"Triple H Didn't Wanna Work Tuesdays!"

[Justin Satiable]

Some of you may remember this quote. At ECW One Night Stand 2005, Paul Heyman hits the center of the ring amid the cheers and chants of "Thank you Paul!" before thanking everyone who made the dream of ECW come to life, and come back once more for that night. What followed after that was one of Paul Heyman's legendary shoots, where he shoots on Bischoff, Edge, JBL and more.

One thing, however, stood out to me as I rewatched this PPV earlier today. Paul Heyman tells JBL that "the only reason you were champion for a year was because Triple H didn't wanna work Tuesdays!" Now, as you may remember, in the Post-Wrestlemania draft in 2004, John Cena interrupts the draft proceedings and chooses a ball from the lottery-spinner-thing, which Bischoff insisted was Heyman's pick. This pick ended up being Triple H, thus drafting him to Smackdown and suggesting the end of Evolution.

Insteeead, Triple H was traded back to Raw for I-can't-remember-who. I'm only slightly certain it was even a trade. That's how anti-climatic this was. Personally I was disappointed with how it panned out, and really wished it could have gone further. This, anyway, isn't related to my question. My question is simple.

If Triple H hadn't been traded back to Raw in 2004, would JBL have ever risen to the main event and dominated Smackdown the way he did?

 

[Bill.]

No. I honestly didn't remember Paul Heyman saying this, but it's true. HHH would've dominated SD. Plus, remember when they created the WHC? I heard that they did it since HHH didn't want to job to Lesnar at one PPV then win the title at the next. He just wanted the title, so they brought back the WHC. Any of you guys hear this rumor before?

 

[frostbite2819]

No. I honestly didn't remember Paul Heyman saying this, but it's true. HHH would've dominated SD. Plus, remember when they created the WHC? I heard that they did it since HHH didn't want to job to Lesnar at one PPV then win the title at the next. He just wanted the title, so they brought back the WHC. Any of you guys hear this rumor before?

i remember hearing that in a shoot somewhere that hhh refused to put lesnar over.
i would hate to think that-but if you think about it he never got anywhere near him.
onto the topic, jbl might have been the top HEEL to go after a face hhh if he had went over to smackdown, but if hhh wouldnt put lesnar over he certainly wouldnt have put jbl over. things would have been different, but nobody knows to what extent.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

I remember that shoot from ONS, it was awesome! Even though he said 3 words with Matt Freakin Hardy lol... as for JBL that is so true.. if Triple H wanted to be on smackdown at the time (let's be honest he had his choice by this point in his career) then it would have only been a matter of days until he'd have taken the strap off JBL... Smackdown was the B show when JBL was champion and due to lack of options he kept that belt for so much longer than he should have. JBL would have still had some sort of career but not the one he had if trips was on smackdown. JBL was king of the B show since all the A listers were on Raw.

 

[SharpShooter083]

I remember that draft well and it really wasn't an even trade. Bischoff traded Booker T & The Dudley Boyz to SD so Triple H could come back to RAW. Booker & The Dudleyz were big names in WWE at the time and it's kind of a slap in the face to them lol. All 3 of them with all of their accomplishments are less then 1 man in HHH? Heyman was the saving grace tho because he made the trade seem like he won the lottery which i guessed softened the blow.

Either way Eddie Guerrero was way over at this point and because Brock Lesnar left to play football and Kurt Angle was injured they needed a top heel for him to compete against. I guess JBL was the only guy they had faith in at the time. If HHH went to SD tho I doubt JBL would have been WWE Champion. Not right away anyways. I could see him as a long reigning U.S. Champion at that time tho.

 

[Shafer757]

OP, you are absolutely right. Paul E's shoot was pretty on point. I remembering watching One Night Stand and just laughing my ass off, as well as throwing in some amens. So during next year's draft do ya'll thing John Cena will finally make it back to Smackdown?

 

[vampirek]

Yet HHH moved to Smackdown years later... ever consider it was just part of the story plot that Evolution had complete control on Raw and that Bischoff pretty much allowed it? After all he was the one who gave HHH the title and pretty much everything he wanted. It also furthered many plots including the Raw v Smackdown, it was mentioned on both Raw and Smackdown Bischoff had paid heavily to get HHH back so it wasn't like they were saying The Dudleyz and Booker T were irrelevant. Bischoff was exploited in order to get his man back.

That said, Booker T on Raw had grew stale. Using this trade allowed him to turn heel and actually made him Booker T again rather than being a comic sidekick to Goldust. So I don't see why anyone should complain about that.

As for JBL, he would have become WWE champion regardless of HHH being on Smackdown. Granted I don't think he would have lasted up to Wrestlemania, but the whole JBL angle suited him taking the title of Eddie rather than anyone else.

 

[Prince Punk]

no it's pretty dead on as when they were PUSHING smackdown the show for myTV that's when Triple H went over there and it was looked upon as a sacrifice from the game. but they needed BIG names and he had to take one for the team. But that came out of a dirt sheet report though I could see HHH not wanting to be on the B+ show.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Sharpshooter, you are correct about the trade. Part of Booker's heel character after that was him complaining that he was too good to be part of Smackdown.

