TRIPLE H TALKS ABOUT HIS RETURN, POSITION IN WWE

The February 2011 issue of WWE Magazine features Triple H on the cover and talks about his return to WWE TV, focuses on him being a headliner at WrestleMania 27. Here are some highlights:

HHH on top guys leaving and new guys stepping up, and whether it affects him:
“It does. I’d been in the ring a million times with a lot of the guys who left. Now, when you look at Wade Barrett or The Miz, these are guys that I’ve never been in the ring with. Do I know them? Sure, I see them all the time, but from an in-ring standpoint, I just know them the way everybody else knows them. I’ve never had my hands on them.”

His upcoming return:
“If I can’t do this the way I feel like I should be able to, then I want to be done. And I don’t want to come back here and tarnish that. I don’t want to do the nostalgia run where I come out and say I’m the greatest in the world.”

Wanting to be that guy:
“There was a time when I would have argued that I was the best in the business. When I don’t feel like I can perform at that level, I don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want to be just a guy in the ring. I want to be the guy in the ring.”

How his next run will differ from his previous runs:
“In the past, my goal was just becoming WWE champion or World Hvt. champion. But, there’s a certain time when you get beyond that. Shawn moved beyond that… I don’t have to be contending for a championship. Undertaker doesn’t have to be in contention. We’ve moved beyond needing a title to prove that we’re the best. That’s where I am now. (John) Cena will eventually be there.”

Triple H went on to talk about how he and The Undertaker are the last two veterans left in the WWE locker room. He mentioned how there were “20 veterans and three green guys” when he started and “now, you walk into our locker room and there are 30 green guys and two veterans.”

REY MYSTERIO'S WWE STATUS

Rey Mysterio’s first weekend back on WWE live events looks to be their Super Bowl matinee show on February 6th in Philadelphia. Rey is booked to wrestle Wade Barrett that day but isn’t expected to work a live event until then.

NAMES FOR HALL OF FAME 2011

 Based on recent talks within WWE, other names considered for this year’s Hall of Fame class include Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, Madusa and The Honky Tonk Man, who turned it down last year because he had a prior commitment that paid better.

Vince McMahon has wanted Ted Turner to be inducted, for the publicity value, but Turner accepting the induction isn’t likely.

WWE officials will make a push for Sting to be inducted if he doesn’t re-sign with TNA but he’s expected to stick around for another year. Another name talked about is Bill Goldberg, as noted before.

MVP THRASHES WWE

While MVP left on good terms with WWE officials, he did have some heat. MVP made a comment that everyone heard about Michael Tarver and Darren Young being dropped from Nexus, bringing up how all of the African Americans were kicked out of the group quickly, except David Otunga obviously.

WWE SIGNED NEW WRESTLER

Wrestler Brandon Barker, a graduate of Lance Storm’s wrestling school, is scheduled to start with WWE developmental soon once he gets his US work visa. Barker was signed to a developmental deal back in October.

ALEX RILEY GOING TO COURT, TOUGH ENOUGH RETURNING

Alex Riley will return to court in Tampa, Florida on January 13th, tomorrow, for a hearing on his DUI charges from this past November.
WWE is planning to introduce the cast of Tough Enough either at WrestleMania or RAW the next night to hype the show’s return.

WWE HIRES NEW PSYCHIATRIST

WWE has hired Dr. Mark Unterberg as their new psychiatrist. He is currently the team psychiatrist for the Dallas Cowboys and involved in the NFL Players Program of Substance Abuse.

BOOST IN WWE CREATIVE

Former WWE creative team member Court Bauer revealed on yesterday’s Figure Four Daily radio show that WWE officials contacted him in the spring of 2010 about returning to work on the planned WWE cable TV network. Officials wanted Bauer to help develop original programming for the network.

Bauer said he had meetings with officials in Stamford but decided not to take the job. Bauer said that WWE’s vision about their cable network has changed many times from what they originally had planned, especially after they began to shop it around to potential cable partners.

NEXUS VS NEXUS?? RED OR BLUE?? STRAIGHT EDGE OR TRUE??

A new Nexus faction was formed at last night’s WWE SmackDown tapings as Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater joined Wade Barrett on WWE’s blue brand. The group beat Big Show down after his match with Barrett.

WWE has been teasing Jackson’s SmackDown debut for a while now but there was no indication that he would be aligning with Barrett.

Slater and Gabriel were apparently kicked out of CM Punk’s Nexus this past Monday on RAW after they couldn’t accept their initiations.

Punk’s Nexus now consists of himself, Husky Harris, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty while Barrett’s Nexus is made up of himself, Ezekiel Jackson, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel.

Wade Barrett will debut a new entrance video and theme song on this Friday’s SmackDown as he takes on Big Show.

MIZ LOSES TO RAMPAGE JACKSON

WWE Champion The Miz lost to UFC fighter Rampage Jackson at the H.O.M.E. Foundation’s celebrity charity video game tournament last night, playing the UFC 2011 video game. A prize of $10,000 went to charity.