Notes from the Nosebleeds #44
December 12, 2009
By: Matt O’Brien of WrestleView.com
It is said that all good things come to an end. Life, love, friendships, marriages, Season Four of Dexter, etc. While we cannot always find a way to cope with these losses we are forever bound to the continuation of life with or without us and our grief. But every now and then something comes to an end out of which begins something greater than before.
The next great thing to end for wrestling may be DX. After reunions and runs it now feels like the time is right to start either a split or rivalry between Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The reason for this suggestion is not out of boredom for DX, but for the sake of the Triple H character. After a lengthy run as a baby face the time has come for a Triple H game changer.
The company has always done a good job of freshening the Triple H character every few years or so. Back in 2000 he was gaining popularity towards the end of the summer. The escalating rivalry with Kurt Angle over Stephanie McMahon found audiences rooting for the guy, who only a few months prior, had been screwing the Rock out of the title and retiring Mick Foley. Just when fans were beginning to buy into The Game as a baby face, he turned hard heel by betraying Steve Austin and revealing himself to be the mastermind of the angle which put Austin out of action for nearly one year.
Months later, the night after Wrestlemania X-7, Triple H was once again receiving the support of the crowd. The night before he had gained respect and admiration of the fans by putting up a hell of a fight against the Undertaker. Once he appeared on Raw, he showed respect fro Taker and disdain for Steve Austin for selling his soul to the devil by having Vince McMahon help him defeat The Rock for the WWF Championship. With fans once again anticipating a Triple baby face run, he duped them again by going back and aligning himself with Austin to create the Two-Man Power Trip.
Upon his return from injury in 2002, Triple H finally had a run, albeit a brief one, as a baby face. Mick Foley was right when he did an interview with PWI later in the year when he stated that Triple H’s push as a face was never fully realized. After teasing a DX reunion for mere hours, Triple H returned to his ways as a heel one more time and embarked on run from August of 2002 through spring of 2006 as the most hated man in the industry. He appeared briefly as a face after a hiatus in late 2005, but that lasted one week as he turned on Ric Flair and began a strong run for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 22.
After the reaction Triple H received at Wrestlemania 22, there was no denying the impending run Triple H would have as a baby face. For a man who really irritates people for his alleged political playing backstage, fans certainly do respect him as a performer. It seems that no matter how evil he is people eventually warm up to him and begin to cheer him.
Triple H has had a great run as a baby face over the last three and a half years. As he nears the end of his prime, one wonders what the future holds for him. He most certainly has a lot of options. DX may live on and continue to sell merchandise and dance HH and HBK out of the light at the end of their careers. However, there are many more interesting things they could do with Triple H. Trey said it best on Wrestling News Live a few weeks back that a WM 26 match between Triple H and HBK would be great especially if they put HBK as the heel this time around. This could easily be built off of HBK being perceived as the week link and him coming to resent Hunter’s sympathy for him.
If Triple H continued on the baby face path long term there really isn?t much left for him to do on Raw unless he engages in a feud with Jack Swagger or the Miz. While the odds of a return to SmackDown are highly unlikely, Helmsley could have a terrific run with CM Punk. There is also the rising Dolph Zigler, and another run with Batista would be interesting as well. Not to mention, there is also another chance to do another one-on one program with Chris Jericho now that they have both matured and solidified themselves in their roles.
However, Triple H has always been best as a heel. The problem is that WWE is currently in a golden age of heels with Chris Jericho, Batista, CM Punk, Big Show, Randy Orton, Miz, and others. Should Triple H become heel, it could do significant damage to whoever the top heel on his brand is at the time. This happened back in 1997 with Bret Hart’s character when Shawn Michaels turned heel.
While that may be a slight setback, HHH also has his greatest potential by returning to the heel ranks. Every time he has turned heel in the past he has reinvented himself. In 1999 he was a rebel. In 2002 he perfected a hybrid of Ric Flair and his old ?blue blood? character. Now as an aging star from the attitude era, Triple H could begin a run atop the WWE never seen before. For comic nerds out there look to The Dark Knight Returns as a possible idea of what we could get with a HHH heel turn. Not only that, but right now WWE has more baby face stars to build than they do heels. Triple H would be perfect for this. Kofi Kingston, John Morrison, MVP, Christian, and mark Henry are just a few that come to mind. When Triple H has built new start he has made it count. Just ask Batista and John Cena.
There is the likelihood that DX will win the Tag Team Championship at TLC. Should that happen, a Triple H heel turn would be pushed back (unless DX goes full heel together), but that would hopefully build a slow turn for Triple H. Regardless, The Game is sure to reinvent himself in one way or another very soon. How exactly is not up to us, but we will be watching.
To talk shop or give feedback, shoot me an email at mattman5436@yahoo.com.
Thanks for reading,
Matt O?Brien
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