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I think my biggest problem with Triple H is his status in the company. I don’t even dislike him in fact I’m a fan of a lot of his matches. He seems like a very intelligent guy and I’m even sure that he will be able to effectively run the WWE when his time comes. I wouldn’t dare take away his accomplishments or even play up the fact that he only has his spot because he’s the boss’s son-in-law. Triple H has had a great career due to his hard work and his in-ring ability. Do I think he would be a 13-time champion had he not been married to Stephanie? Probably not, but he would easily have multiple title reigns. While he might not be the greatest technical wrestler, he was always a tremendous heel and played the role perfectly. He was always an amazing in-ring general, one of the greatest story tellers in the history of the business. When he was gone with injuries, it was noticeable. He’s one of the best sellers I’ve ever seen, he could make a Sweet Chin Music look like he got shot in the face by a shotgun. I was never a big fan of him as a face, I think everytime he tries to be funny, it usually backfires or falls short. I mean, he’s definitely had his moments but he had nowhere near the same level of charisma that The Rock or Stone Cold had, and I felt like sometimes he tried to have that.
I think that’s one of my main problems with him. He has always strived to be THE guy, and while he technically may have been for a short period of time, he is nowhere near the Mount Rushmore of wrestling, so to say. Every era had it’s face. Bruno Sammartino was probably the biggest name in professional wrestling during the early years, then you have the biggest names in the history of the business from not only a wrestling standpoint, but a mainstream standpoint. Hogan, Andre The Giant, Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Austin, Rock, Cena. Those are probably the biggest names in the history of the business in a general standpoint that everybody knows. The kind of names that a person who has never watched a professional wrestling match or segment would be able to link to pro wrestling. After that, you have the names that at least a majority of the general public have heard of. That group includes Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Ric Flair, and Brock Lesnar. For one reason or another, I would be pretty confident to say that if you collected 100 people who are less than casual fans of the sport and have only seen a match or two maybe, the number would be above 50% for the names I mentioned above. I would honestly place Triple H in that third tier. You could definitely make the argument to put him in that second tier, but I’m pretty sure if I asked some of my friends who Triple H was, not a lot of them would know.
He’s definitely regarded as one of the legends inside the business and he is respected for his contributions but as I watched him against Lesnar last night, I couldn’t help but feel that he’s only in these matches at this point in his career because of who he is. When he is having this crazy Wrestlemania matches or one-off brawls with Lesnar, I just keep thinking of how he is still chasing this idea that he’s one of those big name legends in that top tier. He always inserts himself into these “dream” matches, but if Triple H ended his in-ring career today, I think I would be completely okay with not seeing him wrestle anymore. It’s a weird thing to try to explain because I’m a big fan of the guy’s career but everytime I see him, I can’t help but feel like he was never heralded as THE guy like Austin or Rock, Cena or Hogan and much of his career, especially from 2002-2006, was based on trying to portray him as one of the greatest ever at the expense of up and coming talent and he was never quite THAT guy.
Does anybody else feel the same way?
I think that’s one of my main problems with him. He has always strived to be THE guy, and while he technically may have been for a short period of time, he is nowhere near the Mount Rushmore of wrestling, so to say. Every era had it’s face. Bruno Sammartino was probably the biggest name in professional wrestling during the early years, then you have the biggest names in the history of the business from not only a wrestling standpoint, but a mainstream standpoint. Hogan, Andre The Giant, Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Austin, Rock, Cena. Those are probably the biggest names in the history of the business in a general standpoint that everybody knows. The kind of names that a person who has never watched a professional wrestling match or segment would be able to link to pro wrestling. After that, you have the names that at least a majority of the general public have heard of. That group includes Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Ric Flair, and Brock Lesnar. For one reason or another, I would be pretty confident to say that if you collected 100 people who are less than casual fans of the sport and have only seen a match or two maybe, the number would be above 50% for the names I mentioned above. I would honestly place Triple H in that third tier. You could definitely make the argument to put him in that second tier, but I’m pretty sure if I asked some of my friends who Triple H was, not a lot of them would know.
He’s definitely regarded as one of the legends inside the business and he is respected for his contributions but as I watched him against Lesnar last night, I couldn’t help but feel that he’s only in these matches at this point in his career because of who he is. When he is having this crazy Wrestlemania matches or one-off brawls with Lesnar, I just keep thinking of how he is still chasing this idea that he’s one of those big name legends in that top tier. He always inserts himself into these “dream” matches, but if Triple H ended his in-ring career today, I think I would be completely okay with not seeing him wrestle anymore. It’s a weird thing to try to explain because I’m a big fan of the guy’s career but everytime I see him, I can’t help but feel like he was never heralded as THE guy like Austin or Rock, Cena or Hogan and much of his career, especially from 2002-2006, was based on trying to portray him as one of the greatest ever at the expense of up and coming talent and he was never quite THAT guy.
Does anybody else feel the same way?
