HHH/HBK/Undertaker Segment

[Loveless]

It's an interesting situation for the various ways it can play out but realistically

Undertaker is winning

Once you've established that fact, you've got the matter of how HHH loses.

Clean - In which case you've nowhere to go with the story
Unclean - Shawn's involvement

Now this is complicated because I don't see a clean finish but at the same time, Shawns involvement would in almost all circumstances require him to come out of retirement. And so another 2 possibilities spring up

Shawn costs HHH the match, ends his kayfabe retirement and we get the return of HBK.

or (and this is where I think it's heading)

Shawn puts HHH out of his misery. If you can imagine this match being an absolute war with HHH being destroyed but refusing to lose, I could imagine Shawn putting the final nail in his coffin as an act of mercy and the last words HHH would hear before HBK kicks his head off are "It's time"

 

[DForce]

That was an awesome segment. I loved how Taker jumped on Michaels case, and I especially loved how he caught Shawn's superkick. I believe what Shawn was suppose to say was that he's special guest referee. But what made the entire thing interesting was that they all came off as heels. For example, if Triple H was to cement a victory because HBK was ref, that would be a heel tactic. Taker seemed heel by jumping on Shawn's case. Shawn seemed heel by turning his back on HHH. Good stuff.

 

[TRIZZY]

come on we all no there is positively no way triple H wins at mania , so there segment on raw was good, but all i got outta it was those three are very good actors!

 

[Kaelthes]

it was a great segment and the buildup to wm 27 is better due to this segment.I was truly in it .... it had so storytelling between the three!!!!!!!!! i still wonder when hunter asked shawn to say it he just didn't say anything that's something suspense creator!!!!!!! now, we all should wait if hbk gets involved or not in this interesting match!!!!!!!!!

I really did enjoy the promo... I had thought to myself before it all started, "what if Shawn comes out?" and sure enough, I heard the music... I was happy to see him, do not get me wrong... His mic work was fantastic as always, and he got a good reaction from the crowd.. BUT in the end, I cannot see Shawn coming out of "retirement"...

there can be two things :

1. HBK betrays hunter to avoid him from breaking the streak

2. HBK helps hunter in an effort to end the streak which i seriously doubt!!!!!!

I cannot see option one happening.. I think that there needs to be a clean finish to the match... Having Shawn help Triple H, would require Shawn to come out for a few weeks, talking about why he did what he did, and have Triple H feud with him for a while...

Option Two, again I do not see happening... I do not think Undertaker would loose the streak to Triple H... He is one of the biggest icons in all of wrestling, understood. HOWEVER (IF) the streak was to be broken, wouldn't WWE put someone young to put the streak out? It could definitely put the young star over, and elevate them very far....


I CAN see Shawn involved somehow... Just not making an uncleaned finish, for any side... Shawn seems to be on both sides, (Undertaker and Triple H)

I also think around WM time, the Raw GM will be revealed, and have some part in something...

 

[EStreet]

Thought this segment was awesome. I can now 100percent see HBK getting involved in the match, especially with it being no holds barred.

I actually loved the HBK appearance as I thought it was weird how they were basically reenacting the first stare down from 6 weeks ago. I like the doubt placed in HHH now because while Taker hasn't physically done anything, we have seen HHH bury two guys in Shemus and DeBiase to prove he is vicious. Now he appears to be cerebral and yet have doubt that he doesn't think he can win - classic Undertaker mind games. That goes way back to how he used to control people and be able to win matches before they even started. I like that they brought up his old school character by talking about his history. Yeah he isn't great on the Mic, but he never has had to be and yet still has had some of the most memorable non-wrestling moments in E history.

 

[reddevil69]

No one seems to be mentioning the potential problem that this poses for the HBK induction into the HOF on Saturday.

With Taker and HHH being the old school proponents of kayfabe that they are, (Taker won't even appear on camera at the HOF banquets out of character, he is always behind the curtain with Vince), how is Hunter, who Michaels has said is one of the people he's considering having induct him this Saturday, going to go out and induct his friend with a smile on his face just days after he was basically disrespected by him, or at least abandoned of any support for his match on Sunday, on the eve of, by his own words "greatest challenge"?

