Nick Aldis has explained why his WWE on-screen debut was a lot more low-key than many may have expected.
On October 13th 2023, Triple H publicly announced that Adam Pearce would no longer be serving as an Official for both brands and would instead be focusing exclusively on Raw, leaving a position open for a SmackDown authority figure. Triple H introduced Nick Aldis as the General Manager, who walked into the ring from the ringside area with no entrance music and no grand entrance.
Longtime fans of WWE are more familiar with grander spectacles being presented when new authority figures are introduced, such as Kurt Angle, Mick Foley or Eric Bischoff. With this in mind, did Aldis expect something bigger for his arrival?
Speaking with Kenny McIntosh for issue 42 of Inside The Ropes Magazine, Aldis looked back on his debut in WWE. Noting that his first appearance in front of fans would be in Tulsa Oklahoma, a town with not as rich a wrestling history as others within the country, Aldis was aware that the WWE audience may not be aware of his work as it has always been in other promotions:
“I’ve always said I believe that one of the key qualities you have to have to succeed in this industry, not necessarily as a talent, but just to succeed in the industry period is self-awareness. In other words, you have to know what you do well, you have to know what you don’t do well, and you have to know where you stand as far as your status and everything. So I understood what it would mean to come out with music and entrance and everything like that, particularly in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
And that’s not a knock on Tulsa, Oklahoma, but there are certain markets where I would have gotten a stronger reaction like New York or Philly, the places that have a stronger concentration of fans that are following a lot more wrestling than just WWE.”
“Once You Talk You’ll Be Okay”: Triple H’s Advice To Nick Aldis
Aldis continued and recalled the conversation he had with Triple H prior to making his debut. Triple H explained that the subtle entrance was the better choice as they hadn’t seen him on WWE TV before, adding that when he got the chance to play to his strengths on the mic then any awkwardness would soon subside:
“Hunter and I discussed it at length, and Paul was very honest about it. He goes, “Look, I know there is no ideal way to do this, we just feel like this is the best way, music and entrance doesn’t make any sense.” Because most of the WWE audience were not familiar with me. They are now, but at the time, it’s very out of the blue, and I’m using my real name.
I think Hunter looked at it as, like, let’s rip the band-aid off. There’s no easy way to do this that’s not going to be a little bit awkward. So let’s get it out of the way. And then he just said, “I’m going to give you the mic right away, and you’ll get over. Once you talk you’ll be okay.” And that’s how I felt about it. I was like, the sooner I can get in the ring and forget that part the better, just give me the mic.”
During the same interview, Nick Aldis looked back at competing at the inaugural 2018 All In event.
Issue 42 of Inside The Ropes Magazine is available to purchase here.
If you use any quotes from this article please leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.