WWE had to rewrite “a whole storyline” for the January 3rd 2025 edition of Smackdown due to an injury

Leading up to WWE RAW’s premiere on Netflix, Paul “Triple H” Levesque spoke with The Press Box and commented on the company’s storyline plans heading into Wrestlemania 41…

“If the last 30 years of my life have taught me anything, it’s nothing is pinned down. There used to be a saying here all the time, show me the stone it’s written on. All of this stuff, I like to do a lot of creative in whiteboards. So when we get together for long-term creative, there might be ten whiteboards down a row in a long room, and we’re all sitting at a table because at any point in time, you’re looking, does that make sense? It’s like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. You have to keep going back to the box to look at the picture you’re trying to put the pieces in. You write something, like I said, you can have it written out, and Bronson Reed breaks his ankle.”

Triple H revealed that plans had to be changed for the January 3rd 2025 edition of Smackdown due to an injury and illness…

“I’ll give it to you this way. This Friday night, we had the show written up, and it was really good, and it moved a lot of stories forward, and then we get word talent are injured, and it’s, went in for an MRI and it’s worse than we thought, and he’s out. Okay, alright. So we got to rewrite that whole storyline. Then we’re literally finishing the production meeting, and we just said, all right guys, have a great day, and my phone buzzes, and I look down, and it’s medical, and I get the, ‘So-and-so has flu really bad. We’re telling them don’t come to the building and sending them home. Cannot work.’ Okay [laughs]. Everybody, don’t go anywhere, sit back down because we gotta rewrite that aspect of the show. That’s constant.

So do I have in my mind an idea of…do we have WrestleMania written out? Yes. Do I think it will change? 100%. Do I have a plan B? Yes. Do I have a plan C? Yes. Do I think those are completely relevant? No. There could be changes where all of that stuff at any given moment, we just do like, all right, erase all the whiteboards, and let’s start over. It’s just the nature of the beast. It’s what we do. You can never just say, this is it, and this is what we’re doing. We talked about talking to talent about things earlier. It’s one of the risks you take of, you tell talent something. No matter how much you say to them, ‘Hey, this is what we’re thinking. This could change, but here’s what we’re thinking.’ If they like that, whatever changes is now catastrophic to them. No matter whether the end result ends up being better it not, they’re just devastated because in their mind, that is locked in stone, that is where they’re headed, and now no matter how that is, somewhere in their minds, they’re feeling, ‘Why am I always getting screwed over? I don’t understand.’ It’s nothing. It’s just what it is.” (quotes courtesy of Colin Tessier)

While Triple H did not name who was injured, The Street Profits were initially scheduled to face DIY for the tag team titles on Smackdown. However, General Manager Nick Aldis announced that they were pulled from the show due injuries.