HHH??

Growing up during the attitude era my 2 faves where the rock and hhh! ive heard a lot of ppl not liking hh on this. Could anyone shine some light on his bacstage antics/politics. Thanks? and who is 888 that ppl keep refering to?

Well, he's married to the owner's daughter for a start?

He was involved with 'The Kliq' which was a group of wrestlers in the 90s consisting of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. (I think) who were supposed to be very exclusive and tried to stop the pushes of anybody they didn't like.

Triple H and Shawn Michaels apparently tried to get The Rock kicked out, or at least stop his rise to the top.

In more recent years, Triple H seems to have used his influence to push himself, and his friends such as Batista and Sheamus.

I think it's overexaggerated though, he does have a lot of influence these days, as he has an actual posititon as head of talent recruitment or something like that, I don't actually think he misuses his power, certainly not as much as you would think. Triple H has a very poor 'Mania record the last couple of years is one example.

Not forgetting that he is one of the best heels in the business (THE best in my opinion) - and you don't get that just by having power backstage - you can only achieve that through real talent!

I think all these stories are massively overexaggerated as Leaky says.

Cool, I knew about the kliq and obviously his marriage to steph but didnt know any of his backstage antics, most of it was shawn id heard about. I personally think he was a great heel, and heel champion!

I think a lot of it is overly-moral people being hypocrites. They say that HHH has abused his position of power and he's a terrible person for it, but on the other hand, they would do exactly the same if they had that sort of influence. I know I would.

when he retires he will be a very good guy for WWE behind the scenes I would imagine

I don't even think he has abused his power that much Aaronb33.

If you look at his 'Mania record, which if he was really that bad you'd expect to be all wins is:

Wrestlemania 20: Chris Benoit makes him tap.
Wrestlemania 21: Loses to Batista (creating a new star)
Wrestlemania 22: John Cena makes him tap.
Wrestlemania 23: Injured.
Wrestlemania 24: Randy Orton wins.
Wrestlemania 25: Beats Orton
Wrestlemania 26: Loses to Undertaker

If HHH was really using his backstage power that much, you'd expect there would definetly be more than just the one win on the 'grandest stage of them all'.

Wrestlemania 26: Beats Sheamus (in one Sheamus needed to win badly IMO)
Wrestlemania 27: Loses to Undertaker

Oops, I kept looking back at my post and thought I had missed one out.

Even still, two wins out of 7 is not exactly brilliant considering the stick he gets for being 'corrupt'.

What's this a HHH love in session?

HHH has got better over the years and even in a short space of time being appointed his official office title you can tell he has matured a little but I put that more down to the fact he simply dosent seem fussed about winning the title again and said as much in his last couple of interviews.

He is a smart man and that is the reason he has lost/put over guys on the grand stage because in his opinion most people will remember them times and he's proven right if this thread is anything to go by.

He is known for only putting over his mates, and even then Sheamus was on the wrong end of that.

He put over Cena because even he know it was good for business and I suspect Vince would of had the last say on that and had no choice in the matter.

Changed the result of his match with Booker T at the very last minute by all accounts because he didnt think Booker was ready, then took an age to oin him after the pedigree.

Don't take my word for these they are well documented plus others.

But is Triple H any worse than most wrestling guys? Considering I don't think anybody else in the wrestling business gets more stick for being 'corrupt' than Triple H, but is he that much worse than say Michaels in the 90s, or even Hogan?

I think with HHH its become more apparant, in his time the interest and focus on what was happening backstage rather then on the tv screen became the focus of your average fan, where as in Hogans time the fans where largely still pretty dumb about what was going on.

I think marryin the bosses daughter didn't help lol? But if u think about it hhh has probably made more stars than anyone, road dogg, billy gunn, xpac were all stars because of him and dx. Randy orton, batista and to an extent flair aswell with evolution! Does anyone have a list of the things hogan done behind the scenes?

Not even close Rock, Foley, HBK just to name 3 made more stars and X-Pac, Gunn and Road Dogg where never stars just sidekicks.

You kidding? The New Age Outlaws were HUGE in the attitude era, just listen to the pops they got, plus their fan interaction was second to none.

Korankye88 wrote:I think marryin the bosses daughter didn't help lol? But if u think about it hhh has probably made more stars than anyone, road dogg, billy gunn, xpac were all stars because of him and dx. Randy orton, batista and to an extent flair aswell with evolution! Does anyone have a list of the things hogan done behind the scenes?

Can't believe I missed this are you saying that HHH made Flair, that's way off

Flair used HHH to stay relevant and HHH used Flair to get the rub off a legend of the business, it was a perfect relationship. Flair was on his way down by the time he was in evolution!

