Following NXT’s premiere on USA Network, Triple H took part in a media call to discuss the brand’s first episode on their new network, at one point sharing how proud he was of all the talent involved for the show they just put on.

“I just stood in front of talent and said, hard to follow up what they just accomplished without saying anything that doesn’t sound trite other than to say how proud I am of all of this,” he said.

He continued, ”It’s taking a long time to get here. This was a starting line, not the finish line. We went out there tonight on the number one network on cable television, USA, amazing partners for us for years and put on what I feel was an epic hour of programming on USA. Number one trending in the USA the entire time, number one in the world the entire time, and number 4 in the world the entire time. Tough to say more than that other than I thought it was a hell of a night and thought it was an epic performance on everybody’s part.”

Triple H added he is just as proud of the team behind the scenes as he is of the talent in front of the cameras. He thanked WWE’s partners at Full Sail University, stressing that without them, the show doesn’t happen.

Last night also saw the return of Lio Rush to in-ring competition. When asked about Rush’s return, Triple H admitted that working on his comeback had been in the works for a while.

“This whole thing with NXT on USA, we’ve been talking about doing it for a year and a half, two years, then when it finally happens it’s a recent development. Until it actually happens, it hasn’t happened. Until we knew what was going on there was a bit of a lag there. I’m just really excited, Lio Rush won. He’s just a phenomenal, energetic, and money performer to me. Thrilled that we get to put him on the show and have him showcase what he does. He and Oney tore it up and that’s what it’s about.”

Lio Rush’s victory over Oney Lorcan grants him a championship opportunity against current Cruiserweight champion, Drew Gulak.