Why did the Authority storyline fail?

[L@RISANO]

I know it is still in power, but on a whole "the Authority Storyline" has taken an obvious backseat to "the Unification Angle" with none of the wrestlers in the Authority angle coming out with credibility.
Promo wise; HHH and Steph were burying both Big Show and Bryan(besides the YES chants).
Randy Orton looked like a weakling rather than a vicious no nonsense viper from before.
The Shield were kept as henchmen doing the Authority's bidding more than anything, with no view to them turning on their bosses.

Now it is a story which has been dropped completely whilst "the Unification Angle" has taken over.
Maybe, they have something planned so they can take a U-turn and resume it with someone else much better suited to take on the Authority and whoever is aligned with them.
Basically how I see it, only John Cena and CM Punk can stick it up to HHH and Steph in a Promo from the current full time roster.

 

[ASKane]

I think it did but only because HHH hasn't seemed to be a heel in the last few weeks. When Bryan was the main face HHH was a great heel, he was insulting Bryan, putting him in near impossible situations and abusing power to help Orton. When Orton and Cena signed the contract he looked like the neutral boss with no allegiances. I think if this storyline is to recover he needs to turn up the heel work, add to the authority group because having just Shield, Orton and Kane is too few guys and they need an over face to feud with and there are only 2 good options Bryan and Punk. It needs to build to a big ending at Wrestlemania

 

[LuckyLouie]

TO ME, it seem like Triple H is flip floping from one thing to another. If he doesn't like something he just pretends it doesn't exist. Triple H is good but he is a amazing heel WRESTLER but as a figure of authority.....he isnt close to Vince. When he comes out you expect him to do the things he does. Bully people, use his size to intimidate and just be a dick. You can just kinda tell by looking at him.
With someone like Vince you knew he was a horrible person ( not in real life ) but he did some crazy things that made you question.
But again, I think he just gives up too easy. And after a while there is a huge list of failure in a really long time.

 

[RicSpade]

I once again believe the big picture is missed here, if Triple H and the authority were the main point of the unification storyline it would make the unification angle less meaningful, now with that being said 2 weeks ago on Raw Orton tried using manipulation to say that Cena, and the authority were conspiring against him for the unification match, and then Orton wasn't happy about it, its similar what they did to the big show angle, by saying these things he is manipulating the audience to believe Cena is going to go rogue and turn heel (which more than likely will never happen) and bam still with the authority. It also sets up how the authority aren't cohesive for if/when they plan to bring Vince back to the storyline things can be set in motion.

 

[L@RISANO]

Kane also, I forgot. He hasn't had much of a role either at all. When he took off the mask, it seemed he would be a major role player in the story but it didn't come to pass.

 

[L@RISANO]

I once again believe the big picture is missed here, if Triple H and the authority were the main point of the unification storyline it would make the unification angle less meaningful, now with that being said 2 weeks ago on Raw Orton tried using manipulation to say that Cena, and the authority were conspiring against him for the unification match, and then Orton wasn't happy about it, its similar what they did to the big show angle, by saying these things he is manipulating the audience to believe Cena is going to go rogue and turn heel (which more than likely will never happen) and bam still with the authority. It also sets up how the authority aren't cohesive for if/when they plan to bring Vince back to the storyline things can be set in motion.

That is one direction they might well be going, but it will mean the real face of the company(Cena) takes a secondary role in the feud, or the authority figures(HHH and Steph) take the secondary role.
Back in the day; it was Vince as the villain with his lackeys vs the Rock/ Stone Cold...
then the Championship will also have some role to play( A big role).
How can all that be done in the same angle and keep the audience interested in everything whilst keeping The Hero(es)/ The Authority Figure(s)/ The Face of the Company/The Championship belt... all relevant.

Vince returning will mean that Wrestlemania might well be a McMahon Family control struggle...is that what the fans want to see yet again??

 

[L@RISANO]

I think it did but only because HHH hasn't seemed to be a heel in the last few weeks. When Bryan was the main face HHH was a great heel, he was insulting Bryan, putting him in near impossible situations and abusing power to help Orton. When Orton and Cena signed the contract he looked like the neutral boss with no allegiances. I think if this storyline is to recover he needs to turn up the heel work, add to the authority group because having just Shield, Orton and Kane is too few guys and they need an over face to feud with and there are only 2 good options Bryan and Punk. It needs to build to a big ending at Wrestlemania

Promo wise; I don't rate Daniel Bryan too highly as a guy who can give it on the mic as much as HHH and Steph will dish out.
CM Punk is obviously the Main Choice of Rebel Figure.
The Shield is also showing signs of breaking up(Ambrose came alone vs Punk on Smackdown), where will that leave them in the storyline?

 

[Sundar]

I agree with LuckyLoiue. I don't find HHH to be very convincing as a heel authority. He was a great heel wrestler but he is nowhere as good as Vince was as the evil boss during the Attitude Era.

The Bryan/Orton feud was also too long for my liking and there were too many screwy finishes, everything felt forced and repetitive. The Battleground PPV killed it for me. I also find Orton's viper gimmick and mic work to be boring and him teaming up with the authority didn't make sense to me considering his history with HHH and Stephanie, it was like Austin's heel turn at WM17. Had Edge still been around I think he would have been given Orton's role and would have done a far better job.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

The only two segments of that angle booked correctly IMO were the turn at Summerslam & the initial beatdown the night after with the original forming of "The Authority" with Mr. McMahon & revealing The Shield as the hired mercenaries. After that the angle went completely downhill.

