Did anyone else feel it had a really contrived air to it? I find it hard to think of another figure pushed in a similar at all fashion. They seemed hell-bent on putting lipstick on a pig.
With legitimate stars, commentators emphasized traits of theirs that the fans already recognized and admired. With Triple H, his actual shortcomings were glossed up. "No no, fans. It's not that he's boring because he can't work fast in his plodding, overly-bulked out frame. It's just that he's cerebral. Why, he's the cerebral assassin!"
"The Game" was a curious gimmick in itself. It seems pretty desperate to allude to his real-life political maneuvering to get him over as a heel after he couldn't get over that way with pure kayfabe. It also played on the tired talking point at the time of his being a "student of the game," which is pretty vague fare. I struggle to see why that would excite a wrestling fan at that time.
The company really put on the full-court press for you to believe in him as a top guy, circumventing the requisite "it" factor they seemed to know he was missing. People talk about Roman's push not being organic and they are right. We forget it because he was pushed as a heel, but Triple H in 1999 felt like the original inorganic push that the fans didn't sign up for but that the company was going to find a way to jam down your throat.
With legitimate stars, commentators emphasized traits of theirs that the fans already recognized and admired. With Triple H, his actual shortcomings were glossed up. "No no, fans. It's not that he's boring because he can't work fast in his plodding, overly-bulked out frame. It's just that he's cerebral. Why, he's the cerebral assassin!"
"The Game" was a curious gimmick in itself. It seems pretty desperate to allude to his real-life political maneuvering to get him over as a heel after he couldn't get over that way with pure kayfabe. It also played on the tired talking point at the time of his being a "student of the game," which is pretty vague fare. I struggle to see why that would excite a wrestling fan at that time.
The company really put on the full-court press for you to believe in him as a top guy, circumventing the requisite "it" factor they seemed to know he was missing. People talk about Roman's push not being organic and they are right. We forget it because he was pushed as a heel, but Triple H in 1999 felt like the original inorganic push that the fans didn't sign up for but that the company was going to find a way to jam down your throat.