I personally think the Triple H haters are a bit rediculous, but I do think it is a bit of coincidence that under his watch, that many wrestlers pushes have fallen the way of the way side, to me it could be coincidence...but it all seems a little too coincidental. Fact is, I understand his push as a top guy, he earned it, no question, but it's like theyhad to the extra 500 miles for him. I don't get it. In late 2002 and 2003, business had gone down, and yet they continuously pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed him and many babyfaces that could've been profitable suffered because of it....after reading Jericho's book, it's pretty clear Vince didn't have confidence in alot of people. The period of 2002-04 is the only one I'd clearly call into question.....
Chris Jericho---He greatly benefited from the Last Man Standing match despite coming up on the losing end, that said however, Jericho always seemed like HHH's bitch, that said however, from the booking standpoint of many of these feuds, it did make sense for HHH to go over, but yet the buildup for some of the matches certainly left Jericho in the dust. That could be attested to bad booking. Jericho's profitably during the era didn't seem to suffer, he was always top merch mover and a top guy, and I really don't think he would've drawn any more or less regardless of how the feuds went.
Kurt Angle---Greatly benefited from the whole HHH/Steph/Kurt triangle that played out for the Summer/Fall of 2000, despite the big blowoff being a disappointment. Regardless, Kurt held his own throughout the feud, and it lead to him being champion shortly after.
Steve Austin---A lot of people called into question of HHH going over Austin at No Way Out '01, but it works logically really. Austin was in the main event with The Rock and they were about to set a PPV record, HHH needed to be built up for The Undertaker, where at this point "the streak" was starting to become a selling point. A lot of smarks balked at HHH going over Austin, but really it made perfect sense in hindsight.
HBK---Well this one speaks for itself, now look despite how we feel about "The Clique", or whatever, there's still no doubt in my mind that when they worked with each other, they'll give and take as best they can from one another. Sometimes these two did have pure magic, but I have to say, in the latter stage of the feud in 2004, it just seemed like a whole lot of Self-Indulgence, like the Hell in a Cell match.
---Now of course in 2002, this is where I think things really get screwey, Brock Lesnar is riding a wave of impact, and while it's been speculated HHH was threatened by him, many HHH aplogists say that it was just a better decision to have two belts. But this is where I agree with the haters, and say that he DID feel threatned by Lesnar, and the idea of two belts was suggested. And having the belt HANDED to him, just made for a collective groan everywhere. I've always hated that.
Rob Van Dam---This one I gotta raise my eyebrow at, Rob seemed to be cut off at the knees from the get go. The guy was over like a mofo but was also treated like one. While HHH can't be fully blamed for Rob's derailment, he certainly didn't help matter. In late 2002 it looked as if they were finally striking while the iron is hot with Rob, instead he lost, and faded out of the main event picture for the next several years. Rob has since claimed that many in the company have conspired to keep him down, including HHH, fact is, Rob needed this win to keep him profitable, to me his career did suffer because of this, that said however....it's not as if the last several months leading up to it were any help.
Kane---HHH didn't kill Kane...Katie Vick and his subsuquent unmasking nearly a year later is what killed him. But it is an odd coincidence during both horrid angles that HHH was the heel in the whole situation. Kane looked like a dope by the end and IMO has just become a waste of space since then and has never recovered.
Scott Steiner---Anyone who blames THIS one on HHH is up there ass, Steiner killed himself and has only himself to blame. The WWE gave him the chance to main event TWICE in a row, and he blew it. HHH wasn't a miracle worker at this point in his career, how could he have helped Steiner? Nobody could, that was abudantly clear during his entire WWE run.
Booker T---Booker's wave of momentum he was riding was killed in one fell swoop at Wrestlemania 19. That said however, we never really will know if he could've made it as a babyface champion with success, because the WWE didn't want to pull the trigger. Booker still had a good run later on, but for all we know, he could've meant a bit more. One of those "What if" situations.
Kevin Nash---We need not go there.
