Hey Scott,
I've been entranced the past few months with the occasional mailbag dissecting the inner workings of Triple H.
When you think of Vince Mcmahon's cutthroat business practices, it seems absolutely fitting that the
manipulative scheming piece of shit banged the bosses daughter and will soon have the keys to the kingdom.
He is perhaps the only one who can operate the company and carry it's legacy. After all, he'll definitely do his
best once the entire company can become his pet project instead of a Sheamus here, an Evolution there.
Have you ever thought of doing a long peoples history on this guys unearned ascension up the WWEs hierarchy?
After the revelations that were King Lear and Lazarus, this screams to have your official spin on it. I personally
can't stand the guy and I know A LOT of people don't bother giving voice to their pure apathy for the guy. The
ways he tries manipulating the crowds over the years always tends to fail because, let's face it, he's pretty
damned untalented. No matter how many times he gave himself the belt he'll always be the guy who inherited
the company when the true talent left for greener pastures, no matter how many times he tries making himself
out to be some badass versus Brock he's still the guy who didn't take the thirty foot plunge on Vince Mcmahon
at Armageddon, and swapped out the barbed wire bat for a fake against Foley at No Way Out was it? This
latest round of BS with his "concussion" is just the latest slap in the face to guys like Ziggler, who of course
was manhandled by him as part of the spirit squad.
In the end I think Triple H might be good to run the company (once he fucks off our TV sets) assuming he has a
shred of business acumen Vince had, but I really wonder what the story is with Shane Mcmahon leaving and
doing exceptionally well for himself outside the business. What do you think Scott? What becomes of the WWE
when Triple H exits the stage for a crash course in actual management?
Rob
Hey, whoa there, back the train up. I don't hate the guy personally, I'm just really sick of seeing him. And I wouldn't call his ascension either unwarranted or him untalented, as he's had tons of ***** matches and he has what appears to be a great view on the business most of the time. He just has a propensity for pushing himself too much, like most promoters through history. You can still be a great worker and a legitimate big draw, but annoy the crap out of me.
If Triple H wants WWE to succeed who's going to need to grow the balls to fire his wife.
ReplyDeleteThe guy who didn't take the 30ft plunge at Armageddon?
ReplyDeleteWhat's this about?
Oh yeah, I remember the spot
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/VBiHuzduzQA
ReplyDeletei hear decaf works wonder, op
ReplyDeleteI still wish HHH did not blow his quad in 2001 since he was
ReplyDeleteon fire at that point. He wrestled a style that supplemented many of the
wrestlers on the roster, especially the Rock and Austin due their enthusiastic,
high-paced style. Triple H wrestled an old-school methodical style, where he
would just deliberate and structure the match. He really understood exactly how to call a match and be a ring general, as he was brilliant at reading the crowd and thus knowing when he should get heat, the babyface should make his comeback, and etc. Truth be told, he was one of the best ring-generals I have ever seen in his prime.
Then when he came back, he did not bump like how he used to;
he noticeably meandered around the ring more, and he did not quite have that
snap he once had when executing moves. On top of that, he was facing some of
the worst in-ring wrestlers at the time he was trying to get into the swing of
things.
Furthermore, he never lost to what seemed to be the right person.
RVD, Chris Jericho and Booker T were red-hot, but Triple H would never do the
job to them—bringing people to this perception that he was hogging the title
via using his powers backstage.
The thing is, I am sure Triple H has refused to do a job
before because he felt like he was beyond their league . However, Vince McMahon
has the last say in anything that goes on. Therefore, instead of blaming Triple
H for beating guys that he should not have, I blame Vince Mcmahon. After all, it’s his
company so he should be doing things that are best for his company, and not
trying to please his daughter’s husband.
Wow, this is a bit harsh.
ReplyDeleteTo say HHH is untalented is insanity. Before blowing out his quad in 2001, he was legitimately among the best in the business. And the "unearned" ascension? People like to throw in the Stephanie thing as a justification for where he is in the company. But those people tend to forget he was a MULTIPLE time WWE champion before he even started dating her. He was a legitimate, certified main eventer, during the biggest period in the history of the business, 100% on his own merits.
I'd rather have HHH with the kingdom than Stephanie.