Simply put the main problem from the begining was that the angle became about all the wrong people. It became about Triple H, Stephanie, Kane, The Big Show of all people & there was way too much emphasis on Randy Orton. The story really should have been about Daniel Bryan with emphasis of guys like The Shield & The Rhodes Brothers when their storyline crossed paths with the Authority storyline. & Since Orton has been playing such a cowardly heel & he is supposed to be protected as "the face of the company" he should have been seen a good amount but rarely heard & not in the ring actually wrestling all that much. He should have been the very last link in the chain of The Authority & it should have been a much bigger deal when Bryan got his hands on him & beat him for the title.

I know it's not the Attitude Era & I don't expect it to be but Bryan's storyline reminded me so much of Stone Cold & The Corporation at the start but how often did Stone Cold just get beatin' down night after night, only to get little to no revenge & need help from a bunch of other babyfaces in the process? Never! Daniel Bryan didn't explode into superstardom after Summerslam because WWE didn't want him to & the Authority storyline failed miserably because WWE allowed it to.

 

[Merkin353]

The reason it is failing is because HHH (In this gimmick) & Stephanie (just in general) are bad actors. This was suppose to feel like something worth building towards Wrestlemania yet when Stephanie & Trips come out it feels no different than when Vicky comes out. It's just the same annoying thing after another. Vince will save this because he is Vince but it needs to happen soon because the storyline is stalling out.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I don't think its failed I think it, just like Bryan, has been put on hold in order to unify the titles. I'm expecting something other than Cena winning the belt cleanly at TLC and think that's when we'll see them pick it up again.

 

[TheChampionOfTheWorld]

I think The Authority failed because they attempted to have a "Face" of the WWE. They had Randy Orton attached to it. If you think back to McMahon vs. Austin it wasn't just 1 guy going up against Austin each week or PPV. It was someone different all the time. I think if they really wanted it to work you sell everyone on Daniel Bryan being a fantastic wrestler and have him defeat everyone thrown in his way. He doesn't need to be dominant, but at the end of the day he needs to be successful. He needs to be put in a situation in which he can't win and find a way to get by. Once he wins the title have him win a series of title matches on PPV against different superstars. Then you have Triple H screw him out of the title. Say how he will never get a title match and then have him find a loop hole, win the rumble or MITB or a #1 contenders match. Get to the PPV and have the heel champ lose by DQ to set up some type of rematch. I think for it really to get over Triple H needs to get physical. Whether its getting his ass kicked or interfering in matches. Ideally leading up to a scenario where Daniel Bryan finally gets his match against his tormentor. Bryan wouldnt need to hold the belt for it to matter.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

The storyline failed because Triple H. Plain and simple.

Austin/McMahon worked because we saw Austin and Vince take turns humiliating each other week after week. But no doubt about it, Austin always looked like a badass even when he was taking a beating. And Vince always looked like the uncool crummy old boss who's really unfair.

But Triple H?? He's too cool for school. He's ALWAYS got to be the baddest guy in the ring. He picks some wrestlers, not to back him up against his enemies. Nope, he picks Orton so he can "hold his WWE title for him". He's never on the losing side of the angle. EVER. He always has to come out on top. Because he's Triple H dammit and no one can ever outsmart him.

Triple H is the executive. The mean guy in the suit. He should be AFRAID when his enemies approach the ring. He shouldn't scream at Big Show to get out of the ring because he's gonna leave him a bloody mess. No, he's supposed to run away in fear and get his croons to beat him up for him. But that's not Triple H. He's gotta be the baddest man out there.

There is no teasing Triple H getting his comeuppance. There is no suspense about how Triple H is going to deal with his enemies. Vince said he couldn't fire Austin because he was too popular and it would be detrimental for the company, so he decided to make his life a living hell instead. But Triple H?? Miz, you're fired. R-Truth? Yeah, you're fired. Cody, guess what? You're fired, I'm the boss.

Austin won the WWE title. What does Vince do? He sends his croons out to take it. He can't just reverse the decision. That would just devalue the whole point of the show. If guys can't win even when they WIN, then what's the point? Plus, in kayfabe, he can't just do all of that without consulting the Board first. That's crazy. He's the boss but he can't just do whatever he WANTS.

But not my boy Triple H. Daniel Bryan, you won the title, guess what? VACATED. Boom. I don't even know why he bothers corrupting referees. You're Triple H, you can do whatever you want, and you'll NEVER get your comeuppance. That's some GREAT TV, isn't it??

Seriously, I for one stopped watching a long time ago. I catch up on Hulu and YouTube with the things people recommend. And Triple H is NEVER one of those things.

 

[Kris Benwa]

The storyline failed because Triple H. Plain and simple.

Austin/McMahon worked because we saw Austin and Vince take turns humiliating each other week after week. But no doubt about it, Austin always looked like a badass even when he was taking a beating. And Vince always looked like the uncool crummy old boss who's really unfair.

