The Centre of the Universe

THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE

Since transitioning away from his full-time wrestling career, Triple H has well and truly proved himself to have a great mind for the industry. From his involvement in the fledgling WWE Performance Centre, to his championing of an economical in-ring style where every move counts, to the young talent he has apparently thrown his political weight behind, he seems like a man fit to lead the wrestling world going forward.

So why is it that everything he’s involved in on-screen is so bad?

The DX reunion, with its pathetic attempts at zany comedy and the many snide comments by both Hunter and Michaels that undercut the rest of the roster; the infamous “Who texted Kevin Nash?” storyline with CM Punk in 2011, when he sapped the momentum away from a wrestler who was getting crazily over with the fans, and even scored a needless pay-per-view victory over him; the series with Brock Lesnar – a wrestler whose limited dates should not have entailed eight months’ worth of appearances dedicated to Triple H – where he recovered from two broken arms to withstand the Kimura Lock for an absurd amount of time at Wrestlemania (I was in the crowd that night, and the audience were literally laughing at that sequence); the recent, drawn-out attempt to diminish Daniel Bryan’s support amongst the audience rather than embracing his popularity and making tens of millions of dollars in the process.

There have been flashes of brilliance, such as the Batista angle leading up to Wrestlemania 21, and the two matches with The Undertaker (though I consider those matches slightly overrated, particularly the first), however these have been nowhere near regular enough to justify the stock that is put in Triple H’s on-screen character, especially when compared with others who do not receive the same spotlight.

Monday’s Raw was a microcosm of everything that is bad about Triple H. When he came out to talk to Randy Orton at the start of the show, he admonished him for an act that was no worse than others he has encouraged in the past. For example, what’s the difference between Orton beating up an innocent old man last week and The Big Show beating up an innocent old man in Dusty Rhodes, at The Authority’s behest, a few months ago?

You could argue that the comments about John Cena’s dad were supposed to draw attention to Triple H’s hypocrisy, thus putting more heel heat on him. If that is the case, why did the returning hero Dave Batista – who all indications suggest will be featured as a babyface over the coming months – give him a big hug and look so pleased to see him when he walked out? Does Batista not know what an awful heel Triple H is? Has he not been watching WWE? Does he not know about the terrible acts perpetrated by The Authority? If he’s not been watching, why doesn’t he like Orton?

If Triple H is supposed to be a heel, something many of his acts since Summerslam would suggest, why would Batista want to be friends with him?

That’s the problem though; Triple H’s desire to be at the centre of everything on television. Right now, the heel champion is trying to get his approval, the returning babyface is his best friend, the two most popular babyfaces in the company are feuding with him, the tenured monster heel takes orders from him, the main heel faction on the roster serve as his bodyguards, and the legendary tag team are doing his bidding.

And, for all the hype, for all his monikers, for all his championships, he really isn’t deserving of that position. Triple H has never proven himself to be a draw; he has never had an obvious positive effect on TV ratings, buyrates or ticket sales. Indeed, when he was featured most prominently, in 2002-2004, WWE suffered it’s biggest drop in business of the last twenty years. He has been a crucial part of an ensemble main event scene, but he has never proved himself worthy of the very top spot in the company. Neither have his performance levels justified it. He’s a very good wrestler, but he was never the best. He’s decent on the mic, but he’s never been the best talker. He’s charismatic, but others have more charisma. If you were picking one person from the last couple of decades to feature as the franchise act in a wrestling promotion, would anybody in the world pick Triple H? Not only do Steve Austin and The Rock blow him out of the water, but he also lags behind John Cena, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan.

Bret Hart received a lot of criticism for saying that Triple H wouldn’t be in his top thousand workers, but I don’t believe that was the terrible insult it was made out to be. Bret grew up in the industry; he has seen every wrestler of the last fifty years, good and bad. He was there when territories across North America each had a roster of their own. He has worked extensively in Japan. Bret Hart must have seen many thousands of wrestlers in his time; his top thousand may only constitute 10% of the workers he has seen. I can’t say Triple H would make my own top 10%.

He has no history of raising the game of his opponents in the ring, with the possible exception of Batista. He was only a world class worker for a very short amount of time around 2000; on returning from his first quad surgery noticeably bulked up, he never regained the speed, agility and athleticism to perform at a similar level. Furthermore, he has been portrayed not only as the smartest man in the business, but also the funniest, the toughest, and the greatest of all time. I’m all for protecting your main eventers, and hyping them up as a big deal. It’s definitely something WWE could do better with its other main eventers; I love the notion of giving each of your top stars four or five memorable character traits that define them, but does one person really need to be the funniest, smartest and toughest, especially if he’s already “the greatest of all time”?

