Nick Khan isn’t hedging when it comes to ranking Triple H among wrestling’s creative minds, and he considers Hunter the very best in the business.
Speaking on The Varsity podcast, Khan was discussing WWE’s ESPN Unlimited distribution and the criticism the move has drawn from fans when host John Ourand noted that WWE’s fanbase tends to complain loudly.
Khan acknowledged the company does take note when fans are unhappy, and that some complaints genuinely lead to small adjustments.
But he was firm that WWE isn’t going to overhaul its approach based purely on social media reaction, comparing it to how badly political predictions go when people treat online sentiment as representative of everyone.
Those complaints, some of them we look at and we say, ‘Hey, there’s some truth to this. Let’s make a little adjustment here, this or that.’ But you cannot cater.”
“You’ve seen this in politics. If you believe what social media says, you will incorrectly predict so many outcomes.”
“So for companies that read it and believe it and react to it, it never ever works.
Khan’s broader point was that leadership has to trust the people put in position to make creative and business decisions, rather than reacting to every wave of online criticism.
That trust, he said, extends specifically to Triple H, who Khan believes is the best creative mind not just in WWE, but across the entire wrestling industry. He extended similar praise to WWE’s live events and merchandise teams.
You have to rely on your team to know. We have the best creative in terms of all of wrestling in Triple H, real name Paul Levesque. We have the best live events team, in my opinion. We have the best merchandise consumer products team. They’re able to monetize it.
Khan tied that confidence back to the broader growth of parent company TKO, pointing to continued year-over-year growth across UFC, WWE, On Location, IMG, and PBR as proof that having the right team in place and trusting that team rather than second-guessing it constantly is what allows the business to keep developing.
And if you’ve seen the growth at TKO, that’s, you know, UFC, WWE, On Location, IMG, PBR, each of these continue to grow every year. It’s not easy, but it’s not supposed to be easy. So you gotta continue to develop and redevelop what you do, and you gotta make sure that you have the right team in place that can help you make the right decisions.
