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Was Triple H Ever The Top Guy In The WWE?

20K views 206 replies 100 participants last post by  Starbuck 
#1 ·
Ok obviously Stone Cold & The Rock were top guys at some point in their careers in the Attitude Era. In 2000 The Rock who was the top guy carried the WWE with Triple H. My question has Triple H ever been to the top guy in the WWE?

Even after the Attitude Era do you think he was the top guy in the company? He's had a great career & was one of the greatest heels of his era.

Yea what do you think?
 
#66 ·
He certainly was during his Evolution days. It's one of those times where the WWE didn't have a clear representative like Cena is today or Austin/Rock before it, but from around Unforgiven 2002 to Mania 21, HHH was the biggest full time star they had.

Not saying he was as successful in being the top guy as others have been, but he certainly was synonymous with the main event in almost every PPV.
 
#68 ·
This thread again :HHH2
 
#69 ·
No he wasn't. He was starting out when Bret and HBK were the top guys then Austin and Rock took over. The Ruthless Aggression era was more defined by a collaborative effort between Taker, Angle, HHH, Lesnar, Eddie, Benoit, and RVD than one single entity. They tried to develop Lesnar into the top guy and then he bailed. Then they turned to Cena and Batista.

For those who argue that HHH was the top guy in 03-04 because he was the champ fail to realize that someone can be champ and the focus of the show without being the top guy. Yokozuna and Diesel did the exact the same thing and no one argues that they defined an era.
 
#70 ·
People can quote cornette all they want, i think triple h has always been a solid performer. Granted hes never reached the levels of the rock and austin but not to call him a top guy because of that is a bit lame.

When he took the rap for the curtain call it would have kill most guys careers. Getting squashed at mania by the warrior, the hog pen matches and all the other crap he had to go through. Hell i am shocked he didn't follow nash and hall to wcw.

He was part of one of the best factions of all time in dx, even when shawn left i think their popularity grew when he was at the helm. Hes always been solid in the ring you would always get solid matches out of him and some top ones along the way. Hes been good as both a heel and a face i always liked him better as a heel though. He was leader of evolution which was another great group imo. I loved the 2 man power trip with austin would have been interesting where that would have gone had triple h not got injured.

Hes tore his quads twice and came back from it. Hes had a great career and deserve a mention as being one of the top guys.

Yes he married the bosses daughter but at the end of the day that whole thing could have destroyed his career. Maybe it has helped him in the long run but because he married steph your always going to get people saying he only got where he is because of that.
 
#72 · (Edited)
I think people are too hard on Hunter

yes it wasnt the greatest period, considering the huge vaccuum left behind by rock and Austin leaving, it was up to him to hold the company together. The retirement of the greatest wrestler of all time, and the WWE's biggest draw leaving to make movies isnt something you get over in a week

I'm not saying I blame them for what they did. Austin had to retire or he would have died. And rock would have been an idiot to pass up a movie career so he could beat up losers in tights on mondays. But I think people are too harsh on Triple H. he was the 3rd major star of the attitude era. he was the most credible guy WWE had left. He was still a massive name and in his prime. He wasnt Rock or Austin, but he tried his best to keep the ship going while vince figured out what the fuck he was gonna do with his two jewels gone

It was an extremely transitional period. Nobody had any idea what was happening. They had fucktons of wrestlers from WCW and ECW. They now had two seperate shows. They had OVW as a training centre. and they had lesnar. so they made the best of it. Make fun of him all you want, but Hunter brought legitimacy to the world heavyweight title. he HAD to hold it and treat it like it was the most important thing in the universe. remember, this was a title they created out of thin air more or less (dont give me the WCW bullshit, same belt, new lineage). For the fans to take it seriously, it had to be treated seriously. Triple h was instrumental in that regard

He wasnt always the most exciting, but all in all, i liked him. I absolutely hated his guts back then, which meant he had to have been doing something right. Evolution was epic. His feud with Benoit and the first half of 2004 was absolutely amazing. and when the time came and the Vince had his two new jewels ready, he made Batista into a fucking superstar, and helped legitimize cena (not that it was vital or anything, but hey, it helped)

A lot of the time, it kinda feels like people resent triple H for staying. not to mention letting personal bias come in the way of what really happened
 
#75 · (Edited)
Actually.. lets put it this way.

1999
* No Mercy (UK)
2 Over the Edge
- King of the Ring
- Fully Loaded
* SummerSlam
* Unforgiven
* Rebellion
* No Mercy
* Survivor Series
* Armageddon

2000
* Royal Rumble
* No Way Out
* Wrestlemania 2000
* Backlash
* Insurrextion
* Judgment Day
* King of The Ring
2 Fully Loaded
* SummerSlam
2 Unforgiven
2 No Mercy
* Survivor Series
2 Rebellion
* Armageddon

2001

2 Royal Rumble
4 No Way Out
2 Wrestlemania X-7
* Backlash
* Insurrextion
3 Judgment Day

Quadriceps Injury

* = Main Event.
- = Did not compete that I could see.
# = If a Main Event is #1, then counting back Is where his match landed.

Notes:
Most promotional material during this time featured him.
In 13 straight PPV's he was in the Main Event.
At no time during the year 2000 was he not either in the Main Event, or in the match just before it.
63% of the above time above, he was in the Main Event.
86.6% of the above time, he was either in the Main Event, or in the #2 match.