I hope the day comes soon when Triple H puts his days as an on-screen performer behind him, and concentrates on promoting others with the same vigour that he has promoted himself over the years. WWE could do with somebody behind the scenes who knows how to create the next wave of difference-making wrestling stars, who knows how to create hype around a limited performer. With his mind for the business, he can lead WWE to heights that would match the boom periods of the Hulkamania and Attitude eras. I am concerned, however, that as long as he remains an on-screen performer he will not be capable of taking a back seat to anybody, and WWE will remain The Triple H Show. That was a nonsensical enough idea ten years ago when he was a full-time active wrestler; in 2014, it could have catastrophic long-term consequences.

 Well said that man!

Couldn't agree with you more Crips, for all the good that Triple H is doing off-screen he is doing just as much damage to the on-screen product.

Triple H has always struck me as a guy who tries to be all things to all men; he wants to be a face, he wants to be a heel, he want to be tough, he wants to be smart, he wants to be funny, he wants to make insider references, he wants to be 'cool'. The trouble is he does all these things to the detriment of his opponents or any angles he's involved in. But hey, as long as Trips gets the upper hand then sod the consequences right?

Granted, I'm not Triple H's biggest fan but I can admit that for a period in 2000 he was the best around. His quad injury in 2001 obviously hampered him speed/mobility wise but it also didn't help that he'd packed on so much muscle he looked like a radioactive triceratops. I've never bought into him as the top guy, and he's nowhere near "the greatest ever" despite what WWE will no doubt tell us all when he retires from in-ring activity. I think it was Jim Cornette who said that Triple H was never the top guy, he was the guy top guys faced. That pretty much sums him up for me.

It's a pity that the early 2000 Triple H isn't still around - and I don't mean physically, I mean his mentality - because that guy did so much for his opponents. Look at his selling of Mankind's transformation into Cactus Jack - it was absolutely first class, and made people forget that it was just Mick Foley in a different shirt.

Yeah, it's definitely a shame that guy isn't around anymore, especially now with his propensity to interject himself into everything.

Call me controversial, but I like Triple H being an on-screen authority figure and hope he stays that way for a long time. The only thing I hope is that he goes full heel. I agree its weird him acting like a heel some times and then a face at other times. I want him to be the complete power hungry boss who people like CM Punk stand up to.

I hate the inconsistencies with the character, I think as a Mr. McMahon style character with the added history of being a very good wrestler in the past means he can be a very credible villain for a face like Punk to overcome.

Triple H should be able to offer a lot as an on-screen character, he is good on the mic and can sell feuds. The issue is that too often his ego get in the way and his character becomes infuriating and inconsistent. It annoyed me so much that Batista was being best friends with Triple H abf this isn't the first time Triple H has done face things while supposed to be the big bad and it harms him and the characters against him.

I like him as an on-screen character, but he doesnt let himself just play his role. I have no problem with him being pals with Batista and having some saving graces to some men, he is an old friend and he's brought Batista back to a place he "loves". He may then "trust" him as a man doing whats best for business. And remember, he needs to portray himself as a man doing whats best for business whether the reality is, of course, that he isnt. Its not good for business that Orton attacked Cena after the attention of the WWE Network launch (a point they made and cited as why they were so angry). A business decision.

But, he takes a lot of spotlight at times where he doesn't need to. I think there are some inconsistencies that need ironing out but some that need to remain in his current "best for business" mould. It all becomes much more forgiveable on top of that if he does put someone over at Mania.

And for all its worth, he's been on screen less lately.

I get your point, its right in parts and opinion in others. I have liked WWE more since he became this on air authority and as such I can't be too critical of him.

quite honestly, I don`t really think it was Triple H`s fault regarding the kimora lock/broken arm angle with Brock Lesnar. Brock needed a veteren opponent as he wasn`t the most reliable in the ring after such a long spell away from the business and giving him the kimora lock as a submission move in tribute of his MMA career was poor decision making imo. Lesnar only secured one submission victory in his career and it wasn`t with the kimora, it was also against a seriously gassed Shane Carwin after he spent most of round 1 punching himself out with Lesnar in the turtle position. Lesnar wasn`t known for his submission defence either, tapping out to Frank Mir in their first fight, who caught him with an ankle lock. So in general giving Brock a BJJ gimmick was a bad idea as it in no-way reflected reality. What Brock was great at was overwhelming his opponents with his athleticism, speed and strength (coming from his wrestling background) and ground and pounding his opponents into defeat. But I guess they couldn`t give him a KO gimmick as Big Show already has that!   

Could have gave Lesnar back the "Brock Lock" he used briefly in his first run. It looked brutal and no one has used anything like it since.