But Triple H?? He's too cool for school. He's ALWAYS got to be the baddest guy in the ring. He picks some wrestlers, not to back him up against his enemies. Nope, he picks Orton so he can "hold his WWE title for him". He's never on the losing side of the angle. EVER. He always has to come out on top. Because he's Triple H dammit and no one can ever outsmart him.

Triple H is the executive. The mean guy in the suit. He should be AFRAID when his enemies approach the ring. He shouldn't scream at Big Show to get out of the ring because he's gonna leave him a bloody mess. No, he's supposed to run away in fear and get his croons to beat him up for him. But that's not Triple H. He's gotta be the baddest man out there.

There is no teasing Triple H getting his comeuppance. There is no suspense about how Triple H is going to deal with his enemies. Vince said he couldn't fire Austin because he was too popular and it would be detrimental for the company, so he decided to make his life a living hell instead. But Triple H?? Miz, you're fired. R-Truth? Yeah, you're fired. Cody, guess what? You're fired, I'm the boss.

Austin won the WWE title. What does Vince do? He sends his croons out to take it. He can't just reverse the decision. That would just devalue the whole point of the show. If guys can't win even when they WIN, then what's the point? Plus, in kayfabe, he can't just do all of that without consulting the Board first. That's crazy. He's the boss but he can't just do whatever he WANTS.

But not my boy Triple H. Daniel Bryan, you won the title, guess what? VACATED. Boom. I don't even know why he bothers corrupting referees. You're Triple H, you can do whatever you want, and you'll NEVER get your comeuppance. That's some GREAT TV, isn't it??

Seriously, I for one stopped watching a long time ago. I catch up on Hulu and YouTube with the things people recommend. And Triple H is NEVER one of those things.

You're looking at it from a "I hate Triple H standpoint" instead of a logic standpoint. From the top, Triple H has been on the losing end of several angles and feuds but this point was a waste of breath when spoken to a blind Triple H hater.

Logically, why in the fuck would Triple H run away scared from Big Show. Triple H is a mother fucking 13 time world champion and has beaten Big Show several times why just because he has on a suit would he all of a sudden be scared to whoop his ass again? Does that make any sense? I'll answer that for you, it does not make sense for anyone that's not a blind Triple H hater.

Vince not wanting fire Austin because he's too popular is in no way the same as firing R-Truth and The Miz. I could walk out in front of the crowd and be more over than those two firing them would not be detrimental to the business whatsoever once again, logic. Firing Cody Rhodes made him catch fire he was white hot and while it's dying down that's because of Goldust stealing the show not Triple H but what do I expect to hear from a blind Triple H hater.

Daniel Bryan really didn't win the title. He won it by way of a fast count and instead of doing what a heel does which is give the belt back to Orton he actually vacated it and gave Bryan a chance to win legitimately. But I guess you figured if the ref counts 3 in the time it usually takes him to count to 2 and a quarter then fuck it he's the champion. See the last sentence of my previous points.

My last point should be the most obvious. This Authority story was created to lead into WrestleMania or beyond obviously. Let's say the Authority was created the night after Summerslam and Bryan wins the title at the next PPV and that's it. Then what happens? If you want the heel to get their comeuppance and it be satisfying, you first have to build the heel faction up. If they would have been stopped by Bryan the following ppv that would have been a waste. I'll compare it to The Shield. The Shield was meant to be a strong heel group were they not? Well let's say they get beaten in their first match they would like fools yes? They would have no momentum right? The same applies to this faction as it applies to all heels. Triple H will get his comeuppance just chill the fuck out and wait for it to happen. Also, try putting some thought into your posts before you post...but then again most blind Triple H haters don't so I really expected no less when I read your first sentence.

 

[Softcore Holly]

There's a whole mess of reasons, but for me the top ones are

1. They were the face of the WWE while Cena was gone. That's right, not DB, definitely not Orton, but HHH/Steph. Non-wrestlers were bigger then everyone and everything, including the WWE championship, in a wrestling show. Seriously how did no one in creative see how that was going to be anything but terrible? They got the most air time, was commonly seen beginning and ending the show, was involved in all the big storylines, etc. The fact that they are so important that the WWE champion himself was reduced to a mere lapdog is just pitiful.

2. They're unbeatable villains. Classic story-telling, heroes will eventually win, villains will eventually lose, with plenty of back and forth. And the problem with the Authority is they've been pretty much unbeatable from the start. They don't like something you did? Fire you in a snap.(unless you're Big Show apparently) Don't like you as champion? Take the title away from you. Talk back at them? Get your ass kicked by the shield and/or get stuck in a 3 on 1 handicap match. Now Vince did a lot of bad stuff too, but Austin still found ways to get back at him and still get the title. Simply put it's just too 1 sided where the heroes looks like they can't win, and no one's stepping up to the plate to fight back either.

3. Burying the heroes. Whether or not DB got truly buried is a long debate, but one thing for certain is he certainly got buried on promos almost on a weekly basis for months. Like ok at first they looked like they were going for the classic "Underdog looks like he can't succeed but eventually overcomes the odds and wins" story, but since they only did half of that formula the only thing we were left with is the impact of them constantly saying "see that small ugly guy over there? Yeah he sucks and he doesn't deserve to win". Great way to try to get money WWE, by constantly making one of your main eventers seem LESS appealing.

