The top of the first hour heralded the first of many appearances for The Authority. With Stephanie McMahon introducing him, Triple H once again began to lay into the WWE Universe, telling the fans that we all secretly dream of being the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but unlike him, none of us would ever achieve it. He also bragged about reaching his 20th WrestleMania, and competing for a world championship at the event for a record ninth time. After that, though, Triple H's promo took a decidedly babyface tone. He talked about how he had been obsessed with the WWE Championship for years, but he was content to fade away and take on a corporate role even though it was something he never expected for himself. Roman Reigns's attack at TLC, though, re-lit the competitive fire under "The Game" and made him remember his obsession with the belt. Basically, it was exactly what a grizzled babyface veteran coming out of retirement for a match against an up-and-coming heel would say. This isn't the first time HHH's promos and antics have veered toward the babyface side of things during this program, and it hasn't done Reigns any favors. Hopefully, Reigns is turning heel at WrestleMania, but if he's not, this is just one more example of poor planning.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