Goldberg---The WWE really fucked up here, and considering the real life heat the two had with one another, I can kind of see the haters point with this one. It is very much possible that HHH had something to do with Goldberg's ultimate demise.
SIDE NOTE: Now I'm not saying HHH said, "I'm not putting Goldberg over at Summerslam in the Chamber, and that's the end of it". See, putting the situations together, I think HHH approached it more as "Well I think this could be better for business" kind of way, and he clearly has Vince's ear, he has too, there's no question about it. I don't think he's the "refuse to job" type, but I think it's possible he may swing things in his favor by selling Vince on ideas.
Chris Benoit---A lot of people complain about this, but really they have NO basis to complain! NONE! What possibly more could've been done with Benoit?? I ask the question, WHAT? He beat HHH clean in the middle of the ring, at the biggest event of the year! He then beats HBK the next month, in the same type of match, also clean in the middle of the ring. Now I understand people say "He only feuded with HHH!". Well, really, who else was there on the heel side? He had a small feud with Kane that was good enough for what it was! And he beat HHH AGAIN at Vengeance!! Now is this HHH's fault?? No, it was the BOOKING teams fault for failing to build up anymore credible heels to face Benoit with. Why? Because they were too preoccupied with keeping HHH at the top. Eventually they did have one in Orton.....but now we're getting to that.
Randy Orton---Too me this was the biggest abomination on this list. The way the whole thing was put together and booked, and planned out had to be done by an inbred elf with no functioning brain. I don't know why anyone thought this was a good idea! Now I'm not saying HHH is to blame for this, but I have to call into question, clearly it was a bad idea from the word go, if HHH is so business smart as he says he is, then why did he not call this into question?
Batista---HHH did everything he had to do here, and it was onward and upward from there on in for Big Dave.
Ric Flair---Friends helping friends....awwwww!
John Cena---The only problem I had in this feud was HHH promos leading up to it. And to me that's the thing he ALWAYS sucked at, not putting over his opponents well at all on the mic.
(I'll skip over the D-X stuff, it was mostly with the McMahon's anyway).
King Booker---Why do people complain about this one??? It was HHH's return match....what more does anyone want?
Carlito---Just lazily booked.
Randy Orton (Part Deux)---Orton FINALLY recovered after years of trying to regain his credibility....Orton ended up being ok thankfully, but if you ask me, he got lucky.
Umaga---I agree Umaga should've at least gotten ONE win over the Gamer to stretch the feud out, but at the end of the feud, the top babyface always goes over. That's just how it is.
Edge---They really failed to go the distance with this one. Just lazy booking again...not the Gamer's fault.
John Cena (Part Deux)---The booking of Cena was questionable during the spring/summer of '08, as he always seemed to be losing "the big match", but he also suffered losses to Orton, Batista & JBL during this time, so HHH isn't to blame at all.
Jeff Hardy---I think this more had to do with the WWE's reluctance to put a belt on a guy who had two strikes against him.
Randy Orton (Part Trois)---The feud was again booked horribly, but not near as much as it was in '04, on one hand, I think Orton's momentum was killed by the McMahon's and losing the big one at Wrestlemania after all the buildup in a match that failed to deliver, and actually went on last. But on the otherhand, Orton was at his heelish best during this part of the feud in 2009, and it set the tone for him to go on to be respected by fans and become a monsterously popular babyface.
Legacy---To me Shawn & HHH did everything they could for these two, it was booked pretty paint by numbers, but in the end, the top babyfaces have to get the win, because that's just how wrestling works. To me, Dibiase just doesen't have it, and Rhodes is just starting to show it.
Sheamus---HHH did everything in his power to put this guy over....the WWE ultimately failed with it afterwards.
So in conclusion....to me in the period between 2002-04, the WWE was just too focused on HHH to really care what happened to those he faced, I do however think it's a little too coincidental that a lot of these things happened under his watch, but on the other hand, I just think it's one sided booking that ultimately killed a lot of these guys. Were some of the situations politically motivated....maybe...but all of them? Hardly.