Big Show was just a giant mess of a bad story, full of tears, nonsensical lawsuits, and all that been going on for months and all we got out of it all was a crappy title match.

4. They weren't on PPVs, and were bigger then the people that were main eventing those PPVs. The main attraction of PPVs is usually the WWE title match, right? Well the Authority spent every week saying that 1 side of the WWE title match sucks, and made the other look a weakling in comparison. This is pretty much a all of the above reason, the Authority failed since they made PPVs less appealing to watch. They're the face of the WWE, they're the biggest stars of the show, they're superior to the guys fighting for the company's top prize, yet they're not part of the PPV card.

No I don't want to see Steph wrestle, but HHH was by far the biggest villain of 2013, and the fact that he said he was too good to step in the ring with the #1 contender for the WWE title says it all. People buy PPVs to see their heroes fight the biggest villains, not just their henchmen. Even Vince got into the ring with Austin plenty of times, but nope HHH is above that.


All that said there are still ways to wrap up this storyline so at least it would have a satisfying ending. But that ending better be fantastic because so far the road getting there suuuuuucks

 

[Alastor]

The storyline failed because the hero was booked as the plucky underdog instead of the badass take-no-prisoner rage against the system hero. When the underdog keeps failing to accomplish his goal, you don't think he was being held back by circumstances. You would think he is at where he belong. It is simply the perspective of who is booked in the hero role. If it was Cena/Punk/anyone with a longer history in the main event, the perspective would be he was being held back rather than simply not getting it done.

The blame laid on HHH is just ridiculous when him and Steph were brilliant in their roles in the storyline. HHH got KOed on an episode of RAW, Steph verbally humiliated the Rhodes and Big Show. If HHH was booked like the 'coward' heel, you haters would say he was booked differently that what he once was and the hero beat the 'lame' version of HHH and didn't get the rub from knocking it out the badass HHH.

HHH can't win.

 

[Kris Benwa]

The storyline failed because the hero was booked as the plucky underdog instead of the badass take-no-prisoner rage against the system hero. When the underdog keeps failing to accomplish his goal, you don't think he was being held back by circumstances. You would think he is at where he belong. It is simply the perspective of who is booked in the hero role. If it was Cena/Punk/anyone with a longer history in the main event, the perspective would be he was being held back rather than simply not getting it done.

The blame laid on HHH is just ridiculous when him and Steph were brilliant in their roles in the storyline. HHH got KOed on an episode of RAW, Steph verbally humiliated the Rhodes and Big Show. If HHH was booked like the 'coward' heel, you haters would say he was booked differently that what he once was and the hero beat the 'lame' version of HHH and didn't get the rub from knocking it out the badass HHH. I think one way they could have made it better was have Show take the belt off Orton, Triple H get fed up with Orton losing all the time, Triple H taking the belt off Show at TLc, Bryan taking it off Triple H at the Rumble, have Punk win the Rumble and have Bryan go through hell to get to Mania through the chamber etc, Have the unification match at Mania with Bryan as WWE champ, Punk as RR winner, Cena as WHC, with The Authority trying to have anybody but Bryan win but he somehow pulls out becoming the Unified Champion and having beaten the Authority once and for all.

HHH can't win.

I agree with your Triple H statements. I had never thought of it being Bryan's "fault" but what you said makes a lot of sense. But it also sort of doesn't because Bryan has beaten Orton a couple of times. But I agree that if this was Cena or Punk someone who's had a longer tenure at the top of the mountain they would be seen as held back but with Bryan it's as if he's where he belongs and in his place. This was a great post and another (logical) perspective I hadn't considered. I still wouldn't say the story has failed though I think that eventually Bryan will have his day it just wouldn't have been a smart move to give it to him right as they were getting going.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

You're looking at it from a "I hate Triple H standpoint" instead of a logic standpoint. From the top, Triple H has been on the losing end of several angles and feuds but this point was a waste of breath when spoken to a blind Triple H hater.

Well now you're just talking out of your ass, as I am a BIG Triple H fan. I've been pitching a Triple H/CM Punk main event for Mania for years, and am still hoping that happens at WM30.

But as much as you have a distaste for mindless haters, I'm not a mindless Triple H FAN either. Just like Shawn Michaels, I recognize that one of my favorite performers can be a total douchebag when he wants to be. And this is one of those times.

The Triple H I'm a sucker for put over Batista huge in a couple of matches. He put John Cena over in a great match at Mania. And even though he always beat him in title matches, he put Jeff over just by association in their great feud.

But he's been a total waste when it comes to this storyline. All your points are completely invalid, I'm going to have to knock them out one by one.

Logically, why in the fuck would Triple H run away scared from Big Show. Triple H is a mother fucking 13 time world champion and has beaten Big Show several times why just because he has on a suit would he all of a sudden be scared to whoop his ass again? Does that make any sense? I'll answer that for you, it does not make sense for anyone that's not a blind Triple H hater.

Well for starters, wrestling is a scripted show. Dolph Ziggler can be a top contender one day and a jobber the next week. It is how it is. Triple H is a past-his-prime, has torn his quad on an average of once per year, and can hardly work 1 match a year without feeling like a truck ran him over (his words). A guy who isn't working matches should NEVER be viewed as a superior threat to the actual performers on the show.

