Triple H On If He Has Talked To CM Punk, Fans Expecting Punk At "WWE NXT Takeover: WarGames"
At NXT Takeover: WarGames on Saturday night, Kevin Owens was revealed to be the mystery member of Team Ciampa. There was a lot of talk about who the fourth man would be, with a lot of people speculating that it would be CM Punk, as he is from Chicago where the event took place.
Levesque spoke to the media after Takeover. Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman asked Levesque if he had any talks with CM Punk, who started working as an analyst for FOX on the show, WWE Backstage, earlier this month.
"I have not spoken to him," Levesque admitted. "To be honest, we have not had that conversation. I know he's working for FOX and it's a bit of an arm's length from us. All of this stuff is baby steps, when people want something so bad, it's like they're saying, 'So you're saying there's a chance.' That's the moment of time that we're in."
Levesque noted that some of the commentary on the pre-show may have also led to people speculating that Punk would be involved. Levesque revealed that he changed some of the verbiage to do what he could to stop people from speculating that Punk would be involved.
"There was a moment where Sam Roberts had said in the Kickoff show a couple of times or was going to say, 'The person is in Chicago.' I was like, just don't say the person and 'in Chicago' in the same sentence because I feel like you're setting that up. 'The person is here' is fine. I understand it and I get it, it is what it is at this point in time."
Punk has stated that he is under contract with FOX for his WWE Backstage role, and has not had any talks with WWE. Levesque said that while there is always a possibility that they might work together in the future, "that's a long, long way."
"Be happy that he's on WWE Backstage and doing something with the business again," Levesque stated. "The rest of it, I've said it a million times, never say never. But that's a long, long way. I know when you say that, people say, 'they're working us!' Because there's nothing that you can say that will make people think otherwise, it is what it is."
During a media call earlier this week, Levesque had said that the fourth member of Team Ciampa would be an "epic" surprise. When Owens was revealed to be the fourth member, the arena erupted. Levesque noted that he lived up to his promise, and that it was a huge moment for Owens as well.
"I promised an epic moment tonight, I think Kevin Owens more than delivered and blew the roof off this building," Levesque said. "I think just knowing Kevin as well as I know Kevin, this was probably one of the biggest moments he's had in a long, long time. It was awesome to see him in an NXT right again."