15 Exact Moments Failed WWE Ruthless Aggression Gimmicks Actually Got Over

12. Triple H | February 21, 2005

This one might prove controversial, because Triple H truly ascended to the main event level on January 23, 2000: the date on which he defeated Cactus Jack in an epic blood-soaked brawl at the Royal Rumble. But the man was only selectively over after he did a more effective job of boring the crowd into submission at WrestleMania 18 than Bret Hart did with Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. 

Triple H played a role in the brilliance of the Shawn Michaels return match at SummerSlam 2002. As good as that was, it was the last decent effort Triple H entered for years. The Reign of Terror was upon us after that - a period of time defined by the slowest and most tedious matches imaginable, matches so godawful that the only rational explanation is that Triple H intentionally made almost every opponent look bad. Then again, he liked Shawn Michaels, and almost every other return match was terrible. So perhaps the more likely explanation is “Triple H was terrible”. 

He was always very good at the “Oh, no, I’m f*cked here” facial expression, and he pulled a great one when Batista gave him the thumbs down on the February 21, 2005 episode of SmackDown. That was the moment Triple H’s actually effective heel work paid off. Fans knew that he was close to sh*tting himself as Batista tore through everybody in sight - and this is when the turtle’s head descended. 

You could argue that this very moment only resonated as strongly as it did precisely because Triple H was such a suffocating presence at the top of the card. At the same time, he could have been good when he won all the time, as opposed to very bad.