Triple H the Boss: Failure?

[bioshock]

I don't really need to write up a big story on this subject in detail. We know the boss role had a heel turn at Summerslam 2013 only lasting until the TLC PPV where Triple H was showing signs of being a face. Fast forward that to last nights Raw with Triple H showing full support for Bryan, and for no reason whats so ever going against Orton and siding with Cena, Batista, and now Bryan.

Has Triple H the boss been a huge failure, going from heel to face on a weekly basis, showing support with no build up or reasoning behind it.

Its hard to really recall the last time someone with a major role has gone from heel to face, to tweener, back to face with nothing behind it. This would be like seeing Mcmahon giving Austin full support leading into Wrestlemania 17. When actually they feuded for the 2 years leading up to Wrestlemania 17, only to have Austin turn heel and side with Mcmahon.

Has Triple H become a big failure, along with WWE losing their luster to follow through on a feud.

Another notch to that question; I know the Miz goes from heel to face on a weekly basis, and that's pretty much a joke, but with all due respect we have Triple H doing the same exact thing. Is this a product of Triple H being in control, or just writing being that bad?

 

[laodaron]

Huh? HHH has been a heel since Summerslam, and there's not even any doubt about it. However, he is also the COO in kayfabe, and therefore, he must do what is best for business. HHH doing the "Yes!" chant was in full sarcasm, and was done to show Randy Orton that their alliance is a fragile one, if he isn't up to the task.

Some of HHH's best work comes as a heel, but that's because you want him to be a face, and so, it's so infuriating when he isn't.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The problem is the concept of a partisan authority figure has died a death...

Think back to the 80's and early 90's... As dull as he was onscreen, Jack Tunney was the WWF President, he never favored ANYONE and gave edicts that hurt faces and heels alike... it was only when Monsoon and Piper took over that it became a face role, and then a staple heel role from Vince himself.

Ton an extent, Tunney was the original "best for business" guy. He was someone not invested in his own gain as a character, he hadn't wrestled so he had "no ego" to bruise so to speak... If there is going to be an authority figure it should be someone of that type...

Triple H will be that guy behind the scenes once Vince goes... we all know it but onscreen and to an extent behind the scenes there should be that "neutral voice".

They tried it with Mike Adamle, but he had no charisma...

Much is being made of Sting joining right now... What if they said to him, til December, we want you as Steve Borden... you will be our President under the "gimmick" of neutrality, as you have had no feuds with anyone here... no axe to grind, he can tell Trips and Vince "No" onscreen, he upsets faces, heels with calls from time to time...truly "best for business"...

Around December he becomes compromised in some way leading to his feud with Taker... or even with his last act making the match that Steve Borden will be no more at Mania, Sting will return...

It would give 9 months of solid story, allow Steve Borden to get used to life in the WWF and time to create a new version of Sting that will live up to the 20 years in the making billing - rather than just showing up in the Crow gimmick or sunglasses....

 

[JohnJohnson]

Triple H is clearly a heel here. How often do bad guys do something that seems like it's nice only for it to be part of some plot. That "Yes" thing and the support of Bryan was to motivate Randy. Then you say he is not a heel simply because sometimes he goes against Orton? 'But i thot da bad guyz are all frenz' How often do you see a bad guy punishing one of his subordinates or a bad guy double crossing another bad guy. If you read comics at all, anytime there is some sort of alliance involving Dr. Doom, he turns on the other villains when he gets what he needs. Does that mean he turns face? No sir.

Triple H is playing the role pretty well. Especially since they seem to want to blur the lines between heel and face these days. The only complaint I have is how dry he's gotten on the mic. I used to love Triple H promos. Also I miss the hair. Just doesn't seem like the same guy.

 

[H33LTurn]

This storyline has definitively run its course. Triple H does not have a formidable opponent like Vince did with Austin. Keeping Triple H in this almost impenetrable bubble where anyone who opposes him will be repeatedly attacked by The Shield, or The Wyatts, or Kane will eventually bore the fans. WWE has always done better with limited managerial involvement, especially when the authority figures are legitimately repugnant.

