Moss) to take on the Heavy Machinery. Timo also competed in a match for AEW on their YouTube show AEW Dark.
Speaking about his time in the company on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight podcast, Timo revealed that Triple H was impressed with his natural charisma and abilities on the mic. The former NFL player added that The King of Kings wanted him to hone his wrestling skills.
"Triple H approached me. He said ‘Listen Tino, you look like a million bucks, talk like a million bucks and carry yourself like a million bucks. But I really want your wrestling to be a million bucks. When you are a package like Tino, if you can’t wrestle then it will expose you and you can’t be the star that you really are.’ I took that personally and I really honed in, and that craft is hard! It’s not something you can just teach overnight, there are so many aspects," said Tino.
Check out the entire interview below:
Before his first departure, Tino featured on several NXT live events, where he took on stars like Malakai Black (fka Aleister Black).
Tino Sabbatelli was frustrated with Triple H over the booking of his character in WWE
Tino was a part of NXT for around six years over two stints. The former NFL star signed his first contract with WWE in October 2014 and was part of the promotion until April 2020. He re-signed with the company in October 2020, only to be released again in June next year.
Sabbatelli revealed on the same podcast that he "lost a little respect" for Triple H after he wasn't given a chance to prove himself despite The Game lauding him in the past:
“I lost a little respect because I didn’t get a call, I didn’t get a text from Triple H,” Sabbatelli said. “I called him and I reached out to him. I didn’t respect that, man, because I felt like I gave them everything that I had for five, six years, and he told me and numerous people told me that my character had star main-event caliber potential. But how do I never get a shot? Nothing.”
Tino's second run in WWE was a lackluster one where he did not have a single match. He only headlined in-house live events at the Performance Center before being released on June 25, 2021.