ReplyDeleteI also like how he has Waltman/Regal in FCW.
I also like how he understands the importance of the indy scene/minor leagues.
ive had my HHHate over the years but at this point, he is trying to bring meld his ideology of wrestling with Vince's ideology of sports-entertainment.
its not gonna be a smooth road and it wont be perfect but i feel that with the talent coming up now, itll be better than 5 years ago.
I don't think you made your opinion on HHH clear in this...so you like him or dislike him?
ReplyDeletePretty much this. At least it's not 20 more years of Vince mumbling through his mashed-up food about how they need to pop the quarter hour with the embaliming of Linda McMahon.
ReplyDeleteIve admired the toughness of The Game since Survivor Series 2000 when he survived that fall inside that car that Austin raised with a forklift. If he can survive that without a scratch then he can take smark critics.
ReplyDeleteI clap to your toughness Triple H.
I'm sure when they got married, there was a prenup signed. There's no way she gave up all her stock for love. Too many stakes if the marriage didn't work out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, how dare he use a gimmicked barbed wire baseball bat! What a pussy!
ReplyDeleteWhile there's been many times throughout HHH's in-ring career where I grew tired of his act, nearly every single out-of-ring comment he's made about THIS BUSINESS I've agreed with and wanted to see it come to fruition. It's a cliche to say, but he actually is a "student of the game".
ReplyDeleteThe motherfucker brought BRUNO SAMMARTINO back into the fold. I'm not a Bruno fan, but that's a miracle right there.
I would think all the weed would leave RVD a more laid back person.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of steroids he did to recover from Quad surgery ruined him as a worker. Don't get me wrong he still had some great matches after that, but was never the same. Now he has the bloated older gym rat steroid abuser body. I think on one of the Raw threads someone said he looked like Dino Bravo, well said. He should of stayed off TV or at least been a heel to CM Punk's face in 2011.
ReplyDeleteIt's shit like the Punk feud that still keeps HHH as a "hated" wrestler. Seriously, how can the rebel anti-hero (Punk) not be 100% the face against the company (HHH)? Instead, HHH ends up vampiring heat off Punk and pinning him nonetheless. Luckily Punk recovered.
ReplyDeleteE-mail lost me when it said he's "pretty damn untalented." There's reasonable, valid complaints to level against HHH, and there's just stupid shit like that.
ReplyDeleteHHH used to be my favourite wrestler around 2000. He bores me as a wrestler now, but definitely respect him, especially for staying sober hanging around those Kliq fuckheads every day. That's a man who knows and respects himself right there.
ReplyDeleteI'm as sick of seeing HHH go over as much as the next guy, but if you think he's not talented, you're nuts. Sure, he's had some mis-steps (Katie Vick and The thirty-something version of DX come to mind) but that doesn't offset the great matches he's had (the streetfight w/Foley, the triple threat at WM 20, 2/3 falls with Austin, etc.).....and remember: he had 3 or 4 title reigns with Chyna - BEFORE he hooked up with Stephanie....I'm just saying don't let his masterbatory booking of the last 5 years cloud everything else before that
ReplyDeleteI'd say the last 10 years (2003-13), but I agree with your overall point.
ReplyDeleteHHH is/was a great wrestler but for as long as he's been there I can't think of any amazing interviews he's had with the exception of the early dx stuff with HBK, and the nation parody. Everyone's got a favorite Rock interview, Austin interview, HBK interview what about HHH?
ReplyDeleteNot when his link is out of town
ReplyDeleteLove him or hate him, the sooner he gets the full reigns of the company the better, IMO. That is to say if he ever does depending on how long Vince is coherent enough to speak and Stephanie's future roll.
ReplyDeleteYeah, let me know how that works out.
ReplyDeleteActually, his physique is a lot better now that say 2005, when he was a bloated mess. Sure he is a little more round these days, but that's age. He trains with Joe DeFranco in the matter of today's athletes, not strictly body-building exercises.
ReplyDeleteYeah I was gonna comment on this too.
ReplyDeleteI'm as much of a HHHater as the next IWC smark but man, are you really gonna hold it against him that he won't mutilate himself for your entertainment?
The switch was super obvious sure but it doesn't really hurt that match at all.
