Tony D’Angelo has spent five years in WWE NXT, and according to Self Made Pro, one of the main reasons he is still there traces directly to Triple H. The report says Triple H did not like D’Angelo’s old mafia character, a stance that hurt his chances of being called up to RAW or SmackDown.
Self Made Pro laid out Triple H’s opinion of D’Angelo.
“Triple H doesn’t think much of him, or he didn’t in the old gimmick. He didn’t care for the mafia gimmick and beyond.”
D’Angelo dropped the mafia boss character after The D’Angelo Family broke up in 2025. He was repackaged with a more serious and aggressive presentation, leaving his familiar suits and tracksuits behind.
Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, D’Angelo said the mafia character was his own idea, one he came up with after WWE scrapped plans to put him in a tag team with Bron Breakker.
WrestleVotes Radio reported in September that main roster creative was not even discussing a possible call-up for D’Angelo. The report surfaced shortly after he lost the NXT Championship to Grayson Waller at Heatwave.
D’Angelo, however, made his ambitions clear in a recent interview with Jan Murphy of the Toronto Sun, saying he intends to reach the main roster and win the WWE Championship.
“Obviously, the next step is to get to the main roster.”
He added that he is unsure what his role there would be, saying that part is not really up to him.
Despite the reported obstacles behind the scenes, D’Angelo remains in the NXT Championship picture. He will face Myles Borne on Tuesday in a No. 1 contender’s match, and the winner will challenge Grayson Waller for the title at Halloween Havoc on Oct. 31.