Triple H On Survivor Series Elimination Matches – “Sometimes Stuff Needs A Break”
Triple H has explained why he chose to go away from doing Survivor Series elimination matches although he did not officially declare that they are gone forever.
It was in late July when Triple H was named as WWE’s Chief Content Officer, which meant that he was taking over the job as the Head of Creative in WWE following the retirement of Vince McMahon, who got to call the shots for the last 40 years.
Since taking over the job, Triple H has changed some things in WWE while also sticking to some traditions as well. With regard to tradition, Survivor Series used to feature elimination tag team matches with either four or five competitors on a team dating back to the first Survivor Series in 1987.
At Survivor Series 2022, the WarGames match was part of the WWE main roster for the time after starting in NXT in 2017. Triple H chose to do it in part because the traditional Raw vs. Smackdown elimination matches at Survivor Series had grown stale, so it was time for something new.
Triple H addressed the media at the post-Survivor Series press conference that aired on WWE’s Youtube channel and he was asked if WarGames taking place at Survivor Series meant the end of the traditional elimination tag team matches.
“I don’t think we’re done with anything. I think that when we look at it together as a whole, it’s about what’s best for our fans in the moment, Sometimes stuff needs a break for a while. Sometimes you bring it back later and it’s iconic. ‘Oh my God, they’re going back to that!’ To say it’ll never happen again, I think is wrong.”
As he continued, Triple H talked about how it was a group effort deciding to not do elimination tag team matches at this year’s Survivor Series.
“I think it was the right year [for a break from Elimination matches.] We all looked at it and decided internally that it was the right year to maybe freshen up the concept a little bit. Either the five-on-five tags and maybe even the straight-out Raw Vs. SmackDown [stipulations] were a bit tired and needed a refresh. So that’s what we did.”
During the press conference, Triple H didn’t confirm if WarGames will be an every-year thing because WWE will evaluate it.