7 Wrestlers Who Made Vince McMahon Their BITCH!
2. Triple H
Even if you’re of the opinion that Triple H was everything that he and WWE as an entity said he was - an incredible heel, a big match specialist, the third biggest star of the Attitude Era, one of the most intelligent masters of wrestling psychology - you’d have to admit that he was absolutely bobbins between 1995 and 1997. He didn’t do anything worth a damn in the ring without the huge advantage of Mick Foley or a ladder before 1999: the year he got his big push. And even that didn’t take until Foley stepped in yet again. So why did Vince let him run roughshod over the promotion well before the Attitude Era began in earnest?
To be absolutely fair to Vince as a promoter, contrary to his reputation as a volatile hack who didn’t see much in Steve Austin and only hired Foley to get Jim Ross to be quiet, he could in fact spot talent. Perhaps Vince knew what he had with Triple H, and was prepared to show much in the way of patience. That’s one explanation. Another, and this is corroborated by several of his old peers, is that Triple H was very good at schmoozing Vince and kissing his ass. He either spoke Vince’s language, or was so bright that he learned it in order to get ahead. Also: Triple H was good mates with Shawn Michaels. Perhaps that is why Triple H, well before his belated Madison Square Garden breakthrough of September 22, 1997, was able to undermine Bret Hart. That campaign started earlier that year, when Triple H was about to bore everybody senseless in a dreadful series with Goldust.
It’s just wild how a wrestler who specialised in silencing crowds across overlong and tedious matches had Vince’s ear before he even got vaguely over, isn’t it?
Once he got over, he did so on merit. You cannot deny Triple H’s 2000. It didn’t matter who he was dating. At one point in 2001, a babyface Triple H versus a heel Steve Austin felt like a viable WrestleMania 18 main event.
But after that, Christ. Triple H had become a McMahon, and it didn’t matter how dull he was, how overbearing he was, how many wrestlers made look inept in a very curious and longstanding pattern. He was always going to be winning or challenging for the World title for years and years on end. In graduating to management, he outdid any of his political foes.
Perhaps there's another reason why Triple H belongs on this list, too...