WWE: Triple H now (finally) head of creative and talent relations

[Big Poppa Puck]

Always hated HHH. He was a GOOD heel. Used to love his siren entrance with the water

I always hated HHH, and not just as a good heel either. Especially during the reign of terror. And then him and Steph were get off my screen annoying as The Authority.

I liked him in DX, but even then he was always my least favorite member.

As a booker though and what he did in NXT? Big fan.

 

[GKJ]

Make no mistake that the talent are definitely much happier now.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Cole said WWE fans a few times again last night.

Also Michael Cole had a fantastic night and that was without Pat next to him. You could tell the leash was off

 

[Bondurant]

If Summer Slam is an example of what JPL can do...the company is dead.

"We'll hit Brock in the head with everything. Yeah, that's the ticket."

 

[Petey But Really Jim]

If Summer Slam is an example of what JPL can do...the company is dead.

"We'll hit Brock in the head with everything. Yeah, that's the ticket."

It’s kinda like the Canucks being buried under the cap and no room to do anything because of Jim Benning. That’s what’s Vince and Bruce and the rest of the old dirty perverts left WWE for a title scene.

It’s going to take time to untangle Benning and Vince’s messes.

 

[Jussi]

If Summer Slam is an example of what JPL can do...the company is dead.

"We'll hit Brock in the head with everything. Yeah, that's the ticket."

Hot take!

 

[Bondurant]

Hot take!

All truth. Summer Slam was garbage.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

All truth. Summer Slam was garbage.

Yeah, he got handed something 95% complete. Cant exactly throw away all the build ups to that point and have anything make sense.

You'll see the difference between now and Survivor Series

 

[GKJ]

Triple H made the call to turn Becky face, so that was him. I don’t know if that’s related to what Ronda did.

I don’t want to say he has an easy job now but he does have a job as a booker that will be very difficult to fail. Even if he doesn’t outright succeed long term, it will be difficult for him to do worse and his history in NXT says that he’s not going to go full-Russo. He has the financial backing obviously, he doesn’t have to worry about business deals. The vast majority of the talent he has history with. And I don’t think he’s ever done a DQ on a takeover, and if he did it didn’t matter, so there’s reasonable belief that big shows will have matches that have winners. Even if he books himself into a corner, he doesn’t screw the fans with their expectations. And his rematches never seemed gratuitous, unlike main roster, people weren’t complaining over rematches at takeovers or trilogies.

 

[TD Charlie]

All truth. Summer Slam was garbage.

I thought it was totally fine. I'm far from a WWE fanboy, but overall I enjoyed the show. The matches were all pretty good, save for Liv v Rhonda, but that was booked properly in the end at least. I thought all matches delivered Summerslam quality. The main event was fun. Loved the visual of the tractor upending the ring and Roman taking what was actually a super dangerous bump on the tractor spot.

Ultimately it was mostly a filler ppv, but in the moment it was all entertaining. I think tonight and Friday are better indicators of the creative direction of the company.

 

[lomiller1]

I thought it was totally fine. I'm far from a WWE fanboy, but overall I enjoyed the show. The matches were all pretty good, save for Liv v Rhonda, but that was booked properly in the end at least. I thought all matches delivered Summerslam quality. The main event was fun. Loved the visual of the tractor upending the ring and Roman taking what was actually a super dangerous bump on the tractor spot.

Ultimately it was mostly a filler ppv, but in the moment it was all entertaining. I think tonight and Friday are better indicators of the creative direction of the company.

The Pandemic and the move the Peacock has done wonders for WWE pay-per-views. The shows are shorter, tighter and they seem to have pulled some of the restrictions off the performers. You can pretty much bank on them being pretty good, where 3 years ago you could bank on them being long boring and generally pretty bad.

 

[67 others]

Whats he done since the screwjob? Had a pretty good run in WCW despite awful booking. Then had his career ended from a kick to the head by an awful wrestler. Then had a stroke and eventually cancer. Still made a few returns to WWE. What is it you expected him to do since retiring?

He also wrote the best wrestling book ever in which he criticizes himself quite a bit. Bret's a straight shooter who calls it how he sees it. Can't say the same for weasels like HHH and Michaels. As for him being angry, if you lost your brother/best friend to a stupid and unnecessary stunt along with the health/personal life issues he's had then you might be angry at times too.

I love Bret. But LOL at he criticizes himself quite a bit. He rationalizes most of his criticisms in the book.

Like "I did Steroids and I am not proud of it, but everyone was doing it at the time and I had to make my look better"

or "I loved my wife and was ashamed of cheating on her, but I had to make a decision on the road to be happy or I would fall into drugs like everyone else, so I decided to bang women in every city....ill never forget that national guard girl in Wisconsin, or that redheaded hairdresser in Boston, or that french girl who kept panting words I couldn't understand into my ear"

It starts off sounding like he was sorry, then it turns to a rationalization and then continues on into basically bragging about it.

The thing is, would i take most of the words of Bret Hart's book over the numerous other people who take digs at him in their books? People with books like Bruce Hart, Diana Hart Smith, his ex wife Julie's book? yes ill likely side more with Bret's story than the other bitter Harts, mostly because their books come off as an incoherent mess. With 1 exception. Martha Hart's book about Owen.

Martha actually liked Bret at the time and was pretty kind to him in her book. But she had a some differing information from the point of view he gave(Stuff like bret Claiming he wasn't really mad at Owen for not quitting WWE when Vince would not release him, which martha reveals, yeah they had real tension between them because owen wouldn't walk out). At least he was honest in his book that he was pressuring her to get back his video library and stuff during her settlement lawsuit against WWE. but honestly, why was he asking for that stuff in a lawsuit about Owen's death anyways???

