Triple H said that the WWE strives to give women the same opportunities as it does menTONY FLOREZ
Women’s wrestling in the WWE has gone from an afterthought to being the main event at this weekend’s WrestleMania, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon noted during an appearance at the opening day of the CAA World Congress of Sports. Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch will be the final match on WWE's biggest event of the year, which is at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, and McMahon said, “Six years ago the only women’s event on the card was cut for timing,” she said, “and now it’s the main event. It’s not because it’s a movement, or it’s the right thing to do. They’re the most talented, the biggest stars, best athletes, and the biggest storylines. They deserve this.” McMahon appeared alongside her husband, WWE Exec VP/Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul Levesque -- better known as Triple H -- who added, “As the world became more accepting (of women headlining sports), we started training our women the same way (as the men) and giving them opportunities in the ring and we could see acceptance in our fans. ... They grabbed this and said, ‘We’re going to make this ours.’”
CHASING THE MOUSE: McMahon and Levesque compared WWE as a media property to Disney. McMahon said, “We’ve always said there’s no reason we can’t be as big as Disney.” She did admit that Disney’s recent acquisition of Fox media properties “puts that off more into the future.”
THE "IT" FACTOR: When it comes to being a WWE star, Levesque said, “Charisma is king. Or queen, depending on how you want to look at it. That X factor. When someone walks into the room and you don’t know who they are, [but] you want to know, 'Who is that?' -- there’s something to that. The athleticism -- we can work around that.”
GRONK THE GREAT? Recently retired Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski has been linked to WWE as his next potential career move, and Levesque drew laughter by saying, “He’ll be a wonderful advocate for a beer sponsorship.” He added, “Everybody looks at Gronk and says he’d be phenomenal for you guys. It’s all about personality. I’d want to see him in the WWE ring perform, because I want to see what crazy thing he’d do. That’s the charisma factor. Gronk’s got that and then some.” Gronkowski already has some WWE experience, as he helped Mojo Rawley win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania in '17.