If we're to believe, from a storyline point, that Hunter is still the cerebral assassin and hasn't gone soft like HBK, and will stop at nothing to end the streak, he really shouldn't be in a good mood and ready to toast his friend on that night should he? He should be holed up in his room, focusing on nothing more than beating the Undertaker at Mania.

Or at the very least, sitting in the audience with little expression.

This is not like when Flair retired and was inducted and Shawn and him were all buddy buddy going in to it....this is one guy telling his best friend that he has no business thinking that he can accomplish something that he, himself could not.

 

[The Ace of Knaves]

And *you* call people sheep and marks? Seriously? Wow...

Regardless, the segment was awesome and exactly what this feud needed. We have been getting exactly the same promos from both men for the past several weeks. Streak. Blah blah blah. Die trying. Blah blah blah. It had become bland and wasn't going anywhere. Shawn Michaels was the catalyst to make this interesting again.

The problem with the angle to this point has been the lack of heat. There's only so much that respecting your opponent and what not can bring to a feud. Without it getting personal, it's just rather dull. Remember the mind games between Taker and Michaels leading up to their two Mania matches? How awesome was it seeing Shawn Michaels imitate the Undertaker in an all white getup? Or have him come out from under the ring to cost him the title. Things like that made the feud interesting.

HHH and Taker giving the same promo for the past several weeks, not so much. But Shawn Michaels coming out, tossing his two cents in, stirring the pot, and essentially telling Hunter that he can't win? That sold the match. HBK doesn't need to, nor should he, be involved in the match itself. He's done his part. They've written this perfectly. They can easily have an angle where HBK sticks around after Mania, or doesn't.

Lastly, think about the last images we've seen before their Mania match. HHH standing in the ring, a look of shock and disbelief on his face as his best friend abandons him, followed up by the Undertaker smirking and tipping his hat. Simple, effective, and so much more interesting.

I agree, I just hope Taker/HHH at WM 27 has not completely lost their chance to work the crowd with their in-ring psychology. I mean, with Taker & HHH current condition there's no way they're gonna have a bloody brawl, they'll have to rely to their in-ring psychology to work the crowd and school the entire roster like Hogan Andre at WM 3, Hogan/Warrior at WM 6, Rock/Austin at WM 15, 17, and 19, Rock/Hogan at WM 18, and also Taker/HBK at WM 25 & 26. All those matches delivered thanks to insane in-ring psychology and no distraction.

With HBK last night, I think it's obvious the crowd won't just 1000% go into the match cause many of them will be expecting an interference.

I truly hope Taker/HHH do the impossible and pull out full in-ring psychology to fully work the crowd despite having a possible interference from HBK like Hogan/Rock did at WM 18 despite the fear of NWO interfering the match.

 

[cynic]

yeah this really was a great promo from all parties involved. No shouting and yelling in each others faces, just an intense face to face from HHH and Taker.
I loved Hunter's little nostalgia piece about how he looked up to Taker when he entered WWE and the mutual respect bit helped build this as a battle between two gladiators which I actually prefer to them trying to insert a last minute grudge into it.
Up until last night, I actually had little interest in this match but the staredown between HBK and HHH after he left the ring definitely has me more curious as to how this will play out now

 

[d_glenn100]

I don't know if someone already stated this but what if HHH gets just as close as HBK did to end the streak but fails also, Taker wins, HBK comes out and helps HHH up and hugs him raises his arm up in celebration and then WHAM!!! Sweetchin music! He yells over HHH beaten and battered body and says, "Don't EVER call me SOFT, EVER!!! That way "The Streak" stays in tact, HBK has his involvement and doesn't have to come out of retirement because it will be his way of paying back HHH for calling him soft and HBK will have another Wrestlemania Moment....

