WWE: The Future Was Bright Until Triple H "Retired"
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Over the past month I have been enjoying WWE TV and the standard it has set going forward so much that I was well over halfway through a very different article to this one; highlighting why the future is looking good for the WWE. I was bringing to light several factors as to why WWE is looking so good at this time and as I wrote it, the more I believed that we were turning a corner into a new era filled with amazing talent and spectacle. Watching Extreme Rules I had even more desire to show the world just why sports entertainment was on the up. Even I was surprised as to how well Extreme Rules panned out. No one could argue that if you were to look back at the product from 2 years ago, the current show is a huge leap forward. Then I watched Monday Night RAW this week and all my hope was dashed in one fell swoop. Now Im not here to say that every element of RAW was awful, in fact, with the lack of a World or WWE champion on the show the episode was kept fat free and benefitted greatly from it. The two problems I had with it occurred during the ending if the show. The flagship show of WWE ended with a part time wrestler appearing to collapse. Ill give Triple H his due, he sold the angle well. Ill also say that I am a massive fan of Trips and have been since the Attitude era when he was by far the greatest all round performer on the roster. Nowadays he can still go as has been proven over the past couple of years with his sporadic matches. But he is just like all the other part timers who swan into the WWE when they feel like it; on TV one minute and gone the next. Its no bad thing for business in the short scheme of things and the options were obviously few when considering we had no Cena, Punk or Ziggler and, this may surprise many who have read previous articles of mine, putting Triple H in the main event of RAW was a smart move. But let me break down exactly what happened in said main event; the veteran, Triple H, went one on one with a genuine future prospect and ended up making himself collapse. In that sentence you can see both my problems as clear as day. Curtis Axle, it would appear, is destined for superstardom and we welcome him, especially with Heyman as his mouth piece. Why couldnt Triple H have done the job for the young talent? Because it would make Triple H look weak? Maybe, but Triple H had an easy out in the fact he was not 24 hours removed from a cage match with Brock Lesnar where a knock out was the cause for his loss. Also, who cares if Trips looks weak? Hes tasted the highest of highs in his career that spans close to two decades in the WWE and, as I have already mentioned, is a part time talent. Much like all other part timers they only hold a single serving of use before they walk away again and we revert back to the main roster. Curtis Axle should be a main staple of said roster. His unveiling by Paul as the new Heyman guy was perfect and a victory, no matter how tainted by Triple Hs excuses, would cement his place on the main RAW roster. Instead this was taken away from him in the most cheap, ridiculous and confusing way possible. Triple H collapsed on the outside and took the entire spotlight with him. And that is exactly my second problem with how RAW ended; instead of a new guy going over a veteran getting the huge amount of rub that would come from such an end, we instead get the part timer collapsing on the floor. Curtis basically became secondary in his RAW main event debut and, lets face facts, it wouldnt matter who was in the ring with Trips because the end will be remembered for the night Triple H collapsed. Who cares? We are all totally and fully aware that WWE is contrived and are also aware that triple H does not have a concussion or any serious injuries at present. Were not stupid and, when faced with such genuine angles, we sports entertainment fans tend to snort and sit on our hands. We are not here to be taken on an emotional rollercoaster akin to a soap opera. We are here for kick ass action, in your face storylines and strong guys taking matters into their own hands. Remember when Triple H lost his first match with Brock Lesnar and he came out the next night on RAW and cried as if he was retiring? Remember how the audience sat on their hands? Exact same problem this past Monday night! No one cares about a concussion angle, least of all when it involves a guy who gives us good matches 2-3 times a year with other part time performers when he should be putting over all the new guys we are dying to cheer for. New guys like Curtis Axle! A brand new prospect was paraded in front of us on Monday and WWE, along with Triple H made it all about the BS we dont care about! In the absence of Cena, Ziggler and Punk, why arent WWE making the next big stars while there is a window instead of making the show about a part time with a fictional injury that, strangely enough, is genuinely keeping the current full time World Heavyweight Champion off of TV? I will say though that how WWE management made Daniel Bryan look on RAW was exactly what was needed. He subtly made his name as a genuinely tough performer and I simply cannot wait to see how it progresses. But that came from a 6 man tag match weve seen at least twice before and I would give credit to the performers in the match as well as the agent who helped book the match. The same also applies to Titus ONeill who dominated Sheamus in a losing effort. If WWE is doing one thing right, its how they book their matches. The major problem they have right now is their creative department and the awful storylines they come up with to try and add meaning to feuds. Its compounded by the fact that they tend to add personal storylines to characters that dont need them and leave the rest of the roster to feud for the sheer hell of it. The WWE over the past month has done a vast majority of things right but have really let themselves down with their promotion of a storyline that will likely lead to Triple H retiring. Which is BS enough on its own seeing as we are all fully aware of his role backstage. It doesnt matter how this storyline pans out as it will only be met with a universal fart by the WWE universe.