How Good Was Triple H Actually?
2. Drawing Power
Triple H headlined multiple PPVs throughout the Attitude Era, when the product was red hot and the numbers defined the fates of entire companies. You don’t get to do that purely as a result of who you’re close with.
In the July 15, 2024 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer compiled a list of the 15 top live draws in wrestling history. Meltzer calculated this by deducing which headlining wrestlers had drawn the most ticket sales over the longest time span. Meltzer admits that the system was flawed, in that it is not a true reflection of popularity. Steve Austin isn’t included, even though he was significantly more popular than Triple H was at any single point in Triple H’s career, but Triple H’s longevity is favoured by the methodology.
It’s a very Dave way of looking at it, strict and pedantic to an extent that you could argue misses the point, but nonetheless, it’s a somewhat flattering to Triple H, who places #14. But then the Rock doesn’t feature at all, and yet Roman Reigns does, at #11, so what’s going on there?
What this ultimately tells you is that Roman Reigns and Triple H drew smaller crowds than the Rock and Steve Austin for a higher amount of years. Triple H was the best draw in 2004 and scored highly throughout the monopoly era, but is that actually impressive? Is it even the bare minimum? Triple H drew smaller arena crowds with no competition.
TV ratings plummeted across the infamous Reign of Terror. When Triple H dominated the show as its nigh-on invincible top heel, the average Monday Night Raw coverage rating dropped from 2.43 in 2002 to 1.96 in 2004; interestingly, the average increased to 2.10 (2005) and 2.14 (2006) when John Cena replaced Hunter as the face of the brand. Triple H was drafted to SmackDown in 2008; the absolute best you can say about his run is that he didn’t crater the numbers.
He was a different animal on pay-per-view when - and here’s that refrain again - he wasn’t fuelled by his defensive, fragile ego. When fans sensed that HHH was on the cusp of losing his World title, they actually really wanted to see it. Backlash 2000 (Vs. The Rock) was the second most successful non-’Big 4’ pay-per-view ever, behind only InVasion, drawing a monster 650,000 buys. WrestleMania 21 (Vs. Batista) broke the all-time record with 1,090,000 buys. This was a staggering achievement, given WWE was not in a boom period.
Triple H wasn’t as strong a draw as you’d expect, given the scope of his push, but he justified it when he wasn’t so petty and paranoid.
7/10