10 Times WWE Hurt Itself By Punishing Its Stars
2. Triple H Is The Scapegoat For The Curtain Call
By now, everybody knows about the so-called 'Curtain Call' incident. If you somehow don't, very briefly: the backstage circle of friends known as the Kliq was splitting, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were off to WCW, and the whole gang decided to have an emotional farewell in the middle of Madison Square Garden right before the public.
Supposedly, Vince McMahon wasn't too fussed by the kayfabe-shattering display when it first went down. After all, he'd already exposed the business, and he did that for a tax break. Nonetheless, the more old school of his various agents, assistants and managers were appalled - people like Jim Cornette and Jerry Brisco, who wanted to string all four of the men up by their ankles.
When McMahon saw that his most trusted confidantes were livid, he felt he had no choice but to make an example of someone. Champion Michaels was untouchable, and Nash and Hall were gone. Triple H was the only candidate
Hunter had been been slated to win the King Of The Ring tournament a few weeks later, but that story was instead passed to 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin instead, making a different kind of history. Instead, Triple H was entered into a programme of humiliating losses for the next few months. They gave him nothing matches against worthless opponents, where he had to work twice for the same result. He went from tickling the main event to jerking the curtain, as any hope of getting over gradually faded.
It didn't matter that WWE had someone ready to step into Triple H's spot: he was a performer they were investing time and money in, who was poised to begin providing a return on that investment. It was only by a fluke of fortune that things turned out better for the company with Austin's win. How much did they waste nixing Triple H's main-event run otherwise?