WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque offered a rare, in-depth look into his philosophy on life, leadership, and the future of WWE during an interview at the TEDSports Indianapolis 2025 event, hosted by co-chair Patrick Talty. The wide-ranging conversation touched on family values, long-term storytelling, character development, and WWE’s landmark media rights deal with ESPN.
Levesque was candid about the personal lessons he’s learned, crediting his wife, Stephanie McMahon, as his foundation. “The most important decision you’ll ever make in your life is your spouse,” he said. Reflecting on his own health issues a few years ago, he emphasized that family will always outweigh career achievements. “At the end of the day, your family, your wife, your kids, whatever that is for you, that’s the most important stuff in your life.”
On the subject of work-life balance, Levesque offered a blunt perspective. “Work-life balance is a lie. It doesn’t exist,” he declared. Instead, he argued the key lies in presence. “When you’re at work, be present at work. Focus on that. When you’re home, you’re with your kids, focus on that. It’s not the quantity of time… it’s the quality of it.”
Peeling back the curtain on WWE’s creative process, Levesque described story planning as following a “North Star.” He said, “Probably my North Star would be WrestleMania in April. And I would say, where do we want to get to, to get to April? What are our biggest characters, our biggest storylines, and how do we want them to pay off at WrestleMania?” But he stressed adaptability as a crucial skill. “There are injuries, sickness, family problems… your great creative along the way gets shut down. Something changes. We pivot. And I think that’s what WWE does incredibly well, is pivot at any point in time.”
Discussing the art of character creation, Levesque spoke about the magic of blurring reality with fiction. He contrasted iconic personas like The Undertaker with layered performers like CM Punk. “When you can blur those lines of reality, and people think, ‘Well, that might be scripted, but I think those two guys really don’t like each other’… that is when it gets really interesting for us,” he explained. WWE’s approach, he said, is more akin to cinema than pure sport. “We are, if you said we’re a combat sport, we’re less boxing, more Rocky. We’re the movie.”
Finally, he addressed WWE’s groundbreaking partnership with ESPN, which kicks off with tomorrow’s Wrestlepalooza event. Levesque said the deal positions WWE alongside mainstream sports in a way that further legitimizes the brand. “When Monday Night Raw gets done and you flip to SportsCenter that night, there’s a recap of Monday Night Raw happening… just like if we were an NFL game, an NBA game, anything else. It’s an easy conversation now because it’s sitting there with the NFL, with the NBA, with Major League Baseball… seen in the light that it truly should be seen in.”