John Laurinitis is the wrestler with most 5-star-matches in PWI history. And when he was in Triple H's position, he cowered from the wrestlers like he's supposed to. Triple H is the guy in charge of writing the show. And he should definitely NOT be writing himself as the biggest baddest man in the ring. There is literally no upside to having him upstage the actual performers each and every week. The very notion that he thinks this is okay is absurd.

Vince not wanting fire Austin because he's too popular is in no way the same as firing R-Truth and The Miz. I could walk out in front of the crowd and be more over than those two firing them would not be detrimental to the business whatsoever once again, logic. Firing Cody Rhodes made him catch fire he was white hot and while it's dying down that's because of Goldust stealing the show not Triple H but what do I expect to hear from a blind Triple H hater.

Those examples weren't meant to compare to firing Austin. They're meant to represent the idea that Triple H is limitless. Remember why Vince got canned?? Because the Board felt he was being rash with his random firings! And Triple H has only done the same thing as a heel AND as a face.

And this isn't about logic. Sure, his unlimited power can be explained in-storyline because he has the Board in his pocket (even though they already acted against him with the Big Show lawsuit). But the unlimited power is just bad for stories. Triple H being able to do anything he wants just makes you scratch your head when he doesn't. Why didn't he try reversing the tag title decision after obsessing over Cody for a while? Why didn't he fire Bryan after his massive disrespect? Why didn't he... and so on. After showing us that he holds EVERYONE's balls in his pocket, there's only two likely scenarios:

(1) He NEVER loses, which is completely boring.
(2) He finally LOSES but it's tainted by the fact that it doesn't make any sense, considering he has displayed the in-canon ability to reverse any loss.

Daniel Bryan really didn't win the title. He won it by way of a fast count and instead of doing what a heel does which is give the belt back to Orton he actually vacated it and gave Bryan a chance to win legitimately. But I guess you figured if the ref counts 3 in the time it usually takes him to count to 2 and a quarter then fuck it he's the champion. See the last sentence of my previous points.

CM Punk won the WWE title after Laurinitis interfered and cost a distraction. Vince didn't reverse the decision, he sent out Del Rio to cash in. In fact, for 3 weeks, he was selling his fear that CM Punk might win the title and he couldn't do anything about it. But Triple H?? He would have just reversed the decision immediately. Can you explain that in-canon? Sure? But the point of this thread is asking why the angle is failing, and it's because things like this shouldn't have been written in the first place. Who cares if you can explain in kayfabe why reversing the PPV finish makes sense? The point is if it's good TV, and No, it's definitely not.

My last point should be the most obvious. This Authority story was created to lead into WrestleMania or beyond obviously. Let's say the Authority was created the night after Summerslam and Bryan wins the title at the next PPV and that's it. Then what happens? If you want the heel to get their comeuppance and it be satisfying, you first have to build the heel faction up. If they would have been stopped by Bryan the following ppv that would have been a waste. I'll compare it to The Shield. The Shield was meant to be a strong heel group were they not? Well let's say they get beaten in their first match they would like fools yes? They would have no momentum right? The same applies to this faction as it applies to all heels. Triple H will get his comeuppance just chill the fuck out and wait for it to happen. Also, try putting some thought into your posts before you post...but then again most blind Triple H haters don't so I really expected no less when I read your first sentence.

Austin/McMahon went on for years, and it was on-and-off for even longer after the fact. And it was 90% of the time entertaining as hell. That was because it never felt like a one-sided fight. It was months and months of Vince trying to fight off the heroes, and even though the heroes didn't always win the titles, they would get to beat him up, humiliate him, or at least have him cower in fear as to sell the idea that his comeuppance was coming.

Triple H's comeuppance will probably come soon. I agree with that notion. But that's not the point. The journey TO that moment is what's important and it's sucking, and it's sucking hard. The feuds are completely one-sided. You only win if Triple H allows you to. If not, he either (1) reverses the decisions, (2) fires you, (3) or screws you and then moves on to the next guy. And even when the good guys WIN like the Rhodes Bros, Triple H just doesn't care anymore which completely takes the heat away from the win.

The fact is, Triple H is booking it so he never comes off as weak, cowardly, lame, uncool or non-badass. He still wants to be the most awesome guy in the ring even though he's playing the part of boss from hell. He can't help it. It's just who he is, and it's detrimental to the product.

 

[d_henderson1810]

There's a whole mess of reasons, but for me the top ones are

1. They were the face of the WWE while Cena was gone. That's right, not DB, definitely not Orton, but HHH/Steph. Non-wrestlers were bigger then everyone and everything, including the WWE championship, in a wrestling show. Seriously how did no one in creative see how that was going to be anything but terrible? They got the most air time, was commonly seen beginning and ending the show, was involved in all the big storylines, etc. The fact that they are so important that the WWE champion himself was reduced to a mere lapdog is just pitiful.

2. They're unbeatable villains. Classic story-telling, heroes will eventually win, villains will eventually lose, with plenty of back and forth. And the problem with the Authority is they've been pretty much unbeatable from the start. They don't like something you did? Fire you in a snap.(unless you're Big Show apparently) Don't like you as champion? Take the title away from you. Talk back at them? Get your ass kicked by the shield and/or get stuck in a 3 on 1 handicap match. Now Vince did a lot of bad stuff too, but Austin still found ways to get back at him and still get the title. Simply put it's just too 1 sided where the heroes looks like they can't win, and no one's stepping up to the plate to fight back either.

