Paul “Triple H” Levesque believes charisma is the most important element in making a successful professional wrestler. Whether ring skills or mic skills are more important has been a frequently debated topic among fans, and Levesque weighed in during an appearance on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike this week.
He was asked whether he would rather have a wrestler who is an A+ in the ring and a C on the mic or a wrestler who is an A+ on the mic but a C in the ring.
“I’ll go on the mic. The thing about our business, when people ask me what’s key in our business, the king is charisma. It always is, it always will be. It’s not a knock on anybody, but as you go through the years, you can make a list of the biggest stars, the people that transcended the business in the biggest way, the biggest stars. Sometimes they weren’t the most athletic. Sometimes they weren’t the best wrestlers. They weren’t the best technically skilled wrestlers, but they captivated people’s emotions. It’s what they did. John Cena captivated people’s emotions. Hulk Hogan captivated emotions. Hulk Hogan wasn’t the most athletic by far of his generation, but [he] was the biggest star by far of his generation because he had charisma. It is the biggest thing that you can have.”
Levesque clarified that while he prioritizes charisma, in-ring ability is still a necessary component of the job.
“I think that you see it in other sports as well. I think that sometimes charisma can carry people to unbelievable moments in their careers, and it makes them bigger stars all the way around. So that’s king in our business. Look, I’m not going to say that in-ring skill doesn’t matter. It absolutely matters, especially in today. You have to be able to deliver in that ring, but you’ve got to be able to get them to tune in first.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Levesque was asked to name the one wrestling storyline that he did not write but wishes that he did. Levesque chose the Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon rivalry, saying he does not know if he could have made that story even bigger than it was but would have liked to give it a shot.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
