10 Wrestlers WWE Pushed At The EXACT Wrong Time
4. Every Triple H Rehire In 2022
Triple H either wanted to push several talents that Vince McMahon had fired across the prior two years because he genuinely thought they could enhance his product - or because he fancied a series of easy pops and the publicity that comes with being a more benevolent, stand-up guy than his predecessor.
Perhaps the former theory is true and the latter is much too cynical, but in either scenario, the big re-hiring wave of late 2022 was a mistake that made more memes than stars.
Assessing each "gem" in the Infinity Gauntlet, in terms of who has been booked well:
Karrion Kross went 50/50 with Drew McIntyre in a bland and ultimately pointless series before being used as a means of prolonging the Rey Vs. Dominik Mysterio angle. His match with Rey on January 27, 2023 was unfathomably bad given Rey was in it. Braun Strowman put over GUNTHER in a strong match and his tag team with Ricochet has been remarkably successful. Bray Wyatt is worse than he was under Vince McMahon; his "arc" feels so much more incoherent when a supposedly competent booker is mapping it. Tegan Nox goes 50/50 and is nowhere near realising her immense babyface potential. Ditto Candice LeRae and Mia Yim. Emma has no chemistry with her actual partner onscreen. Hit Row are comically awful.
Where so many of these returning acts simply exist, the same cannot be written of the Good Brothers, who are barely on TV. There are no plans for them at all and they were only there to back up AJ Styles in a mini-feud with the Judgment Day.
The cringeworthy Dexter Lumis/Johnny Gargano double act is an excruciating waste of Gargano's talent. Dakota Kai is featured heavily, but Damage CTRL aren't remotely over. In fact, very few of these rehires are. The crowds seem bemused at their bland existence. Bronson Reed can draw noise in the ring, but not when he makes his entrance. Sarah Logan weighs the Viking Raiders down with her exaggerated gimmick.
So Braun is effectively the rule-proving exception.
The reality is that Triple H hired too many returning wrestlers too soon and failed to make far too many of them relevant.