 

[Bobholly39]

Here is what will happen at mania:


HBK will come out BUT:

1. He will NOT cost Taker the streak

2. He will NOT cost HHH the match

2 possible scenarios:

1. (most likely). he comes out, Superkicks Taker...HHH is happy, thinks he's about to win...then HBK superkicks him too (because he doesn't want HHH winning when he couldn't, or bc he doesn't want to betray the integrity of mania/the streak with a cheap finish). Both men laid ou...HBK leaves..match resumes and someone wins (prolly taker)

2. HBK picks a side. Comes out, and tries to help HHH or Taker win...but it backfires, and the other person kicks out, and match continues.



They are not going to ruin a streak match by having HBK cost someone the match. They can have him involved, make for a great OMG moment...without him being directly involved in the end result.

 

[fucenaHHH999]

This is how I belive its going to go down

HHH and Taker are at the end of the match Hunter has hit a few finishers and taker hits the tombstone(HHH kicks out) Taker goes for a second tombstone and hits it(HHH kicks out) Taker hits a crazy tombstone like the last one to shawn last year and again (HHH kicks out!!!) you taker look down at the broken HHH who just wont lose then Shawn starts to run to the ring Taker snaps back looks lifts up his arms and flames pop up at shawn making him scared to attempt to hit the ring Taker does the throat cut looking into shawns eyes and hit the 4th tombstone to end HHH and go 19-0.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I'm genuinely wondering this. The build up into their match at WrestleMania up until now has sucked, no question. They thought the feud would sell itself on name value alone - and it didn't. Up until last night, all they'd done was stare at each other silently and come out and say, "Hey, check out this video package of my career"; which I still can't make head nor tail of.

However, last night was, dare I say it, pretty good. As they should have done all along, they brought in their history to the feud. They provided actual fucking motivation to why they were fighting instead of "herr derr, nobody's as good as us except maybe all those guys that have unavenged wins over us." Shawn Michaels was mentioned, though probably only by virtue of the fact that he was standing right there and so the obvious hook to hang the feud on couldn't be avoided any more. Not even by the most obtuse writing. Mind you, they still both seem to have forgotten their match at WrestleMania 17.

So, help me out. I'm struggling. Did business just pick up or is it too little, too late?

 

[stasheroo]

I definitely enjoyed the segment last night and felt that it was the best thing they've done so far.

That said, this match - more than any other example - shows the poor job of planning done by the WWE 'braintrust'.

Let's call this match what it is - Plan C.

A rehash of a decade old match put together because they couldn't set up anything better.

They made this year's version a no-holds used match to hide both wrestlers' limitations and have forbidden any talk of this being the 'Wrestlemania Rewind Match' it clearly is.

I believe that this is one of the worst-planned Wrestlemanias I can remember from the Jersey Troll doll to Cena/Rock overshadowing the WWE Championship, to matches being added the week before the event, I feel this one has been poorly-booked and in some cases thrown together.

For me, this match is the clearest example.

 

[Notorious718]

This is more or less actually what I was thinking as I was watching the promo last night. That said, I really enjoyed the promo last night. Of course, considering the big name match for Wrestlemania has been hyped by mostly video packages that really says little. But the promo itself was very good in my view and featured some of the best mic work I've heard from both men in awhile. It got more excited for HHH/Taker than I've been for the past month. I really wish that the buildup had more face to face confrontations between the two instead of video packages highlighting their careers. After last night's promo, I only wonder what role HBK will play at Wrestlemania if any. Will he be at ringside? Will he cost HHH the match? Quite a few questions running through my mind as I type this.

But I'm still more excited for Daniel Bryan/Sheamus.

 

[nbda1997]

While I thought the RAW segment was definitely enjoyable, I still have a hard time being excited about Undertaker vs. HHH. I'm sure they'll have a great match, but there's no way it will be able to top Taker/HBK I or II.

In a sense, WWE did this to themselves (or maybe it was Taker acting on his own). They kind of made a high-stakes bet that they could lure Brock out of UFC to do 'Mania, but not only is he not really interested, but Dana White is not the kind of guy who is going to let any of his talent out of their contract without raising some serious Kane (no pun intended) for everyone involved.

