The women’s triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day ran a bit short compared to the rest of the card, but Triple H says they were given as much time as they needed and weren’t cut short.
Triple H fielded questions after NXT TakeOver was in the books, one of which was if the short match was by design. He first began by praising all three women for their performance and said they were not cut short, and actually had 20 minutes allotted even though it only clocked in around 12-13 minutes.
“They had a window that was much bigger than that. I think bell-to-bell they went somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve, thirteen [minutes], I don’t remember precisely, but I think that’s where they went to. But they had what they wanted. I think it was laid out at twenty, just as a window, but they had what they wanted. There were a few things in there I know that didn’t go exactly how they had planned it. I don’t necessarily mean mistakes on their part, but tables breaking, things happening beyond peoples control, that made them go in different directions.”
Triple H noted that it’s a funny thing to see people get caught up on match times, especially the notion that TakeOver events warrant more time. He said even if all the matches on the show ran twenty minutes something would still be analyzed, and wanted to praise all three competitors, including the reigning champion.
“It’s a funny thing sometimes, people get caught up in, ‘Well, jeez, how could they not go twenty minutes?’ But it’s a funny—if you go twenty minutes on all the matches, everybody goes, ‘everybody went 20 minutes on a TakeOver?’ [and that gets criticized] You can never make everybody happy. I thought they had a spectacular match, an incredible performance from all three of them.”
“Io Shirai, she’s just at a different level. She’s so versatile with her performances, and I don’t just mean in the ring. One minute she’s this smiling, innocent girl and another minute she’s this vicious killer, another minute she’s truly the ‘genius of the sky’ and just flying off of things, doing incredible stuff. Anytime I think there’s something from her where I think ‘Oh, I’ve seen it all’, she pulls something else out that I’m [impressed by]. She really can do anything and is just so versatile. It’s hard to put into words how good she is, she’s just an incredible performer.”
Later in the call, Triple H was asked about the broken table spot that took place during the match and how it changed their gameplan. He said they didn’t miss a beat and he tipped his hat to them for being professionals and moving on through the match seamlessly.
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