3. Burying the heroes. Whether or not DB got truly buried is a long debate, but one thing for certain is he certainly got buried on promos almost on a weekly basis for months. Like ok at first they looked like they were going for the classic "Underdog looks like he can't succeed but eventually overcomes the odds and wins" story, but since they only did half of that formula the only thing we were left with is the impact of them constantly saying "see that small ugly guy over there? Yeah he sucks and he doesn't deserve to win". Great way to try to get money WWE, by constantly making one of your main eventers seem LESS appealing.

Big Show was just a giant mess of a bad story, full of tears, nonsensical lawsuits, and all that been going on for months and all we got out of it all was a crappy title match.

4. They weren't on PPVs, and were bigger then the people that were main eventing those PPVs. The main attraction of PPVs is usually the WWE title match, right? Well the Authority spent every week saying that 1 side of the WWE title match sucks, and made the other look a weakling in comparison. This is pretty much a all of the above reason, the Authority failed since they made PPVs less appealing to watch. They're the face of the WWE, they're the biggest stars of the show, they're superior to the guys fighting for the company's top prize, yet they're not part of the PPV card.

No I don't want to see Steph wrestle, but HHH was by far the biggest villain of 2013, and the fact that he said he was too good to step in the ring with the #1 contender for the WWE title says it all. People buy PPVs to see their heroes fight the biggest villains, not just their henchmen. Even Vince got into the ring with Austin plenty of times, but nope HHH is above that.


All that said there are still ways to wrap up this storyline so at least it would have a satisfying ending. But that ending better be fantastic because so far the road getting there suuuuuucks

I don't have a problem when someone says on screen that someone else sucks. That is a heel being a heel to a face. But, if they do it, the person being told they suck MUST get their revenge, and prove everyone wrong.

I didn't have a problem with Triple H and Steph telling Daniel Bryan that he was too short, didn't look right, was championship material etc, because it gets the fans to side with Bryan. DB still produces world-class matches, yet doesn't get respect from the authorities.

The problem was, that they didn't let Bryan have "his day in the sun". The point of having a heel, especially an authority figure, telling the face that they are not championship material, is for the face to ultimately prove them wrong. It gets the fans behind the persecuted wrestler, and allows him to grow, as he proves his detractors wrong. But the second part MUST happen for the first part to be successful.

Mr McMahon told Austin that he wasn't championship material, as he didn't "act and carry himself as a champion". Guess what? It lit a fire, got people behind SCSA, and hating Vince, and Austin "got his day" by beating McMahon's handpicked champion, The Rock, at Wrestlemania 15, via way of beating up Vince himself in the cage at "St. Valentine's Massacre" '99. So it worked.

Triple H kept saying that Bryan wasn't a "champion". Well, it turns out, storyline wise, Triple H is right, because Bryan failed to prove anyone wrong. That is why the storyline failed, not because DB was told he was no good, but because he didn't get the chance to prove that he was.

 

[shafe_41]

The story failed because the story is old and tired.

How many more "overcoming authority" storylines are we going to have to sit through after Austin/McMahon set the bar almost impossibly high 15 years ago? It was too convoluted. The element of Big Show over the 3 month period was pointless. Stephanie was/is just plain annoying. I'd always turn the TV on when she was on the program in previous years. Now, it's painful listening to her talk. It was just boring. The only element I like throughout the whole thing is Kane. But he needs something different like going by Mr. Jacobs or something like that. He could still wrestle, perform, but that would re-invent him away from his mask. Until this, you could have told me Kane wasn't going to make it another year and I would have bought it. But the suit and tie and ridding himself of the mask is a very nice change being the right-hand man to Triple H. It was only a matter of time when he re-debuted with the mask less than 2 years ago that it would wear old. I think the idea of the masked wrestler is also a little dated with the exception of the Mexican lucha libre wrestlers.

And every single week when it's like... 5 on 1 or 6 on 1 against Bryan, I can only watch that so many times before I just don't care anymore. That storyline wore think within the first 2 weeks for me. Not because I want to say "toldja so," but because the ending of each segment was the same. But from mid-September other than the 2 non-finishes for the PPV matches, nothing in the story changed or evolved. It was just bland and dull. For me, that's really all there is to it.

 

[Kris Benwa]

You've haven't explained how any of my points were invalid you just said how they do or can logically make sense to the story.

John Laurinitis is the wrestler with most 5-star-matches in PWI history. And when he was in Triple H's position, he cowered from the wrestlers like he's supposed to.

Johnny Ace was also old as shit and didn't just beat Brock Lesnar at Mania and have a competitive bout with him at Extreme Rules. Triple H has torn his quad twice. Dolph Ziggler is not on the level of perennial main eventer and 13 time world champ Triple H. He's past his prime but not as much as Big Show would be AND he's shown he's still fully capable of kicking ass.

Why didn't he try reversing the tag title decision after obsessing over Cody for a while? Why didn't he fire Bryan after his massive disrespect?