If you somehow think that the above means he wasn't a top guy, if not the top guy in that era(and the main foil for The Rock), you're just marking out that he wasn't your guy and bitter. I personally didn't really like the guy, I was more a Foley fan, but lets make sure we don't start messing with history because its inconvenient to your narrative.

Oh, and one last thing. The above time period is easily considered the most lucrative in WWE history and the peak of The Attitude Era.
 
#121 ·
This post right here pretty much sums it up. HHH was the most important wrestler of 2000. Just about every single show revolved around him. He also ran Raw from 02-05 and had a financially successful run in 08 of over 200 days.

In 2000 technically Rock was the top guy but that's kind of how it is. Once a wrestler gets on top he kind of gets outshined by the guy chasing after him. 02-05 HHH was the undisputed top guy on the Raw brand but it's debatable on who carried the product.

HHH's resume is inflated by the WWE machine constantly promoting him, but there's no denying he's got the resume of a top guy. 6 WrestleMania Main Events, 13 title reigns amounting for over 1,000 days as champ.
 
#83 · (Edited)
Lol.. are you so young and dumb that you think the Top Guy or a Top Guy has to be a Face?

Ric Flair tells you to go WOOOOOOOO. He's the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be while playing the heel for most of his career. And there is *NO* debate as to who they showed up to see when he was the Heel Champ.

You can sell tickets just as easily as a Heel, as you can a Face... as people can hate you enough to pay to hope to see you lose.

Savage, Jake the Snake, Dibiase.. they could piss people off so much they spit blood.

Either way, anyone claiming Triple H wasn't a Top Guy in the Attitude Era is truly showing their ignorance, or marking out for their pet wrestler(Delusional Marking is a thing on this forum apparently) and bitter.
 
#79 ·
there was a time when hhh and guerrero where the 2 top man in wwe, one for raw the other for sd...and that's fact... then triple h has been in the main event area for at least... 15 years?? you can say he wasn't loved very much (as a heel ça va sans dir) but that's other story...
Again history revisionism at his peak
 
#85 ·
Yes, unfortunately he was shoved down the viewers throats on Raw through 2003-2005. He was forced as the "top guy". Outside of his feud with Batista (when Batista started to break through as the man), he never interested me during his time as "the guy" so I was glad it was short lived.
 
#86 ·
Lesnar was meant to be the top guy, but he quit before he reached his peak. Brock was a much bigger deal in the MMA world than he ever was or currently is with the WWE. And even if you did think Lesnar was the top guy that was only for a year and a half. There is still a gap between WM20 and the Cena/Batista era.
 
#87 ·
At times he was. I'm currently making my way through the 2000 PPVs and when Austin and Undertaker were gone I think he was the top guy, or second to The Rock. He was one of the top guys in 2003-2005 as well but as said, he was really forced. Most of the time I feel like he was one of the guys who was close, but never quite there. Kind of like Bryan and Punk are today. Up there but never quite "there".
 
#96 · (Edited)
Punk has been there. Bryan isn't quite there yet. He still doesn't have the gravitas needed to sell a long title run. He has the gimmick, and he certainly has a fanbase, but he needs to carry himself a lot better on the microphone.

If Triple H *DOES* let him go over and let Bryan beat him at WM(and especially if they then let him in the ME to lose, something I fully expect), Bryan would do well to trim the beard to a more distinguished look and start actually railing his segments with the microphone for the feud with Batista. But make no mistake, if he doesn't pull his shit together, and show he can carry it, they may just renew Punk's contract for big bucks assuming he's been placated.. give Punk the feud and bury him while they try to find a face that can handle a title run.

Probably moving Cesaro into that slot.
 
#88 ·
HHH is very clever, he should have ran for political office and left us fans with a less lame product. Cena has an incredibly respectable work ethic, he should have enlisted in the fire department. Vince McMahon is very intelligent, he should have built his own company and left all other territories alone. Can we now take this moment to imagine dream matches between territories in the year 2014? ... I'm in my happy happy happy place. :)
 
#90 ·
In Wrestling fan's eyes? Absolutely not.

In HHH's eyes? most certainly. Theres a good chance that he has trained his brain and eardrums to think that any time some chants "Un-Der-Taker <clap clap, clap clap clap>" That they are really chanting "Triple H!" Anytime "Rocky!" or "Austin!" or "Let's go Cena/Cena Sucks!" That they are honest to god chanting "Triple H!" Thats why we have to endure him, in every single main angle. Outside of WWE, HHH doesnt even get a nod as a top guy/legend. In WWE they make it seem liek he is the GOAT.
 
#93 ·
NO, HE WASN'T.

THE BIGGEST ROLE HE PLAYED WAS THE TOP HEEL GATEKEEPER ON RAW DURING THE EARLY WHC DAYS.

AND I'LL ALSO NEVER FORGET THE TIME TRISH STRATUS GOT MORE BOOS THAN HIM AND GOT TO DEFEND HER TITLE ON THE MAIN EVENT OF RAW WHILE HE GOT THE SHIT SPOT.
 
#94 ·
In 2003/04.

He was the top guy, and everyone hated him and his tenure as the top guy. Its kind of irks me when people say "HHH was never the top guy, he always fought the top guy". Thats not true, people often shit all over his "reign of terror" and contradict themselves in the same sentence by saying he was never THE guy.
 
#98 ·
The thing is, SmackDown was considered the unofficial A brand then. All the good ratings and matches were happening over there, hence why Vince made SmackDown go over RAW in those matches. Not to mention, they sent Cena, and before him, Benoit and Edge to RAW to try and help the ratings.
 
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