This is my first attempt at an article. The reason for this submission is due to the amount of I've read both attacking and defending the man known to wrestling fans as Triple H. It is my belief that, as with most things, the truth of HHH's impact on the WWE is somewhere in between the polar opposite views most people appear to possess.

I think that one massively overlooked factor in the way fans view the man Paul Michael LeVesque is on account of the HHH character we see on television. Not so much in terms of his heel status - I live in the U.K where we see superstars so rarely we tend to cheer those whose work we appreciate rather than those we are supposed to love as it is such a rare chance for us to express our appreciation. Look at Kurt Angle's reactions both at shows and on the internet despite his character. What I'm talking about is staleness. I loved to hate the snobby Hunter Hearst Helmsley, I loved to love the obnoxious HHH of Degeneration X and the Triple H of the beginning of the McMahon/Helmsley era made excellent television. The trouble is that aside for a brief face turn following his return from injury, HHH as a character has not really changed for the past 5 years or so. Really, if the character was as compelling as it once was, would anyone care about anything that may or may not be going on backstage" The WWE has always lived and died by what it puts in front of its fans' eyes on its broadcasts. The same powerful, manipulative heel character can only have a limited shelf life. Lets be honest, a face turn or a character revamp wouldn't have me getting up to go to the kitchen during another 20 minute promo that I've seen from him a hundred times before but with the name "Rock" or "Austin" in it instead of "Batista" or "Cena".

But where does the blame lay for this" HHH has clearly found a character he enjoys playing and has spent a lot of time establishing it. Vince obviously thinks it works and perhaps creative are afraid to make these kinds of suggestions for fear of experiencing a Pat Patterson. At the end of the day, however, it's down to Vince to realize something is wrong with the character. There is also the problem that we are in a different era now from the HHH hay day. The violence has been toned down, a problem I think that effects all heels. Smashing up a casket with a sledge hammer with a helpless Rock locked inside or Pedigreeing Mankind through a cell is always going to evoke much more of a reaction than pulling Batista out of the way of a carefully arranged speeding vehicle will. In many ways anyone's top heel's hands are tied when they can only be so evil.

While I feel the problems with HHH's character don't help matters, it is obviously the backstage politics that come out through internet sources that really generates the true venom in criticism against Triple H. While it is totally naive to take all of these reports as fact, there is never smoke without fire. I believe it to be totally unfair to level criticism at HHH marriage to Stephanie McMahon based on assumption that it was purely for political gain. As a wrestling storyline that would be far fetched, let alone as a concept true to life. I have no doubt, however, that they must talk business and his ability to influence the McMahons to keep himself at the top of the pile is without question. But, as I mentioned earlier, the final decision on all and anything WWE related lays with Vince. Triple H can influence as much as he likes, I strongly doubt that Vince is anyone's puppet.

However, again, if the quality of the show hit the mark as regularly as it once did, would anyone care" Triple H had as much influence as he ever did in the early 2000s but his feud with Angle over Steph was a joy. If the quality of the writing was as good as it could and should be then he could have all the creative input he wanted for all I care. The problem is HHH hasn't had a decent feud in a long time, which leads me to address another point of HHH's politic-ing that frequently comes up.

HHH is so often accused of 'burying' other wrestling in an attempt to keep himself as top dog. Again, it would be stupid to say this was anything other than speculation but there seems to be an element of truth to it, though not to the degree some would argue. I, like many others, believe that over the last few years while HHH was headlining against the likes of Scott Steiner, Goldberg, Batista and others, people such as Benoit, Jericho and R.V.D really should have been having their moments in the sun. How much choice does HHH have over who he wrestles and the way it will go" A damn sight more than anyone else on the roster. Is it total" No. The WWE is a business that needs to generate money. The way it does this is to put on the best matches it can. People have been overlooked, I think the vast majority of fans will agree with this, but it was down to management to understand that they were missing out on giving the fans what they wanted to see. Triple H was at his best when he had Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle to play off. Watching his reactions to The Rock telling him to lick a llama's anus was far more entertaining than watching him being told by Batista that he'd get his ass kicked at WrestleMania. Everyone made more money then and put on a better show.

During the Benoit/Orton title reigns, Triple H did put over Shelton Benjamin and Eugene. Jobbing to relatively new faces is not something top carders regularly do and this should not be overlooked. On the other hand though, had it been Jericho, Kane, Edge, Benoit or Christian, it would have given any one of those on that tier a push up to legitimate title challengers. Benjamin and Eugene would likely be in the exact same position now had they not had those wins. HHH has also jobbed three times to Batista to make him look like a true juggernaught. Did he know Batista would be gone from Raw in the draft" Did he put the idea forward to transfer him" We don't honestly know, your view will depend on which side of the argument you come down on.

So, what will become of the man when he returns to our screens" We all know that it appears the plan is for him to feud with Ric Flair. This suggests HHH will return as a heel and continue doing the same things he's been doing for a long time now. As soon as he ends up in a world title programme there will be a lot said; either how boring and predictable that is or how much more a deserving champion HHH may be than John Cena. Perhaps though, the recent direction of the WWE may help give the HHH character a bit of a face lift. WWE.com has become a much larger part of the WWE media output and recent feuds between the Blue Meanie and JBL as well as Hardy/Edge have centered around internet fan speculation. Perhaps the HHH we see on television will be closer to the HHH we think we know backstage. Whatever we see though, Stone Cold Steve Austin used to get deer hunting season off, took his ball and went home when he didn't like Creative's ideas for him and complained bitterly about not being a top guy at WCW. Do you hate him for it"

by Mike Fitzgerald ..