While you can't compare firing R-Truth and The Miz to SCSA you can compare Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan is uber popular and firing him would be detrimental to the company so he was jerking him around. And to answer about the Rhodes he gave the Shield multiple rematches and punished The Big Show for interfering in one of the matches they had. And the only decision he reversed was when the outcome of the match was illegitimate that is not the case with the tag title bouts.

Austin/McMahon went on for years, and it was on-and-off for even longer after the fact. And it was 90% of the time entertaining as hell. That was because it never felt like a one-sided fight. It was months and months of Vince trying to fight off the heroes, and even though the heroes didn't always win the titles, they would get to beat him up, humiliate him, or at least have him cower in fear as to sell the idea that his comeuppance was coming.

This storyline has been going for less than 4 months. Cody Rhodes and Goldust already gave him a measure of comeuppance. He's been knocked out by Show and hit with a running knee. And again Vince was not an active competitor that's won 13 world titles.

Do you watch Dragon Ball Z? Would the resolution of the Frieza saga been more heart warming if he was an evil unstoppable tyrant who after a ton of assholeness was finally stopped by an unlikely hero rising to the occasion or if they would have traded wins back and forth and then for some reason one win means more than the other and they win? It's classic booking bro it's everywhere from movies, to tv to books. The end is always sweet but it's sweeter if the villain looks unstoppable.

You just have to let it all play out.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

You've haven't explained how any of my points were invalid you just said how they do or can logically make sense to the story.



Johnny Ace was also old as shit and didn't just beat Brock Lesnar at Mania and have a competitive bout with him at Extreme Rules. Triple H has torn his quad twice. Dolph Ziggler is not on the level of perennial main eventer and 13 time world champ Triple H. He's past his prime but not as much as Big Show would be AND he's shown he's still fully capable of kicking ass.

While you can't compare firing R-Truth and The Miz to SCSA you can compare Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan is uber popular and firing him would be detrimental to the company so he was jerking him around. And to answer about the Rhodes he gave the Shield multiple rematches and punished The Big Show for interfering in one of the matches they had. And the only decision he reversed was when the outcome of the match was illegitimate that is not the case with the tag title bouts.

This storyline has been going for less than 4 months. Cody Rhodes and Goldust already gave him a measure of comeuppance. He's been knocked out by Show and hit with a running knee. And again Vince was not an active competitor that's won 13 world titles.

Do you watch Dragon Ball Z? Would the resolution of the Frieza saga been more heart warming if he was an evil unstoppable tyrant who after a ton of assholeness was finally stopped by an unlikely hero rising to the occasion or if they would have traded wins back and forth and then for some reason one win means more than the other and they win? It's classic booking bro it's everywhere from movies, to tv to books. The end is always sweet but it's sweeter if the villain looks unstoppable.

You just have to let it all play out.

Frieza was freaking out the WHOLE SAGA, something which Triple H has never done. Even freaking Krillin got to cut off his tail. If Daniel Bryan comes out next week, beats him up and cuts off his tie on his way to a future match where Triple H gets the upper-hand, which in turn leads to his comeuppance much later, then YES, it would be analogous to Frieza's saga.

But as Holly and I have said below, the story has been completely one-sided 100% of the time.

And seriously, you keep defending that he vacated the title at NoC because the outcome was illegitimate, but like I said, it doesn't matter if it can be explained away in-storyline, it SUCKS FOR TV. Seeing Bryan get screwed again, and again, before being dumped down the card is NOT ENTERTAINING. (And the in-canon story is that he corrupted the referee beforehand. It was clear when the referee came out and said he hatched the plan with Bryan.)

Your distinguishing of Johnny Ace and Triple H is silly. Again, it's a scripted show. Chris Jericho can beat Austin and Rock in one night and still suffer a legit loss to a ballroom dancer having his first match at WrestleMania. If you are arguing that once a badass, you should always be a badass, then that's just absurd. The story commands for Triple H to not be a badass anymore and to start being a WRESTLING BAD GUY who is wrong most of the time and gets humiliated on the reg. But he wants to keep being a badass because his ego doesn't allow him to be the Mr. McMahon/Eric Bischoff/John Laurinitis of this story. He wants to be Evolution Triple H, but the problem is that he's no longer a competitor and it's just not practical to have him be a dominant threatening heel for so long without showing any type o vulnerability.

 

[Softcore Holly]

I don't have a problem when someone says on screen that someone else sucks. That is a heel being a heel to a face. But, if they do it, the person being told they suck MUST get their revenge, and prove everyone wrong.

I didn't have a problem with Triple H and Steph telling Daniel Bryan that he was too short, didn't look right, was championship material etc, because it gets the fans to side with Bryan. DB still produces world-class matches, yet doesn't get respect from the authorities.

The problem was, that they didn't let Bryan have "his day in the sun". The point of having a heel, especially an authority figure, telling the face that they are not championship material, is for the face to ultimately prove them wrong. It gets the fans behind the persecuted wrestler, and allows him to grow, as he proves his detractors wrong. But the second part MUST happen for the first part to be successful.

Mr McMahon told Austin that he wasn't championship material, as he didn't "act and carry himself as a champion". Guess what? It lit a fire, got people behind SCSA, and hating Vince, and Austin "got his day" by beating McMahon's handpicked champion, The Rock, at Wrestlemania 15, via way of beating up Vince himself in the cage at "St. Valentine's Massacre" '99. So it worked.

