10 Times Wrestlers Abused Their Power On TV
Triple H features heavily, since his need for validation is as subtle as a sledgehammer.
Despite those early anxieties, the EVPs of All Elite Wrestling really haven't abused their position.
Any argument made to the contrary is in bad faith; if anything, as crystallised by the dire events of December 18, 2019, they were too giving in a pursuit to get a roster over at the expense of their own star power.
Cody put over MJF big early, and was the scalp that Darby Allin eventually took on his quest to become AEW's Ace-in-waiting. Both men are bankable demo draws: veritable faces of the company's medium-term future. It didn't work - Private Party have regressed, and the pandemic rendered a rep-count of an indie run an impossibility - but the Young Bucks did give them the rub on week two of Dynamite. Kenny Omega put Jon Moxley over at Full Gear, and the subsequent shift from violent tweener to legit heroic babyface illuminated the most dank and miserable year in wrestling's recent history. People needed Jon Moxley. He was positioned by an EVP to make everything seem OK for a while.
Chris Jericho's friend Luther should never have headlined Dynamite. There is nothing in that tank. But it was an aberration secondary to a post-match angle.
The EVPs have learned the lessons from the dismal, punishing masturbation of the post-Attitude Era...
10. Triple H Embarks On The Reign Of Terror
Reductively, what happened in mainstream pro wrestling as the Attitude Era receded from view was thus:
The real megastars left for various reasons, and the shuttering of WCW imbued Triple H with a certain arrogance. "They shouldn't have let go of ol' Terra Ryzing," he said with a smirk, and appeared to take credit for the Monday Night War win by booking himself as Bruno Sammartino. This is true, in that he worked a slow WWWF-esque style and held onto that belt for f*cking ever. It's also not true in that Bruno was a beloved babyface and HHH couldn't get over as a top one if he tried. Or cried, even.
Fancying himself as Ric Flair, Ric Flair was very giving at his seminal peak and cut hyperactive, blustering promos so magnetic that he flooded the old Crockett studio with his charisma. HHH meanwhile said "You see," "The truth is..." and "The fact of the matter is..." to circle back to the same point for about 15 minutes. In the ring, he only elevated himself by pushing people down. He was halfway clever about it. You have to give him that.
Yes, Ric Flair turned on RVD at Unforgiven 2002. It wasn't clean. And yes, Flair interfered at WrestleMania XIX. But it took Triple H 23 seconds to make the cover, treating Booker T like his mother had asked him to tidy his room.