 

[Emperoreddy]

The Pandemic and the move the Peacock has done wonders for WWE pay-per-views. The shows are shorter, tighter and they seem to have pulled some of the restrictions off the performers. You can pretty much bank on them being pretty good, where 3 years ago you could bank on them being long boring and generally pretty bad.

Obviously there have been clunkers but they have been on a decent run of overdelivering with their PPVs since the pandemic even if the weekly show wasn't clicking.

One of the big issues HHH needs to fix is getting both TV shows going good at the same time. They have had moments where Smackdown was putting on good shows weekly but RAW was a hot mess. Then the draft turned everything upside and suddenly RAW was better but Smackdown was a mess.

Lopsided drafts are a big issue but also just poor booking with the lesser known talents hurt a lot too. They weren't getting new mid or upper mid card acts over to carry a show when the established stars switched shows.

 

[GKJ]

You’ll probably see a more coherent draft too. That should be coming up soon.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Or they could just scrap the whole brand split bullshit.

Probably won't happen because of the networks, but it would be the best thing to do, I think.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Or they could just scrap the whole brand split bullshit.

Probably won't happen because of the networks, but it would be the best thing to do, I think.

I don't think a soft brand spilt is a bad idea. I think certain wrestlers sticking to one show along with the two mid card belts. But allow top guys to jump over more often for title feuds.

I do think the tag belts should be a crossover belt. They don't have enough good tag teams for two separate belts. Usos working both shows I think has been better.

 

[DaaaaB's]

I love Bret. But LOL at he criticizes himself quite a bit. He rationalizes most of his criticisms in the book.

Like "I did Steroids and I am not proud of it, but everyone was doing it at the time and I had to make my look better"

or "I loved my wife and was ashamed of cheating on her, but I had to make a decision on the road to be happy or I would fall into drugs like everyone else, so I decided to bang women in every city....ill never forget that national guard girl in Wisconsin, or that redheaded hairdresser in Boston, or that french girl who kept panting words I couldn't understand into my ear"

It starts off sounding like he was sorry, then it turns to a rationalization and then continues on into basically bragging about it.

The thing is, would i take most of the words of Bret Hart's book over the numerous other people who take digs at him in their books? People with books like Bruce Hart, Diana Hart Smith, his ex wife Julie's book? yes ill likely side more with Bret's story than the other bitter Harts, mostly because their books come off as an incoherent mess. With 1 exception. Martha Hart's book about Owen.

Martha actually liked Bret at the time and was pretty kind to him in her book. But she had a some differing information from the point of view he gave(Stuff like bret Claiming he wasn't really mad at Owen for not quitting WWE when Vince would not release him, which martha reveals, yeah they had real tension between them because owen wouldn't walk out). At least he was honest in his book that he was pressuring her to get back his video library and stuff during her settlement lawsuit against WWE. but honestly, why was he asking for that stuff in a lawsuit about Owen's death anyways???

It's been a lot of years since I read the book but yeah you're probably right. I definitely remember him rationalizing some things he did. Did he want the video library for himself or did he just want Martha to get it from Vince?

 

[Emperoreddy]

Please don't bring Bray back to just dominate the show with his spooky no selling bullshit

 

[Megahab]

Please don't bring Bray back to just dominate the show with his spooky no selling bullshit

He needs to go back to the 2013 cult leader gimmick. That had so much potential. I really think Bray Wyatt might be the most misused wrestler in my wrestling watching history of 30+ years.

 

[Emperoreddy]

He needs to go back to the 2013 cult leader gimmick. That had so much potential. I really think Bray Wyatt might be the most misused wrestler in my wrestling watching history of 30+ years.

I think he is one of the most overrated. His gimmicks work to only get himself over while the folks he beats are almost always worse off after feuding with him.

He is also a bad wrestler. His big matches always underdeliver.

 

[Megahab]

I think he is one of the most overrated. His gimmicks work to only get himself over while the folks he beats are almost always worse off after feuding with him.

He is also a bad wrestler. His big matches always underdeliver.

Jog my memory, who was worse off after feuding with Wyatt but at the same time Wyatt was better off? Not challenging you - I just honestly don't remember.

I wouldn't say he was a bad wrestler. Not especially good but decent enough by my standards. The older I get, the more I am of a fan of the character and promo work than in-ring ability.

 

[Kaner9]

I don't care about hhh as a wrestler but dam I hope for some goodness from him as booker

 

[GKJ]

Jog my memory, who was worse off after feuding with Wyatt but at the same time Wyatt was better off? Not challenging you - I just honestly don't remember.

I wouldn't say he was a bad wrestler. Not especially good but decent enough by my standards. The older I get, the more I am of a fan of the character and promo work than in-ring ability.

He wasn’t bad at wrestling but the vast majority of his matches were bad and no one was ever better off having worked with him. He was good until the match started

 

[Megahab]

He wasn’t bad at wrestling but the vast majority of his matches were bad and no one was ever better off having worked with him. He was good until the match started

My memory is foggy but I do remember Bryan vs. Wyatt at Royal Rumble 2014 and Wyatt Family vs. Shield at Elimination Chamber 2014 both being amazing. That was a long time ago, I know, but I think he's at least better than a guy like Kane who pulled out 20+ year career.

 

[GKJ]

My memory is foggy but I do remember Bryan vs. Wyatt at Royal Rumble 2014 and Wyatt Family vs. Shield at Elimination Chamber 2014 both being amazing. That was a long time ago, I know, but I think he's at least better than a guy like Kane who pulled out 20+ year career.

Danielson is a different animal, but you’re going back to 2014 for matches you remember that are good. He’s had other moments because his opponents were too good but you go back and watch the matches - the crowds are death and so were all the faces.