The wrestling world was completely upended when the recent scandals of Vince McMahon hit the news. In less than a month, the uncharted highway of life without Vince McMahon has become a reality. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Kahn are co-captains of the ship. Meanwhile, Triple H has taken his rightful place as master-at-arms, so to speak.
He had always been critically lauded for his run as head of NXT. Nearly everyone who came through the Black And Gold brand had also seemingly preferred Triple H’s guidance over Vinnie Mac's. Now that The Game is back on, there might be plenty of people who want back in, whenever their current deals expire.
10 William Regal
It’s an interesting question to ask a guy like William Regal. Do you want to continue hanging out with made guys whose career you helped shape, undoubtedly helping the AEW locker room with far less travel, or do you want to resume your job functions in NXT and on the grander scale in WWE looking for talent the entire world over? Not to mention, working side by side with one of your closest friends in the business? As Triple H once again assembles his new team, one would think he’d reach out to William Regal and his expertise as soon as possible.
9 Adam Cole
Shortly after the pitch to bring Adam Cole to the main roster, Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ star pupil decided to go hang out with his girlfriend and Super Kliq pals in AEW. However, Cole has stated in several interviews that he does keep in touch with at least HBK.
With all due respect to AEW and Tony Kahn, Cole hasn’t been used nearly as well as when Triple H was booking Cole and the Undisputed Horseme -err-Era. Hanging with your friends is nice, but not too long ago, he was on a rocket ship to the top. He might want to reenlist into WWE.
8 Sasha Banks & Naomi
How they left certainly wasn’t professional at all. However, the whole “Papa Hunter” nickname began around the same time that ladies like Sasha Banks were just beginning to realize their potential in NXT. Naomi is without question one of the most underrated ladies on the Vince McMahon-led roster. With Stephanie now in charge, the focus might get a lot more female-friendly. It’s easy to see the former/current WWE Women’s Tag Champs return to the fold and give Papa Hunter a shot.
7 Johnny Gargano
As one of the last holdouts from the Black And Gold brand, Johnny Gargano left early on during the 2.0 era. However, he and his wife Candice LeRae were expecting their first baby Quill, so it was an easy choice to head home and spend some downtime with the new addition. Whether he had every intention of coming back to WWE or heading to AEW or elsewhere might have been thrown into upheaval now that Hunter’s back in charge. Much like Adam Cole, Johnny Wrestling was a favored son; chances are he’d retain that status upon a return.
6 Karrion Kross & Scarlett
Perhaps the most bonkers call up, and subsequent release was Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux. For the first time in a long time, if ever, Triple H found a guy who fit a lot Vince McMahon’s imaginary list of what a top guy should look like. But the moment he came up, he was a laughing stock, and every fan that expected a WrestleMania-sized crowd to scream “Fall And Pray” was completely confused with the ruination of Kross. Perhaps a new challenger for Bron Breakker before heading back up to the main roster?
5 Bray Wyatt
From the moment he arrived on the main roster, there were plenty of fans and even some within the business that felt, if used properly, Bray Wyatt could be the next huge character babyface, ala Kane or The Undertaker.
But he became a template of what yo-yo booking can do to anyone on the roster no matter how much the fans are behind the gimmick. He spent a lot of time in FCW and NXT under the tutelage of HHH and then conceivably a lot more with HHH, Stephanie McMahon, and of course Vince. But with Vince gone, there might not be anything The Fiend can’t do if booked correctly.
4 FTR
In 2022, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood have firmly cemented their place as not only the best tag team in the world, but one of the best of all time. Not only are they students of the game, but they’re students of The Game, having come together under Triple H’s guidance in NXT. They had a decent run on the main roster, but with the then-inattention to tag teams and the ridiculous outfits that were pitched to the team, they hightailed faster than a big rig. While they owe AEW a lot for their continued success, they might want to mix it up with The Usos, The Street Profits, and a lot of other top WWE teams.
3 Hit Row
The big man, Top Dolla was hanging around WWE legends learning on the road while searching for Buried Treasures. Swerve Scott was making a name for himself as the North American Champion. Combined with B-Fab and Ashante Adonis, they made up the rap quartet Hit Row. All four were real musicians and demonstrated themselves at a Rap Cypher at the 2021 Great American Bash. Shortly after, they were all called up to the main roster and almost as fast all four were released. The group had a ton of potential that was nowhere near realized in NXT, it would be interesting to see what Triple H would have in store for a real true stable.
2 Dakota Kai
Time moves awfully fast when you're establishing your regime - Dakota Kai is already back! While Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez were together, they seemed to have been pushed as a modern day, female take on Shawn Michaels and Diesel. After all, Raquel was running around as Big Mami Cool while Dakota was running around running her mouth. They were a unique pair, and Dakota had a good take on the schizophrenic-type character, unable to handle a lot of different emotions. She was unfortunately released before getting to the main roster.
But Triple H used her well, and she’d be a great foil to Raquel on the main roster for both ladies to get over more than they have in the past. She arrived with Io Sky at SummerSlam at Bayley's side to help jumpstart a new era in the Women's Division.
1 Keith Lee
It’s astounding that Vince let Keith Lee go. It’s also even wilder that his take on the business is so short-sighted sometimes that he wanted Lee to “dumb down” the way he spoke and refer to himself as a Bearcat. A Bearcat looks like a mutant squirrel - does the Limitless One look like a mutant squirrel?! Nope, he looks like an eloquent ass-kicker that Triple H clearly pegged to be a megastar - he was after all the only dual champion in NXT history. For whatever the reason, despite his love of big meaty men, Keith Lee was completely mishandled and hightailed as fast as he could.