Triple H kept saying that Bryan wasn't a "champion". Well, it turns out, storyline wise, Triple H is right, because Bryan failed to prove anyone wrong. That is why the storyline failed, not because DB was told he was no good, but because he didn't get the chance to prove that he was.

I'm not sure what the exact phrase is but it's along the lines of: Say the same thing enough times and people will believe that it's right.

Like I said, I thought that they were saying that he sucks so it would be bigger if he proved them wrong. The problem besides the fact they ended up being right was them constantly kept saying that he sucks, kept making points why he sucks, on what felt like every Raw for months. It's only natural that some people will start thinking "Huh, HHH might have a point there about this guy sucking". Simply put, I thought they just seriously overdid it, especially since they were the untouchable people in power DB couldn't get to. Thing about Vince was he wasn't untouchable, he took more stunners then I could count. If Vince was saying Austin sucks Austin would tell him to shut up. But DB can't do that, he literally has to stand there silently while HHH/Steph keeps making their point on why he sucks, which in turn made what they were saying seem more right since he's not arguing against them.

Really they only had 1 job, and that was to let people know they didn't want him as champion. Anything after that is just more detrimental then anything else, especially when there was no payoff.

 

[Kris Benwa]

Frieza was freaking out the WHOLE SAGA, something which Triple H has never done. Even freaking Krillin got to cut off his tail. If Daniel Bryan comes out next week, beats him up and cuts off his tie on his way to a future match where Triple H gets the upper-hand, which in turn leads to his comeuppance much later, then YES, it would be analogous to Frieza's saga.

But as Holly and I have said below, the story has been completely one-sided 100% of the time.

And seriously, you keep defending that he vacated the title at NoC because the outcome was illegitimate, but like I said, it doesn't matter if it can be explained away in-storyline, it SUCKS FOR TV. Seeing Bryan get screwed again, and again, before being dumped down the card is NOT ENTERTAINING. (And the in-canon story is that he corrupted the referee beforehand. It was clear when the referee came out and said he hatched the plan with Bryan.)

Your distinguishing of Johnny Ace and Triple H is silly. Again, it's a scripted show. Chris Jericho can beat Austin and Rock in one night and still suffer a legit loss to a ballroom dancer having his first match at WrestleMania. If you are arguing that once a badass, you should always be a badass, then that's just absurd. The story commands for Triple H to not be a badass anymore and to start being a WRESTLING BAD GUY who is wrong most of the time and gets humiliated on the reg. But he wants to keep being a badass because his ego doesn't allow him to be the Mr. McMahon/Eric Bischoff/John Laurinitis of this story. He wants to be Evolution Triple H, but the problem is that he's no longer a competitor and it's just not practical to have him be a dominant threatening heel for so long without showing any type o vulnerability.

Freiza was in no real danger until Goku turned super saiyan. He'd face a little "trouble" then go to his next form and the saga was preceded by centuries of tyranny that counts for part of the story making it sweeter for everyone in the universe. What is absurd is that someone who beat Lesnar at WrestleMania and Big Show several times throughout the years should all of a sudden be a scared pussy because he has a suit on. LOL I'm not even sure how that makes sense

Triple H is still in good enough shape to at least put up a fight against Show if not beat him why run? And you're acting like Triple H hasn't been humiliated he got knocked out by Big Show, Kneed in the mug by Bryan, interrupted and what not in segments with Big Show driving a truck in etc.

I was defending he vacated the title for a reason because you're arguing that he reversed the decision willy nilly and thus can do so for no reason. I see where you're coming from but the comeuppance is coming and he hasn't been a dominating heel threat for so long

And again it doesn't make sense for him to get pushed around by guys he shouldn't be afraid of. I'd be more upset if all of sudden Triple H started running away from everybody. Vince McMahon, Bischoff, Laurinaitis during their time as heel authorities were normal people who would easily get their asses kicked by the wrestler Triple H is not the same way.

Bryan in that spot was never entertaining to begin with IMO. It was cool to see him win the belt and the cash in was cool but Orton and Bryan is not an interesting or entertaining matchup. Triple H is not the reason that the angle isn't entertaining nor should he be blamed like Alastor said.

In conclusion, it makes no sense for Triple H to play that kind of role because he's not that kind of guy. The role he is playing is that unstoppable evil tyrant therefore when he finally does get stopped it will be a great moment. While that moment hasn't happened yet I still believe that it will.

 

[Softcore Holly]

The moment will happen, but considering his role as the unstoppable evil tyrant the way it happens will be extremely far fetched, at best. See here's the thing about Dragon Ball, Bryan can't scream really loud and magically get the power to take down HHH. Actually there's nothing Bryan, Punk, Show, Cena, or any member of the roster can do to take down HHH.

See least in Dragon Ball we're used to people doing the whole power-up by a crapton to defeat the previously unstoppable bad guy, if anything we kinda expect it. But in WWE we're used to people wrestling to take down the bad guy, and HHH's not wrestling nor has any reason to. So they going to have to think of some painfully stupid reason to get him to wrestle which the WWE stars couldn't do before, and a even more painfully stupid reason to make him losing lead to the Authority's downfall.

Who knows, maybe it'll all be worth it. Although looking back at the last 4 months it's very hard to be confident about that.