Paul Levesque has spoken of plans for the launch of NXT Europe, with a new approach to scouting and recruitment.
Levesque made the comments in an interview published on Friday in Variety.
However, as noted in the publication, the discussion occurred on January 4th, two days before Vince McMahon would make his return to WWE’s Board of Directors.
In the interview, Levesque said WWE would share more detail on NXT Europe in the summer but added that “a lot of progress” had been made:
I would like to be able to find the best athletes and the largest personalities and the most entertaining people from every place in the world, and bring them into what we do. Because when you begin to create those characters and those stars from every region, those regions become more engaged in what we do. If you can begin to go to all these places, and begin to find athletes there that can resonate on a global stage, some will make it big, some will make it small, some won’t make it at all.
Indicating a change of direction in the recruitment process, he added:
NXT UK was based mostly on independent wrestling workers, guys that worked their way up and found their way to us. We’re starting the process there doing the same thing we’re doing here. There isn’t an NCAA collegiate level of athletics in Europe, but there’s a lot of athletes that are training in a lot of places like Loughborough [a UK university noted for sports programs] or whatever, for specific sports. We’re beginning to engage with them now and finding the same interest level that we’re finding in NCAA athletes here.
The article’s author, Joe Otterson, noted that McMahon’s return to the company could lead to a change in plans because the “global localization” concept has long been Levesque’s brainchild.
Elsewhere in the interview, Levesque spoke about long-term booking towards WrestleMania:
I’m always trying to think about the long-term storyline. I was at SummerSlam and one of the first things I talked to the team about is, “Okay, where do we want to go for Wrestlemania? What’s that goal?” Obviously it’s going to change, but what’s the target goal?
It’s like a GPS. As long as you put in the destination, the GPS will keep rerouting you if it needs to. If there’s an accident, it’s going to move you this way. If you miss a turn, it’s going to take you another way, but you’re gonna get to your destination. And as long as we are aware of where we want to get to, then we can get there.
We’ll adjust along the way. And the destination might change; we might decide halfway that we want to go in a different direction. But at least you constantly are aware of your target. And I think without that, you’re just floating around in the ocean.
