A common theme amongst WWE fans at the moment seems to be to blame all the ills of the current product on Triple H. Don’t like the way that Daniel Bryan was(n’t) pushed? Triple H’s fault. Don’t like the fact that Batista was brought back and inserted straight into the WrestleMania title picture as the expense of more “deserving” employees? Triple H’s fault. Think that the New Age Outlaws have outstayed their welcome? Triple H’s fault. AJ Lee (supposedly) being de-pushed for her relationship with Management Enemy Number one CM Punk? Triple H’s fault. And indeed you are upset that CM Punk has been “forced” out of the company? Triple H’s fault.
Now lets get one thing straight. Triple H has a LOT of power. He is the man who will take over the whole reigns of the company when the day comes that the WWE has to move on without a certain Vincent Kennedy McMahon. He is responsible for a lot of what appears on your TV in the guise of modern day WWE. If you have problems with what you see on your TV screens from the WWE in 2014, you cannot escape the fact that Triple H’s fingerprints are all over it.
And yet, with Vince McMahon still every much the final voice on all things WWE and Stephanie McMahon hardly being a shrinking violet herself, there is only so much that Triple H can do. And it’s worth pointing out that in many of the areas where he comes under criticism, he’s not exactly forging his own path but following the tried and tested practices of the WWE that we knew when Vince McMahon was in his heyday.
Would Vince McMahon have put the full promotional machine behind Daniel Bryan in the way that many fans think he should have done at any point in his past? Given that the “smaller man” pushes were usually forced on him when the Steroids scandals were hitting home hard I very much doubt it. And indeed, if the WWE really did mean to insert Daniel Bryan into the WrestleMania main event all along, hasn’t the “push” (and the inadvertent backlash it generated) been a stroke of genius? I’m not suggesting that it 100% was the “plan all along”, but what would you think if it was indeed a set-up from start to finish? Would that absolve the sins of Triple H?
If we blame Triple H for bringing his buddy Batista back, does that mean he was at fault every January for the past few years, where a part-time superstar has retuned to take up the spot of a full-timer on the biggest show of the year? Is Chris Jericho, a recipient of this honour for the past two years, a better wrestler than Batista? Of course. But Batista is a bigger draw than Y2J ever was (see WrestleMania 21). And whilst The Rock is by far the bigger star, Batista has worked a far bigger schedule than Dwayne did, who couldn’t even make it to every Raw when he was World Champion. Does Triple H take the blame where Vince didn’t simply because you “preferred” Vince’s choice of returning veterans?
Being frustrated by rumours that AJ Lee is being de-pushed in some petty attempt to teach CM Punk a lesson is one thing, but to blame Triple H would ignore the fact that this is the way WWE operates. Almost everyone is forgiven eventually, but is HHH doing anything different to what Vince has done in the past? Mickie James and Christy Hemme are two Diva’s reportedly fired for reasons related to their “extra-curricular” activity and even more simply, HHH himself was buried for the mis-deeds of others after the infamous Curtain Call incident. None of this makes the apparent treatment of AJ right, but it is an indication that if it is all down to Triple H, he’s nothing if not consistent with the company’s previous approach.
And as for laying the blame for the CM Punk situation at Tripper’s door…I have said before that I cannot bring myself to make Punk a martyr for the company’s ills but lets not forget that it was Vince McMahon who Punk told face to face he was leaving and it was Vince McMahon who couldn’t bring himself to do anything to stop him.
Triple H, as the above “transgressions” may suggest is far from perfect. But in focusing on the things he’s (allegedly) done that Vince himself would also have done, it’s a disservice to forget the things he’s done that Vince wouldn’t have done in a million years.
After years of neglect, Triple H at least attempted to reheat the Tag Team division, and indeed gave the Diva’s it’s highest profile in years. Whilst he did indeed have control over a number of predictable ppv/world title main events involving the same old suspects, he also was part of a creative process which saw Daniel Bryan (yes,. him) cleanly pin John Cena at SummerSlam. You don’t get many of them, do you? The Shield and The Wyatt Family have received SUSTAINED pushes, which weren’t jettisoned three weeks later. A state of the art performance centre to train the next generation of superstars is a huge step forward, as is the prominence of NXT as a place for stars to shine and work on their act in preparation for the “big time”. Both were projects heavily influenced by Triple H and both are hugely positive in terms of the future of the company. Other than the days either side of the turn of the century when Jim Ross was in charge of talent gathering has there been a more impressive group of “WWE talent in waiting” than what they have at the moment, where raw graduates mix with the best of the indie scene in an environment where they are allowed to go out and show what they can do?
HHH was never going to change the culture of the WWE overnight. Given the fact that it is still a hugely successful money making machine, he would have been made to take his sledgehammer to the company and product just to make a point. But whilst some of the “bad old days” culture exists, it is worth remembering that Triple H has done a lot of good for the company and product as well. Does the good outweigh the bad? That’s for you to decide, but if you’re in the rush to lay all the blame at his feet at least have the decency to acknowledge the good that he’s done as well.
– By Matthew Roberts