The Problem With Triple H That No One Wants To Talk About
SummerSlam headlined an eventful first week in the most powerful seat in wrestling for 'The Game', but the Raws either side of the 'Biggest Party Of The Summer' were as fascinating on an analytical level. Crucially, both were reminders to exercise just a little caution in placing all your hopes and dreams on Paul Levesque's stacked shoulders too.
Day One on the job was huge - there was no more symbolic a location for the formal handing over of WWE's creative baton for the first time in five decades than Madison Square Garden.
A spiritual home for the company long before Vince McMahon acquired it from his Father, the 'World's Most Famous Arena' was the North East's jewel in the crown, and thus played host to nearly all the major money-drawing title matches featuring the likes of Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund as longstanding World Wide Wrestling Federation stewards. When the soon-to-be WWF was still mostly confined to the unspoken territorial guidelines McMahon Jr later destroyed, the Garden was something that elevated their particular stage beyond many of their rivals. Countless promoters could sell tickets for countless great wrestling cards, but they couldn't do it in New York's most iconic auditorium.
"The Garden will always be The Garden, Vinnie" was how Senior famously pitched it to his overzealous son. That was to say that no matter the state of the business, the building could transcend it. He'd never know how poignant those words would prove to be when Junior suddenly couldn't be anywhere near the place for the July 25 2022 Monday Night Raw. On the unofficial 10th anniversary of the flagship going three hours and inside those hallowed halls, Triple H took his Father-In-Law's former seat as he took on his new responsibilities - fully and without supervision - for the first time ever.
It...underwhelmed.
CONT'D...