The Rise Of Triple H | Wrestling Timelines

September 18, 2011 - Night Of Champions

Triple H CM Punk Night of Champions
WWE

The evidence piles up against Triple H.

CM Punk set WWE alight with his legendary Pipebomb promo in June. This initiates WWE’s dismal version of the Summer of Punk, which ends with the anti-establishment Punk aligning with authority figure Triple H as a scab.

Prior to that, at Night of Champions, Triple H - a man with a toxic reputation of burying talent - plays heel against the man many deem capable of becoming the face of WWE. The guy the millennials want is visually pinned by Triple H before the finishing sequence. This spot is diabolical; as Triple H simply cannot be ignorant of, the visual pin is reserved for a cheated babyface.

Triple H is clever, but not clever enough; he grants himself plausible deniability, with a long and overbooked late interference sequence, but the match-winning Pedigree still feels too definitive, too clean.

Punk is established as the guy below John Cena, but the missed opportunity is incredibly depressing.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!