I would love for Scott to write "The People's Guide to HHH" for Amazon/iBooks. I would definitely plunk my money down for that, and I'll even volunteer to serve as co-author/editor. HHH has enough interviews out there to serve as supporting source material, and then there's the backlog of Meltzer.
ReplyDeleteIf he fills her with enough babies she won't have time for anything else.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame him for not wanting to take barbed wire, but then don't book the spot! Instead he uses a gimmicked bat so he can try and leech off Foley's rep by being "just as tough"
ReplyDeleteAND he hung out with Flair and Orton in Evolution. Say what you will, but the guy has discipline.
ReplyDeleteJust to play devil's advocate, is the company really better off in HHH's hands? Look at his big projects:
ReplyDeleteShaemus - Probably his greatest success, but still a guy that has reached his peak. He's a main eventer, but not the guy to carry the company.
ADR - Despite being a better than average worker, he has really struggled from being a Dibiase ripoff heel to being a ackward babyface. And when his announcer is getting more heat than he is, something's wrong.
Karma - On the surface, an awesome find, but obvious personal issues surfaced that probably should have been caught.
Sin Cara - Bringing is a luchador to the notoriously style obsessed WWE was a bad idea. Add to that attitude problems giving him heat in the lockerroom.
But the dude pushed for War Games instead of the Elimination Chamber, so he gets credti for that.
That's an excellent question and honestly, I can't think of any.
ReplyDeleteI won't deny that in his prime Triple H was a solid worker. However, around 1999 when they started pushing him to the WWF title level I really started revolting at that idea as a fan. Triple H was like Jeff Jarrett to me in that he screamed "midcarder" and on the level of the Intercontinental title. I just didn't get the gut feeling that he had the "it" quality to be a world champion. WCW had a great chance to turn the Monday Night Wars when the Triple H push happened too, but they had some many problems by that point that just kept getting worse that they couldn't do anything.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a bad parallel (and probably is), but it's like the Johnny B. Badd character in WCW. A great act for the TV-title level and maybe to win the U.S. title. However, I never would've felt Badd was on the same level as a Hogan, Sting, Lex Luger, Randy Savage, etc.
I'm more of the mindset that he did so much in that match to prove he was "tough" that I can't fault him for it.
ReplyDeleteThe whole point of the match was to get him over when most people didn't care about him, and it succeeded. In SPADES. If you have to use gimmicked barbed wire to do it, then it was worth it.
Yeah, but everything else blows chunks.
ReplyDeleteThe only issue I'll take is that Del Rio was a hot heel from his Royal Rumble win right up until they found out prior to Wrestlemania that Edge would have to retire. Since then, it's been a disaster.
ReplyDeletedid he?
ReplyDeleteHa, fills her with babys. I just imagine him shoveling them into her like coal on an old ship.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hH5RKULS-3g#t=1680s
ReplyDeleteIt seems like there's too many cooks in the kitchen right now for his vision for the company to fully go through, so, unlike his in-ring stuff, and much like Tim Taylor, hopefully he'll start exercising MOAR POWER AUGH AUGH AUGH
ReplyDeleteWas it prior? I thought it was immediately afterwards
ReplyDeletebecause his doc wouldn’t clear him to wrestle.
I always dug HHH as a Greenwich Snob, actually- I thought he had a great, solid look and he was really fast and his knee-based offense looked good. He was obviously fairly limited back then, but he was still better than MOST of the roster. When he was IC Champ, then World Champ, I was pretty excited, though I was a BIG fan once he hooked up with Stephanie and was a dominant heel. I actually got annoyed when smart marks would deride him online for his push.
ReplyDeleteThen time went on, we discovered he was REALLY sleeping with Stephanie, and his push NEVER ENDED, to the point where the company was flat-out obviously pushing him at the expense of everybody else. When he came back from his injury bloated and slow, he was done as a worker, and that made his push all the worse.
On a personal level, I can't say he's a bad dude. Even guys who dislike him tend to say he's at least honest and forthright, and not really a vile person (though Jericho obviously doesn't care for him, as he implies in his books without outright SAYING it). They all say he's one of the smartest guys ever, but much like Nash, it's a backhanded compliment- meaning "look at the push he got for that little talent".
New fetish: ACQUIRED.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was literally the next night that he retired.
ReplyDelete