Triple H Opens up About National Anthem Controversy

The National Anthem finds itself in the national spotlight in 2017. Even though the NFL and its player’s protests serve as the catalyst for conversation, the issue at hand is not exclusive to professional football.

Triple H recently sat down with Express and discussed the contentious topic. Ironically, a man who’s spent his life mimicking violence has one of the more peaceful takes on the controversial subject matter.

“I speak for myself, personally only, and if it was me I would stand for my national anthem,” he said. “For my country, I would stand. But I and WWE certainly respect the rights of everybody’s first amendment right of freedom of speech, their right to peacefully protest and do what is meaningful to them. Certainly we support that.”

Triple H did raise an eyebrow at the manner of which the protests were being carried out, but overall, The Game seems supportive of NFL player’s mission.

“I question whether there would be a better way to do that, that maybe wouldn’t offend others or something else,” he said. “Surely we respect that line,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, WWE has been very quiet on this matter. Even though WWE does it’s best to emulate professional sports, it’s still closer to a theatric performance. While WWE Superstars are free to their opinions on Twitter or in interviews, when they are on WWE cameras they’re expected to be playing a character. Things are also simplified by the fact that there is no National Anthem played before every WWE event.

As of now, there haven’t been many opinions from WWE Superstars on the NFL protest narrative. It’s possible they’ve been instructed to hush overtly political opinions or that they voluntarily gagging themselves on the matter. As a publicly traded company, WWE has vested interest in neutrality. In short, they may not see it as their place to comment on such a sensitive matter.