10 Times Triple H Was RIDICULOUSLY Selfish At WWE WrestleMania

4. A Shoot In A Worked World

Triple H wrestlemania
WWE.com

Triple H is...selective in the way he plays the Game. Often, he does so within the rules. He acknowledges that wrestling is a work, as well he should, creating gripping fictional stakes with which to drive his programmes. He is also more than capable of leaning on reality just enough to not topple it over - as he did by exploiting Shawn Michaels' career-threatening back injury so well in their gruelling SummerSlam '02 epic.

On other occasions, as with the entire premise of his programme with John Cena ahead of WrestleMania 22, he absolutely shreds the very notion of kayfabe, purely to play the pr*ck. He visibly loved writing John Cena off as a guy who "happened to not be a very good wrestler," whose "big move" was "pumping up his Reeboks". What's worse is that he believed it. Did it matter? John Cena hardly suffered in its wake - but the buyrate did, at least in comparison to the previous year. Elevation is a better means of drawing money than burial. He flattered Batista and dismissed Cena. Objectively, one of those tactics was more successful than the other.

No prizes for guessing which tactic Trips revived in his programmes with Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan...

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!