Just something I was considering during Triple H's reign while the "top" wrestler in the WWE, though I highly contend this isn't the case. Still, for whatever it's worth, from 2002-2005, Triple H was the most dominant wrestler on the entire Raw Roster. Now then, he also had to bury a couple names to get there, and I don't think I'm going to have much of an argument. I'm not going to pretend that I'm sitting here, and being completely unbiased on the matter; Triple H is one of the most egotisitical, pretentious pricks in the business, in my humble opinion. But, I'm going to go even further in saying that he Kamikaze'd his own program, in taking all of the wrestlers who were either better than he was in the ring, at selling tickets, and overall were threats to his throne as Raw's biggest superstar.
Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the names he kept on Raw.
RVD- Over? Perhaps, but not in that main event way, at least in the WWE. RVD just didn't have a track record at the time for drawing ticket sales in the WWE. His only experience in the main event at the time was one Three Way Dance between Steve Austin and Kurt Angle, which did a low for its time buy rate, somewhere in the neighborhood of 325,000 buys. This made RVD the eventual scapegoat for Triple H. Lo and behold, the event didn't draw, and RVD was the scapegoat for Triple H.
Kane- Same story, different situation. Kane, unlike RVD, had been World Heavyweight Champion before. For a day. Kane hadn't proven at the time to be much of a draw himself, and though he'd get wildly over with the fans, Triple H saddled himself with Kane, and killed all of his credibility, as well as taking the Intercontinental Title, thereby making nothing for the Mid Card to chase, and effectively killing off the mid card, as well. No one received a worse burial treatment than Kane, and the fans caught on. Unfortunately, Triple H still had his ace in the hole, that Kane was never a proven draw. Again, another mid card name who had a chance, but was buried. And, mind you, another person not proven as a draw.
Scott Steiner- Pffft. Yeah, good fucking luck with that one. Steiner was World Champion for WCW in its dying days. Do you think that gives him any track record as to say he's a draw? Yeah, thought so. Moving on.
Booker T- See the sad state of affairs with WCW. Again, Booker T was seen as a WCW Guy; someone that went down with the ship in WCW, and because he went down with the ship, he surely shared some fault for how WCW's performance dwindled. Thus, when the Wrestlemania buyrate came in at a shockingly low number, and the reasoning was the lack of a credible main event on the Raw side, who was blamed? Yep, that would be Booker T.
Kevin Nash (and while I'm here, Shawn Michaels)- Yeah, what did Triple H care of his best friend succeeded? This was Triple at his best, keeping all of his buddies close to the top, so that they could all hog the main event spotlight. Yes, I'm including Shawn, as he really had no place in the main event, but rather was better off putting people over, which didn't happen nearly as much as people believe.
Chris Jericho. Chyaaa. You think Chris was going to be trusted as a draw after that whole Wrestlemania 18 Fiasco? Thank God they had Rock and Hogan to save Triple H's ass, but when the feud was over, and considered widely lackluster, who got the blame? That's right, Y2J himself. He wouldn't sniff a world title for a couple years afterwards.
Goldberg- Oh Goodie, a proven draw... Five years ago. Luckily, in that five year span, Goldberg had been shot to hell when it comes to credibility, and was seen as a stiff, unsafe worker, all of which may have been warranted. Still, Triple H could blame Goldberg getting old, thathe wasn't the same draw. That may have been true, but we again see Triple H getting away with horrible buy rate results.
I could go on, but the main point is that all of the proven draws were kept far the fuck away from Triple H? Stone Cold. He's now the GM. The Rock? Kept on Smackdown most the time, and even on Raw, had "one last run" with Steve Austin. Hulk Hogan? Working on Smackdown. Kurt Angle? Ditto. Brock Lesnar? I think we're all aware that Trips wanted no part of Brock Lesnar. Eddie and Chris? Kept far fucking away at all costs, though Chris would come back for his lifetime achievement, yet still keeping Raw "The Triple H Show".
The evidence is right in front of you. Triple H kept the good workers, and the better draws, far fucking away from him, and kept people close that he could blame if the numbers, typically, came out bad. I don't think I need to point out much more. Triple H knowingly sabotaged his own show to keep his own credibility
Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the names he kept on Raw.
RVD- Over? Perhaps, but not in that main event way, at least in the WWE. RVD just didn't have a track record at the time for drawing ticket sales in the WWE. His only experience in the main event at the time was one Three Way Dance between Steve Austin and Kurt Angle, which did a low for its time buy rate, somewhere in the neighborhood of 325,000 buys. This made RVD the eventual scapegoat for Triple H. Lo and behold, the event didn't draw, and RVD was the scapegoat for Triple H.
Kane- Same story, different situation. Kane, unlike RVD, had been World Heavyweight Champion before. For a day. Kane hadn't proven at the time to be much of a draw himself, and though he'd get wildly over with the fans, Triple H saddled himself with Kane, and killed all of his credibility, as well as taking the Intercontinental Title, thereby making nothing for the Mid Card to chase, and effectively killing off the mid card, as well. No one received a worse burial treatment than Kane, and the fans caught on. Unfortunately, Triple H still had his ace in the hole, that Kane was never a proven draw. Again, another mid card name who had a chance, but was buried. And, mind you, another person not proven as a draw.
Scott Steiner- Pffft. Yeah, good fucking luck with that one. Steiner was World Champion for WCW in its dying days. Do you think that gives him any track record as to say he's a draw? Yeah, thought so. Moving on.
Booker T- See the sad state of affairs with WCW. Again, Booker T was seen as a WCW Guy; someone that went down with the ship in WCW, and because he went down with the ship, he surely shared some fault for how WCW's performance dwindled. Thus, when the Wrestlemania buyrate came in at a shockingly low number, and the reasoning was the lack of a credible main event on the Raw side, who was blamed? Yep, that would be Booker T.
Kevin Nash (and while I'm here, Shawn Michaels)- Yeah, what did Triple H care of his best friend succeeded? This was Triple at his best, keeping all of his buddies close to the top, so that they could all hog the main event spotlight. Yes, I'm including Shawn, as he really had no place in the main event, but rather was better off putting people over, which didn't happen nearly as much as people believe.
Chris Jericho. Chyaaa. You think Chris was going to be trusted as a draw after that whole Wrestlemania 18 Fiasco? Thank God they had Rock and Hogan to save Triple H's ass, but when the feud was over, and considered widely lackluster, who got the blame? That's right, Y2J himself. He wouldn't sniff a world title for a couple years afterwards.
Goldberg- Oh Goodie, a proven draw... Five years ago. Luckily, in that five year span, Goldberg had been shot to hell when it comes to credibility, and was seen as a stiff, unsafe worker, all of which may have been warranted. Still, Triple H could blame Goldberg getting old, thathe wasn't the same draw. That may have been true, but we again see Triple H getting away with horrible buy rate results.
I could go on, but the main point is that all of the proven draws were kept far the fuck away from Triple H? Stone Cold. He's now the GM. The Rock? Kept on Smackdown most the time, and even on Raw, had "one last run" with Steve Austin. Hulk Hogan? Working on Smackdown. Kurt Angle? Ditto. Brock Lesnar? I think we're all aware that Trips wanted no part of Brock Lesnar. Eddie and Chris? Kept far fucking away at all costs, though Chris would come back for his lifetime achievement, yet still keeping Raw "The Triple H Show".
The evidence is right in front of you. Triple H kept the good workers, and the better draws, far fucking away from him, and kept people close that he could blame if the numbers, typically, came out bad. I don't think I need to point out much more. Triple H knowingly sabotaged his own show to keep his own credibility