9 Times Triple H Stole The Spotlight

This past Sunday’s Survivor Series main event involved the up-and-coming Braun Strowman, a cast of four former NXT Champions, as well as a rare appearance from John Cena. And yet, the biggest story of the match revolved around three part-timers approaching their 50s, as Triple H turned on Kurt Angle before sending Shane McMahon on his way to wrap up a convoluted victory for Team Raw.

Not that this is the first time the Triple H character has stolen a spotlight that should arguably have been reserved for somebody else.

Considering the on-screen persona he portrays—a glutton for power whose actions are often governed by his own insecurities—its perhaps only natural that there’s been a number of angles, storylines, and matches into which Triple H has been inserted for one reason or another.

Granted, it hasn’t always been entirely his own doing, and you could argue its simply a result of having been one of the biggest names in the business for so long. Others may claim it has something to do with his marrying into the McMahon family but either way, he’s proven to have an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time…

When a shoulder injury sustained at last year’s SummerSlam forced Finn Bálor to relinquish the Universal title, it was soon decided that a new champion would be crowned on the 29 August showing of Raw.

There, in a Fatal 4-way elimination match, Kevin Owens outlasted Big Cass, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins to win his maiden world championship. But his big moment was somewhat overshadowed by Triple H’s timely interference.

In his first on-screen appearance since WrestleMania 32, Triple H came through the crowd, took out Reigns with a Pedigree and after seemingly setting his sights on Owens, promptly turned on his former protégé Rollins.

A bewildered Owens then crawled into the cover without even hitting his own finishing move. It meant that after 20 minutes of back-and-forth action, all it took was for Triple H to show up and hit a couple of moves and suddenly the match was over.

What should have been Owens’ defining moment instead became another stage on which to showcase Triple H. And while it did play into his eventual ‘Mania feud with Rollins, surely there were other ways of setting that one up.