There is little chance JBL would have found the same success with HHH around. He may have been able to develop the same character and have some big feuds but he would have never carried the strap for as long if at all while HHH were around.

 

[ECW Sandman]

I remember the shoot very well and I remember watching it Live on PPV and even now when I watch the DVD when I get to that part of the segment of the DVD I still am shocked what Paul E. was saying and when all was said and done I just sat there with my jaw dropped in amazement and thinking to my self well Heymen was right they were anti establishment, and they were up in your face but He was right about HHH not wanting to work Tuesdays hell he's the son in law of Vince McMahon he basically ran and still runs back stage if he did not want to do something like work tuesdays he did not have to until the move to My Network then he went to Smack Down and stayed for a year then went back to RAW.

 

[Lugar]

Here's an interesting spin off question. If HHH was on smackdown at the time would Cena have won the title at WM?

 

[SCrooked1]

Yes I remember that.

HHH was originally supposed to be on Smackdown after he lost the Undisputed Title, but he complained and wanted to go to Raw instead.

 

[neildittmar]

I remember this quote from ONS and it was one of those typical, Paul E. "cut you to the bone" bombshells that he has been known to drop throughout his career. JBL may have played it off like it was no big deal, but it really was both then and in hindsight.

In one single, but substantial, sentence, Paul E. had successfully deflated any hot air that JBL (let alone WWE) had pumped into his accomplishments and general tenure on Smackdown. Not only was Bradshaws long championship reign taken down a notch for being on the companys "B Show", but he wasn't even Vince's first choice. Based on Heyman's single comment, JBL was essentially the "default" guy when WWE were left without the option of HHH sacrificing a bit and working for the other brand.

I suppose the next question was whether what Heyman said was true or not. I think like much of what Paul E. says, his shoot on JBL was based in truth. There is no way that HHH wanted to be on Smackdown... that's not where the viewers/ratings were and he wasn't interested in building the brand. During the draft, it came across to the viewer (namely me) as almost an insult that HHH was going to Smackdown. Therefore, to add additional perceived value to Trips on the tradeback, not only did Smackdown get Booker T, but they got the Dudley Boyz too... one of the top tag teams on the roster at the time. The whole thing was silly.

So without a real "top heel" on the show, Vince and Smackdown creative essentially made one in John Bradshaw Layfield. I suppose it worked to a degree and JBL's character was arguably over, but Smackdown would've been infinitely better off had Hunter "took one for the team" and worked Tuesday nights. He couldn't (or more likely, wouldn't) and that decision left the door open for JBL to be a long-reigning champion.

 

[Dagger Dias]

If Trips had gone to Smackdown then not only would it have caused JBL's title reign to come later (if ever) and it also would have ruined the Evolution storyline. This was before Orton's title win, so the important part of the angle was still to come. Trips did go to Smackdown for a year in the 2008 draft until Wrestlemania 25's build up when he returned to Raw to feud with Orton. He was on top for the entire year that he was on Smackdown, other than a month or so at the end so Edge could have the title loss to Hardy instead of Trips. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have reigned supreme on Smackdown which would have slowed down the pushes for both JBL as well as Cena due to Trips having more star power than them combined at the time and his connections backstage.

I think it was less about him not wanting to work Tuesdays and more about him needing to remain on Raw for the Evolution angle. It is good that things happened the way they did though. Trips stayed on Raw, Evolution finished their angle, JBL got his title reign, and Cena rose to the top. Everything happened the way it did and WWE as a whole benefitted from it as a result. Had it not gone this way then not only would it have ruined an important angle, but it would have left a large gap in Raw's main event scene. Who would have held the world title in Trips' absence might be a better question. Booker T? Benoit? Orton? The trade of Booker and the Dudleys for Trips was worth it in the end.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think JBL may still have gone on to be WWE Champion, but he would definitely not have won it as quickly as he did after changing to the JBL gimmick, no way.

Triple H was absolutely dominating the title scene on Raw, and would have gone straight into the main event on Smackdown had the trade stuck (whose idea do you think it was to write the script where Bischoff claimed that Raw couldn't survive without The Game?! ).

I would have expected Triple H to be in the WWE title picture literally the week after joining Smackdown and to have been the Champion within 2 months, that is just how dominant he was at the time. I had rarely seen anyone booked so strongly as Helmsley was at that time, and there are rumours flying around that he was refusing to put some people over and demanding to stay as Champion. Cena right now is the only time I have ever seen someone dominate the main event other than Trips in 2004.

JBL was excellent in his role, I was pleasantly surprised with him and he ended up being a worthy main eventer. However, the JBL character needed to be a heel, and with Triple H as the lead heel on Smackdown, and probably having a long title reign....JBL would have to have waited to be Champion, although I think he would have been over enough to have justified one. It DEFINITELY would not have been a year long though, Triple H would not have stayed out of the title picture at that time for that long, no way.