How Good Was Triple H Actually?
6. Cultural Significance
As big as he is, nobody really knows who Triple H is outside of wrestling circles.
He’s not in the El Santo or Rikidozan tier, but then again, nobody else is, even the Rock or Hulk Hogan. Triple H isn’t in the Rock’s league as a household name, either: the Rock was the highest-paid and biggest Hollywood attraction in 2018. The Rock has generated at least $3 billion dollars in box office revenue as a leading man. ‘The Chaperone’, Triple H’s 2011 crime comedy vehicle, made less than $300,000. Triple H is no John Cena in terms of substantial mainstream renown/appeal. Or Dave Bautista.
Everybody knows what WWE is, in that it’s a synonym of wrestling, and everybody is at least somewhat aware of it. Triple H’s name is probably quite well known, if only because he’s been such a major part of WWE for so long that the long-suffering partners and mates and family members have learned it through no choice of their own. Triple H is probably in the Undertaker-tier of name value, in that he hasn’t done a f*cking thing outside of the business, but is synonymous with it, and everybody knows what it is, even if they laugh at the idea of its very existence.
Hunter is trying to correct this, by reinvewhnting himself as a “brains behind the operation” Dana White-style figure, but he still isn’t as well-known as Vince McMahon was before his cowardly retreat away from the limelight. Hunter, frankly, is boring. He’s not going to come agonisingly close to making a headline by blowing up in some poor guy’s face like Vince was. He doesn’t draw on (nor get used by) the media circuit as a result.
3/10