Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Helmsley are once again the on-screen bosses of WWE: and ever since they returned to our television screens in late summer 2013 as The Authority, theyve played the part of megalomaniacal heels to the hilt, gaining massive amounts of heat through continually screwing with the companys top babyface Daniel Bryan. Having gotten over with fans through the long-running Daniel Bryan storyline, over the last two years The Authority have proceeded to mess with almost everyone else on the roster who more or less fitted a babyface alignment. The trouble is, theyve also messed with the heel side of the roster: and 2015 has seen this tendency flare up to become a serious issue. Stephanies fair-play babyface sponsorship of the Divas Revolution (in the face of alleged heel champion Nikki Bellas protestations), and Triple Hs status as the Cuddly Big Bear daddy figure to the NXT roster are bad enough: but their snide, contemptuous treatment of their stablemate, protégée and figurehead Seth Rollins, their handpicked WWE World Heavyweight Champion, is something entirely different. Most memorably, theyve placed him in title matches with an indestructible Brock Lesnar and a legendary Sting, neither of which was supplied with heelish ringside assistance or stipulations favouring Rollins. Its almost as though they favour legitimate competition and fair play, and are predisposed against the weaselly heel they gave the title to. You know, like babyfaces would be. They did similar things with Randy Orton back when he was their snake-skinned boy at the top in 2013 and 2014. Triple H has shown evidence of preferring to be a cool heel throughout his career: a vicious, unprincipled cheat and b*stard, but nevertheless a badass, no-nonsense character that many in the audience secretly want to be, who gets babyface pops upon his hero entrances and corresponding merchandise sales. The problem is that the heel authority figure cant be a cool heel it only works as a gimmick if theyre actively despised. Thats what got them over during the Daniel Bryan angle throughout late 2013 and mid-2014. Triple H doesnt need the t-shirt dollar in 2015. If hes going to turn The Authority babyface, fine. If hes going to keep them heel, fine. But stop with the flip-flopping. The crowd doesnt know how theyre supposed to react to the pair of them anymore.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