Aaronb33 wrote:You kidding? The New Age Outlaws were HUGE in the attitude era, just listen to the pops they got, plus their fan interaction was second to none.

They were huge and got big pops granted but they were never big stars to me and HHH didn't make them.

God no! Flair will always be a legend in his own right but like u said he became more relevant, if it wasn't for evolution I don't think flair wud have lasted till wrestlemania against hbk, that's my opinion on it

Korankye88 wrote:God no! Flair will always be a legend in his own right but like u said he became more relevant, if it wasn't for evolution I don't think flair wud have lasted till wrestlemania against hbk, that's my opinion on it

Yea I agree with that, I read it the wrong way my bad

I think the Outlaws where bigger than Triple H from mid 98 until Trips turned heel in 99, the Outlaws where hugely over well before the joined DX and Billy Gunn was a hugely established tag teamer in the WWF

When will HHH be back does anyone know ?

I heard he was going to be at Money in the Bank ?

NickisBHAFC wrote:When will HHH be back does anyone know ?

I heard he was going to be at Money in the Bank ?

It's possible he won't ever come back full-time. He's got a new posititon backstage, and has run a couple of shows while Vince has been away as well. I think he will come back at one of the big four pay per views, maybe Summerslam? And go on one last title run before "retiring." I doubt he will retire for good, but he will never be a full time wrestler again. IMO.

You can bet your ass he'll be back full time at some point, it may only be on a Taker/HBK schedule but the bug will definitely bite, without a doubt

the-gaffer wrote:You can bet your ass he'll be back full time at some point, it may only be on a Taker/HBK schedule but the bug will definitely bite, without a doubt

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Let's look at the facts:

1. He's had more injuries in recent years keeping him out of the ring for extended periods of time
2. He's next in line to take over the company and Vince is training him up for when he retires
3. He has a family now - he's a dad of 3 and will naturally want to spend quality time with them not being on the road
4. He's involved in the WWE's film franchise and will probably star in another few films
5. He wants to go out on his terms before he 'is past it' - He and HBK made a pact they would retire before they get too old and start embarrassing themselves in the ring. I don't expect him to pull a Flair or Hogan.

Yes I think he will wrestle again but only a few PPVs a year at most. I doubt he will ever return 'full time'.

I wonder whether he will retire at the same time as Taker?

Rather than taking the streak, he and Taker have one last match and utterly destroy each other meaning neither will return again.

I think he is ready to stop now and move up the ladder; I didn't expect him to be gone so long after Mania and it suggests to me he isn't focussed on wrestling any more.

This is my opinion.

Forget about all the backstage politics or the fact he was favoured because he is with Steph. He has been BRILLIANT! Whether as a heel or a face, you can't deny that he is a future hall of famer for all the right reasons.

He does very subtle things that a lot of people don't notice. Those same people then defend him and accuse the ones who do notice them as conspiracy theorists. He's a very smart man, but an extremely selfish one.

There is so much evidence over the years, but as individual examples they don't sound particularly bad (and it sounds like people read too much into them).

In general, I would say that he has been very bad for business in a number of ways...

- He has appeared on the surface to help create new stars without actually doing so (with the exception of Batista and possibly Randy Orton). If anyone says he got Benoit over they are so wrong it's unbelievable

- His insistence on carrying so much muscle mass has slowed down his matches to the point where they are often boring. In 2000 and 2001 he thoroughly warranted his main event spot; since returning from his first quad injury (caused by carrying too much muscle mass) ten years ago jacked up to the gills he has never been anywhere near as good in the ring. The result of this is that, rather than admit to HHH being too muscular and too slow, WWE changed its entire system so that wrestlers are taught to wrestle the HHH way and anyone who is too exciting or flashy in the ring has to tone down their style to get to main events.

- He has on numerous occasions completely undermined other wrestlers on the mic and therefore damaged them as potential draws

- The booking of the company has too often totally revolved around him (Raw in 2002-2004 being the best example), to the extent that even when other wrestlers were the world champion they still played a secondary role to him

- For a long period he played a heel who constantly outsmarted the babyfaces. This goes against all basic storytelling rules, and therefore the rules of how to make money in wrestling

- Announcers laugh extra hard at his jokes, and other wrestlers talk in promos about how great he is, not out of respect but because they know it's the sensible thing to do for the sake of their careers

- He is a bully, who consistently has used his promos to mock wrestlers lower than him on the card

- He is really, really bad at promos. Boring, repetitive, aimless, and much less funny than he thinks he is. Seriously, of the hundreds of 20 minute long HHH promos over the years, name five memorable ones

These are just things I can think of off the top of my head.