 

[laodaron]

The most popular that the WWE has ever been in history, the peak of the business heavily involved management every single week. There has never been more successful Professional Wrestling than when the management is involved.

 

[thebowtiekiller]

I think this is a bit of a fail and it is mostly due to bad writing i get the impression that wwe have just made up the whole authority storyline as they go along with no real idea where they wanted it to go to begin with.i think they should of just kept it simple the power abusing boss storyline is a wrestling classic and hhh can play one of the most hateable heels ever so he should be great in that role.but instead hes heel one show then face the next and then we have a whole team of other pointless authority figure thrown in the mix.so far this storyline has been a mess and while i dont think hhh is to blame for that as the boss hes definatly not been as awesome as he potentially could be so i think fail at least so far anyway.

 

[bioshock]

I think Bryan and the fan support he has right now is enough of what Austin had back then. If HHH was clearly a heel he would be booed out of the building, that is hardly the case. And he wouldn't support Cena on a regular basis with a lack of support for Orton.

 

[The Eighties]

The role would work better if Triple H sold more for the faces. When Vince was in the role he balanced it out well, plenty of weeks he'd get the upper hand but he'd also get humiliated, he'd get his ass kicked, his vehicles would get destroyed, he'd get outsmarted etc....All Triple H and Steph do is act like smug assholes, deny they are heels and then have someone else either beat up the faces or wrestle them in tag matches, there is no feeling that The Authority are ever under threat.

 

[TJ-BITW]

I would not call his role as boss as failure for sure. If anyone could recall that RAW ending with Triple H giving pedigree to Randy Orton, there were so many posts of "John Cena turning heel". That was played really well by Triple H. Most of the fans felt John Cena will actually join Authority at TLC due to that.

The real problem is the bookings - Big Show main-eventing one PPV, Kane forgets what Bray Wyatt did to him and becomes Corporate Kane, Ryback-Axel is repetitive, No story-lines for IC title, Ambrose may become longest reigning US champion as there are no matches happening, Batista wins Royal Rumble, New age Outlaws become World Tag Team Champions. IF Triple H has any role with these bookings, then its a Failure!

 

[Wald]

Triple H can't play a heel boss well because he absolutely will not show weakness in his character, it has always been a massive flaw in him as a heel wrestler and it was only masked by favourable booking allowing him to keep going with it.

Go back and look at him at any point of his career after he made it with HBK & Chyna in DX. Whether he's face or heel he simply refuses to sell weakness as a trait of his character. Could pull up videos of him as a heel making jokes at Austin's expense, could throw in the usual names of Kane, RVD, Booker etc. that he wouldn't let people even begin to believe was on his level and I could point to this run as COO, where everyone from Orton to Bryan to the Shield are simply fodder for keeping him over.

I said it on this forum when he turned heel that the only way it would work would be for him to not make jokes at Bryan's expense and to allow him to stand up to him. That didn't happen and it's why the current run, whilst not being a total failure, just didn't live up to what it could have been. If you look at the pieces that were in place, from the chosen champion of Randy Orton, an enforcer in Kane, a gang to back them up in the Shield and a smarmy power heel couple in Stephanie & Triple H it really should have been an easy build to Wrestlemania. The only thing in this equation that wasn't right was Triple H and his refusing to look weak.

 

[laodaron]

HHH has never really believed in Face v. Heel. That's evident in his cliq stuff, his DX stuff, his Evolution stuff, his Authority stuff. Basically, his whole career, he's just wanted to be a shit talking brawler that does what he wants. If that's a weakness, ok, but he's going into the Hall of Fame. He's going down in the books as being nearly as big as Austin or Rock. He pretty much perfected something that everyone said wasn't possible, and then he did it so well, that he ensured that it WAS impossible for others to follow in his footsteps.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I definitely don't think it was a failure. I think it's more of superstars not being heel or face anymore but being a normal person. Triple H this whole time has done what he's felt was best for business and that's what this is. Triple H will side with a face when it's best for business and the same for a heel. I think they should have made that more clear in the beginning though but to me it's how I see every character like when ryback first turned heel, to me he's not a heel because I agreed with his reason for "turning" in this role. Triple H didn't want Bryan to be champion because he's B+ but Randy is a+ so he made him champ now Orton hasn't been living up to his billing so it's time for them to consider someone else being the face of the WWE because that's what's best for business.