Even though HHH and Undertaker haven't faced each other much since the Attitude era, it still feels stale for them to be in a big match together. Its very strange. I guess Taker/HBK raised the bar so high for The Streak gimmick that it's almost impossible to live up to people's expectations.

 

[gmanversion1]

If the streal ends, it SHOULD NOT be HHH... or any other established guy, it should be only someone right on the cusp or main event, who would get a major rub beating Taker at Mania. This would set whoever up for a WWE/World first time reign at of before the next Mania.

If HHH does win, you know that the Triple H-aters will be saying his ego and being married to the bosses daughter got in the way... I know I will

 

[The Ace of Knaves]

In all honesty, NO. WWE could have built this fed for a month ala Taker vs HBK at WM 25 as two legends colliding for the first time in 10 years but they chose not to and focus more on Cole vs King. When all is said and done, Taker vs HHH at WM 27 will be remembered as one of the best Wrestlemania rematch with the worst build up while Cole vs King will be remembered as the match that made Taker vs Gonzales looked like 1993 Match of The Year despite the insane build up.

 

[lenguy]

I would say it redeemed it a bit, the whole feud up until that point was particularly nonexistent and hyped by video packages alone. Sam was right, they tried to sell this match by name alone and I say it fell flat on its face.

The promo last night was good, they stepped up their games a bit in order to make up for a pretty shady build. Adding in HBK really was like the icing on the cake, it added that extra layer to to feud and match that makes it worth checking out. If anything I thought Shawn completely made that promo worth watching last night. While HHH delivered a stirring and honest speech and then Taker delivers core shaking words to both HHH and Michaels. It was just Shawn who made the story work, from how he addressed Hunter at the beginning while looking at Taker and saying"what in the world*turns to hunter..makes you think you can do what I couldn't"? That was powerful and a great way to start things off. Then when Taker told everybody that he "humbled" Shawn, you could see the story in Michaels face.

The whole promo managed to deliver a good story and tons of excitement. I especially loved the end where Michaels was standing outside the ring whispering to Hunter.."you can't win...you can't win" all the way to Takers little grin and chuckle and tip of the hat..leaving HHH alone in the darkened ring.

Overall it was a very powerful segment that was by far the best part of this whole angle but I still wouldn't say it makes up for the entire lackluster of a feud that these two have been in. You can't just say...LOOK AT THIS VIDEO PACKAGE...yeah....Take that. It just isn't as effective without some actual storyline behind it.

 

[Zackary Michaels]

It's an interesting situation for the various ways it can play out but realistically

Undertaker is winning

Once you've established that fact, you've got the matter of how HHH loses.

Clean - In which case you've nowhere to go with the story
Unclean - Shawn's involvement

Now this is complicated because I don't see a clean finish but at the same time, Shawns involvement would in almost all circumstances require him to come out of retirement. And so another 2 possibilities spring up

Shawn costs HHH the match, ends his kayfabe retirement and we get the return of HBK.

or (and this is where I think it's heading)

Shawn puts HHH out of his misery. If you can imagine this match being an absolute war with HHH being destroyed but refusing to lose, I could imagine Shawn putting the final nail in his coffin as an act of mercy and the last words HHH would hear before HBK kicks his head off are "It's time"

That would be epic. I can imagine it now. Before the match, Shawn Michaels warns Triple H about how powerful the Undertaker can be at WrestleMania. Triple H tells him that he doesn't need his help and that only he can beat the Undertaker.

During the match, the Undertaker and Triple H completely destroy each other. Toward the end, Taker has Triple H in the same predicament that Michaels was in last year. It's obvious that he's going to win. Taker hits him with a thunderous Tombstone. Before he gets the pin though, Michaels runs out and nails Taker with some SCM. Then he looks over to Triple H and helps him to his feet. Triple H says that he can do this on his own. Michaels tells him that he can't and that it's his time. He then nails him with some SCM. Undertaker gets to his feet first and nails Triple H with one final Tombstone. Michaels pulls Triple H out of the ring and helps him to the back while the Undertaker celebrates 19-0.

