The Many Faces Of Triple H - Ranked From Worst To Best

8. The Last Outlaw

As Triple H reached his mid-40s, the company had a “in case of emergency break glass case” stance on him. He was waiting in the wings to come and work if a big star came down with an injury, or if there was a hot program he could be involved in, but or the most part the company was fine having him work backstage and job shadowing Vince McMahon.

However, WrestleMania has always been a time for him to come back, and it’s been far more damaging than lucrative. In early 2011, Hunter had be largely absent from TV, but he emerged to challenge Undertaker for WrestleMania XXVII. His reasoning was now that Michaels had been retired by The Dead Man, those two were the “last of the outlaws.” It was an incredibly damaging statement as it made the current roster look weak.

But Hunter took on Taker at Mania 27, 28 and then battled Brock Lesnar at 29 before moving more firmly into a backstage management role and gaining more power behind-the-scenes. For longtime fans, it was still fun to see him step back in the ring, but not at the expense of taking someone else’s back matches and running down younger wrestlers in the process.