With that being said I do believe Triple h is still "heel" I definitely felt a sarcastic tone with him doing the yes chants and he still has that heel Triple H evil son of a bitch smirk. I think in the end Triple H was being a dick during that segment but the kind of dick where you don't realize he's being a dick to you until later when you think about it.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I don't get how people don't see Triple H tweening back and forth.

Remember a few months ago where Vince told creative "there's no such thing as faces and heels anymore?" I guarantee, that was for Triple H. Comrade Mario hit the nail on the head, Triple H doesn't operate in terms of face or heel, it's whatever makes Triple H look like the coolest, most bad ass guy in the locker room.

How does he not come off as trying to be a face when he's cracking jokes at Paul Heyman and being buddy buddy with Cena?

 

[L@RISANO]

I think HHH has been great in his role.
I was a bit peeved initially, but I get why the Authority is booked as being beyond getting upstaged by anyone.

Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing how the authority angle unfolds, although I think going all the way back to SummerSlam, they could have based the majority of the Wrestlemania card on a HUGE Authority angle which would come to a head at the PPV itself. That can still happen now, although CM Punk leaving makes it harder to do.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

He's pretty clearly been a heel the whole time. He's not totally heel, but today's audience isn't homogenous. So one act may get cheered by some, booed by others. Just how it is. I think he's done. Good job. When the shield first attacked DB and hhh was taunting hi. As he crawled back in was the most I've disliked someone in a long time.

 

[Zycho32]

...honestly, I would believe HHH's tweener persona better if his main 'nemesis' was in fact an all-out heel attempting to bring anarchy upon the WWE. I'm talking 'NWO' standards of Anarchy, something for him to rally against.

Problem is, right now his supposed main nemesis is Daniel Bryan, an outright babyface being 'held down' kayfabe-wise by the Authority. HHH is playing the wrong role in the script, plain and simple.

In terms of what the product needs from its head honcho, HHH is a stark letdown from the old days of Mr. McMahon, who was an unapologetic vile bastard when the script called for it, AND let himself get the crap stomped out of him when the script called for it.

 

[ASKane]

I think this Authority storyline had a lot of potential and I enjoyed it right up to the point where Orton was booked as a pussy and HHH as a tweener. If Orton was the Viper who destroyed everybody and was booked as the dominant heel, HHH was the ass hole boss who was a evil heel who bullied all faces and the Shield were the dominant hitmen for the Authority. If they had done that it would have worked but WWE screwed up all 3 things. Orton was booked as the pussy champ pleading for help on every show, HHH is a face one week heel the next and just doesn't work and the Shield have been moved away from the Authority with no mention as to why

 

[L@RISANO]

I think this Authority storyline had a lot of potential and I enjoyed it right up to the point where Orton was booked as a pussy and HHH as a tweener. If Orton was the Viper who destroyed everybody and was booked as the dominant heel, HHH was the ass hole boss who was a evil heel who bullied all faces and the Shield were the dominant hitmen for the Authority. If they had done that it would have worked but WWE screwed up all 3 things. Orton was booked as the pussy champ pleading for help on every show, HHH is a face one week heel the next and just doesn't work and the Shield have been moved away from the Authority with no mention as to why

Agreed.
The Authority Storyline had loads of potential.
If done properly, it could have been used as a Blanket storyline where the Main matches for Wrestlemania 30 would have been put together,lMO.
Even with CM Punk taking his ball and leaving; Batista returning and not getting quite the desired reaction; the Huge Authority storyline could have still worked with upto 4/5 matches at WM30 resulting from it.

Just the way I see things.