In 1999, the WWF decided to push HHH to the main event. The Rock, Steve Austin, Mankind, Vince McMahon, Undertaker, Kane and Big Show were all used to get him over. He cemented his status as a main eventer by retiring Mick Foley. He was the first heel ever to win the main event at Wrestlemania. He was given the best music, the best nicknames, etc. The entire show was booked around him. It would have taken a truly dreadful wrestler to have not got over! Bob Holly, Val Venis or Al Snow would have got over with that kind of push. From around 2002, he has been portrayed as an all time great, possibly the best ever, which is utterly ludicrous of course. But again, it's such a strong push that it would have been impossible not to get over.

Since 2001, he has very rarely justified it. In the most basic terms, business went downhill with him as the centrepiece of the promotion; ratings and buyrates plummeted when he was the top star. If any other main eventer had failed so miserably in the role (poor promos, dull matches, bad business) they'd have been moved back down to the midcard.

I don't believe that he got his push as a result of marrying Stephanie, but it's blatantly obvious that if you're married to the boss's daughter you'll get treated differently to the other wrestlers. HHH is bulletproof because of who he is married to.

He totally deserved his place in main events over ten years ago, but has not deserved to keep it based on performances or business.

- He is really, really bad at promos. Boring, repetitive, aimless, and much less funny than he thinks he is. Seriously, of the hundreds of 20 minute long HHH promos over the years, name five memorable ones

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This is of course purely an opinion.

I happen to enjoy listening to Triple H on the stick. He can do it all - intensity, aggression, comedy, personal, serious. He is very believable on the mic. Although i agree it is wrong for him to bury others in his promos, i definately disagree that his promos are boring.

Mr H wrote:- He is really, really bad at promos. Boring, repetitive, aimless, and much less funny than he thinks he is. Seriously, of the hundreds of 20 minute long HHH promos over the years, name five memorable ones

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This is of course purely an opinion.

I happen to enjoy listening to Triple H on the stick. He can do it all - intensity, aggression, comedy, personal, serious. He is very believable on the mic. Although i agree it is wrong for him to bury others in his promos, i definately disagree that his promos are boring.

I agree with Mr H on this one believe it or not, i find HHH very interesting to listen to on the mic. I don't find him boring at all.

I don't think his promo's are boring per se, but they can ramble on a little and I don't think he has ever had the skills shown by others - he has just had the platform to use them.

And actually touching on another of Crips' points, I remember seeing an interview with HHH in the build up to Wrestlemania, when he was asked when Zack Ryder would be on Raw.

I won't write his quote, but he basically told the interviewer that nobody wanted to see Ryder and that there are plenty of young guys who deserve chances too. It felt needless to do that to a colleague, and as Ryder isn't exactly going to steal HHH's spot, it seemed the act of a vindictive man.

I dont like Hunter on the stick at all, i especially hate when he tries to smark bait with some of the worst insider jokes imaginable

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:


- His insistence on carrying so much muscle mass has slowed down his matches to the point where they are often boring. In 2000 and 2001 he thoroughly warranted his main event spot; since returning from his first quad injury (caused by carrying too much muscle mass) ten years ago jacked up to the gills he has never been anywhere near as good in the ring. The result of this is that, rather than admit to HHH being too muscular and too slow, WWE changed its entire system so that wrestlers are taught to wrestle the HHH way and anyone who is too exciting or flashy in the ring has to tone down their style to get to main events.

Whilst I don't disagree with you about HHH being selfish (but then wrestling like many other sports is a very selfish profession - take Wayne Rooney last season threatening to leave Man U then deciding to stay when the club conveniently coughed up the extra cash); however I don't think you can level the 'WWE style' completely at HHH's door.

HHH wasn't the first muscle bound main eventer - Hogan, Savage, Ultimate Warrior were all body builders too. Look at the Rock today - he's massive! WWE didn't slow down its style to suit HHH; there were always high fliers, those who were more gymnastic than others such as Jimmy Snukka, Ricky Steamboat or HBK but before the monday night wars and the success WCW had with its cruiserweight division the WWF style was much slower. WWE fought fire with fire and guys like Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boyz performed amazing matches but they were still only mid carders during the Attitude Era.

The WWE style owes a lot to other factors - touring schedule and PG rating. If WWE worked a ROH style or even a Japanese hard style with its present touring and PPV schedule the roster would have a very short career life and would constantly need renewing. WWE has too much tv and PPV time to be more athletic. In Mick Foley's blog about Edge's retirement he mentions the fact that most wrestlers (including himself) eventually have to adapt their style and work 'softer' matches because their bodies can't endure the strain permenantly.