KB’s Review: The Sword of Triple H Is Dangling Over Our Heads

It’s the dark season for WWE and there really isn’t much to talk about. We’re getting ready for “Hell in a Cell 2016” from the Raw Brand and then a big “Survivor Series 2017”. Goldberg is back to face Brock Lesnar, Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte might main event the upcoming pay per view and……that’s about it for interesting things.

Now I know there’s something I intentionally left out, but I really don’t find Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens all that interesting. While there are a few reasons for this, there’s a major problem looming over the whole story and the only way around it is to wait things out. That problem is, as is so often the case, Triple H, who is off on another hiatus. Without him, it’s really kind of hard to care about Rollins vs. Owens.

Ah yes Triple H, the man who runs the company, is married to that saintly Stephanie McMahon and is our best friend for bringing us the greatness that is “NXT”. Unfortunately, that leaves him little time to do things like show up on “Monday Night Raw” other than once every few months.

Triple H last appeared on WWE TV on August 29, when he cost Rollins and Roman Reigns the WWE World Title in a fatal four way match by Pedigreeing both men and giving Owens the easy pin. Other than an appearance at the Cruiserweight Classic and a post “Clash of Champions 2016” cameo on WWE.com, Triple H hasn’t been seen since.

 

During that time, Rollins has been chasing Owens’ title and lost in his pay per view title shot via a few screwy shenanigans which may or may not have been McMahon’s fault. Owens has also gained a new best friend in the form of Chris Jericho, who isn’t directly involved in the title feud but has been Rollins’ main adversary while he waits for his next shot at Owens’ title.

Rollins vs. Owens had a good though not great match at “Clash of Champions 2016” but overall the feud hasn’t been the most well received. While you could attribute this to a few different factors, the biggest problem for me is that it feels like we’re wasting time until we get to the Rollins vs. Triple H showdown. With that being the big match with the seemingly eternal build, everything else feels like it’s a waste of time. Unfortunately that means we’re stuck with a pretty uninteresting feud between Owens and Rollins, which also brings down the title’s value.

The problem boils down to Triple H barely ever wrestling or showing up for that matter. Excluding the rare house show appearance, Triple H has wrestled the following number of singles matches in the last seven years:

2016 – 3
2015 – 1
2014 – 2
2013 – 5
2012 – 2
2011 – 3
2010 – 6

That’s twenty two matches in six years, or less than four per year. It’s understandable that Triple H is a part time wrestler as he’s forty seven years old and a very high level executive in WWE but that becomes a problem when you set up a top level program against a top level competitor.

 

With rumors that Triple H vs. Rollins won’t take place until “Royal Rumble 2017”, we’re looking at five month long build for a match based on revenge. Sure, Rollins vs. Triple H should be a good match, but why are they fighting? Yes Triple H cost Rollins the title for the sake of pushing Owens as the guy (There’s another reason this feud is dying: they’re fighting over who is the Authority’s favorite wrestler.) but is anyone going to care by the time we get around to hearing him give the full explanation? Does it really just boil down to the Authority has picked Owens as their new favorite?

If that’s the case, you can imagine how underwhelming the response is going to be. Rollins and Triple H had issues dating back to Rollins turning on the Shield and becoming the Authority’s future of WWE way back in 2014. If the “Royal Rumble 2017” date for their match is accurate, we’re coming up on a match nearly three years in the making. It almost doesn’t matter what’s done in a match like that, as it’s virtually impossible to justify that kind of a time being spent on any story. Even the long awaited Rock vs. John Cena match only had a little over a year of buildup.

 

On top of that, Triple H really doesn’t have the best track record in these big showdowns. Do I really need to remind you of the messes that were his matches against Randy Orton at “Wrestlemania XXV” and Roman Reigns (who is likely going to be feuding with Triple H again at some point in the future after being ripped off in his title opportunity as well) at “Wrestlemania XXXII”? Triple H is an incredibly talented wrestlers and easily one of the best of all time but he really isn’t the best in the world at these big, epic showdowns.

At the end of the day, Triple H needs to just show up and have the match with Rollins so everyone can move on. This slow build is getting really annoying with no one benefiting and the big Triple H rub not being enough to make up for it. Assuming Rollins wins their eventual showdown (which certainly isn’t a guarantee given history), it’s not like it’s going to mean all that much.

Rollins has won the WWE World Title in the main event of Wrestlemania, pinned Roman Reigns clean to win to win the title again and turned face to a pretty strong reaction. Now though, all of that is supposed to be forgotten because he’s getting to work with Triple H over a story that started a long time ago because Triple H decided Rollins wasn’t going to be his protege any longer. That’s a story that can work under the right circumstances but having Triple H give Rollins special treatment like this isn’t a good look for Rollins, who doesn’t really need the Triple H rub.

This really shouldn’t be a complicated idea. Rollins comes back from injury, goes after the title again, gets screwed over by Triple H, and then the match takes place, likely with Rollins going over in a major match on a pay per view. What I don’t understand is the five month gap in between. How does this benefit anyone? Are we really supposed to believe that the extra several months are going to be that much of a positive influence?

The feud (Is it really even a feud if almost nothing happens for months on end?) has gone on WAY too long already and it’s time to just wrap it up already. Have Triple H come back ASAP and lose the match to Rollins. Do it at “Survivor Series 2016” or on an episode of “Monday Night Raw”. Either way, just do it soon enough and stop having Triple H’s shadow hanging over this whole promotion because it’s not helping anyone other than Triple H.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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