Why Triple H's Biggest WWE Blunder Is Hidden In Plain Sight

WWE has done it.

Despite the constant and important reminders that this is a company with an ongoing sex trafficking lawsuit against it and its former Chairman, of an ongoing relationship with the Saudi Arabian Sports Authority and of the multiple and often-devastating transgressions that have ensured its status as the market leader, WWE has become the populist product amongst the majority of pro wrestling fans in 2024.

There are many reasons for this beyond the typical swinging of the pro wrestling pendulum, but a massive one is due to the disgraced exit(s) of the aforementioned ex-boss. Vince McMahon's creative vision twice resulted in the company experiencing unimaginable financial highs, but nearly twenty years of a monopoly and his own grotesque and outmoded tastes resulted in a product that barely resembled "Sports Entertainment", let alone professional wrestling. His various partial removals and temporary returns notwithstanding, WWE's McMahon-less creative direction since July 2022 has resulted in a significant upturn in investment both financial and emotional, with the recently-branded "Paul Levesque Era" posting record numbers hand-in-hand with unprecedented audience satisfaction.

Boardroom changes and politics aside, the improvement of the product required wholesale changes behind the scenes and new leadership on screen. It came in the form of the last bombshell signing of the McMahon Era - Cody Rhodes. 'The American Nightmare' "Finishing The Story" at WrestleMania 40 was the culmination of his two-year story and Roman Reigns' four on top as a heel. Every new beginning comes with an end and WWE elected to craft a big one when crowning Rhodes on the 'Grandest Stage'. And yet, it was all so good that it barely scanned as a gamble.

Right call, right man, right time, right place, right match, right moment.

So where and why, barely two months later, does it naggingly feel like it could all rapidly go wrong?

CONT'D...