Triple H on what top stars in wrestling need: “The king is charisma – It is the biggest thing that you can have”

During an interview with ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike, Paul “Triple H” Levesque 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. Here was Triple H’s response…

“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 who transcended the business in the biggest way.

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.

I think 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 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.” (quote courtesy of F4WOnline.com)