Triple H then comes out on Raw the next night and deliberates retiring after the events of WM. Someone comes out to interrupt him and Triple H then enters a feud with them. He then works a part time schedule until he officially calls it quits.

 

[Serrated Viper]

My train of thought is that HBK will interfere and may Sweet chin both Triple H and Taker. My reasons for thinking that is he wouldnt want Triple H doing the thing he couldnt and hitting taker because of his words from last nights RAW. Obviously its a no DQ match so you'd think that some one needs to be pinned to win, but with taker new intro 'Aint no grave that can hold this body down' and Triple H saying 'Ill die trying' could they both end up in a state where they are both unable to compete? Taker's streak would still carry on 18-0 and Triple H wouldnt be that one to end it but should retain creditblity? (Sorry for spelling dislexic)

 

[Notorious718]

It was a good segment and I wish more of the buildup going into this match consisted of confrontations like this as opposed to video packages highlighting the careers of both men and the standard "YOU WILL REST IN PEACE" promo. That said, pretty good mic work from both men and the (somewhat inevitable) appearance of HBK made it even better. After last night's segment, I can safely say I am looking forward to the match much more than I was last week. With HBK seemingly now in the picture, new questions arise. Will HBK get involved at Mania? What will his role be? What did he mean when he mouthed "you can't win" to HHH last night? Will he turn on him? So many questions which adds to the unpredictability of the match to an extent.

Of course, that doesn't mean this will alter my prediction of Taker coming out on top.

 

[Decarow]

I actually like it. It goes to show this feud isn't more than Triple H wanting to end the streak. Why should they have to meet every week just to acknowledge that?

You have to remember, both guys have been gone for a while. They don't want to risk anything before getting into the ring at Mania. I'm personally ready for it.

HHH and Taker 2 is going to be an amazing match. The little build is all about mystery.

And worst planned Mania my ass! Vince has been planning this since the summer, where he's been stating as wanting to break a million buys. Mania is known for having celebrity involvement, like The Rock and Snooki. Watch the dvd about Mania they just released and you'll realize it's not about wrestling, it's about entertainment. The media is going gaga over Snooki and the Rock being in the ring.

 

[Ravnos666]

The match a 'Mania will be slow paced... Taker face Triple H, not HBK... I liked a lot the promo last night. It makes the match more credible with the involvement of HBK... Will he turn heel of HHH? Why not! But I don't think so...

 

[stasheroo]

I actually like it. It goes to show this feud isn't more than Triple H wanting to end the streak. Why should they have to meet every week just to acknowledge that?

You have to remember, both guys have been gone for a while. They don't want to risk anything before getting into the ring at Mania. I'm personally ready for it.

HHH and Taker 2 is going to be an amazing match. The little build is all about mystery.

And worst planned Mania my ass! Vince has been planning this since the summer, where he's been stating as wanting to break a million buys. Mania is known for having celebrity involvement, like The Rock and Snooki. Watch the dvd about Mania they just released and you'll realize it's not about wrestling, it's about entertainment. The media is going gaga over Snooki and the Rock being in the ring.

I sure hope 'the media' will be shelling out the money to buy it then!

If this is the best that this company can do with the time they've had to prepare, they're in trouble.

And show me one person stupid enough to order this thing just because The Jersey Troll will be there - just one!

Celebrity hosts never did anything for RAW ratings and they don't for pay-per-view buyrates either.

And you be sure to let me know as soon as this event breaks a million buys.

That won't come close to happening.

 

[darbare]

this is the way wrestling is....its purely using what talent there is available or what talent can be lured for the right price in any circumstance....this is the way wrestling has been forever....not everything is planned out all the time and done to perfection...some of the best things have been done out of necessity rather than a desire....HBK and Taker 2 was probably not supposed to happen....people were saying lastyear Jericho couldve fought Taker or HBK couldve fought Triple H....their last match between Taker and triple H that I can remember from KOTR in 2002 was very good.....Rock was involved, but the match was still great nonetheless...I think they realize the build hasnt been good, so I expect a balls to the walls show from both at Mania like I've never seen to compensate for poor build up