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Triple H...Playing the Game
February 25, 2005 by Nathan Cortez

People who read my last column and my reply in a recent post on TNA will know that I am in general defending world champions. This time I am talking about Triple H. Now before I begin I will make this very clear; I, just like the rest of you, do get bored with his long reigns as champ.

However you have all heard it before...RAW is the Triple H show. Yes I agree, however I am going to explain how he is carrying RAW. Firstly I'm going to list the most obvious thing - that he is the strongest heel RAW has got. If Triple H weren't at the top of RAW then which heel would be at the top" Yes I know Edge is a fantastic athlete and in my opinion deserves the world title but we know from WWE psychology that it won't happen for a while. Who is there after that" Gene Snitsky" Don't even get me started on him, he is not worth my words. Ric Flair should have retired about ten years ago, thus he is not what he used to be.

Triple H is the only strong heel that WWE will have with the world title, if they use anyone else the storylines would suck and you all know this as well as I do. Triple H carries RAW, he has provided some great matches and feuds since he came was drafted in. Hell, he even did what I thought was impossible and put Goldberg over as a half decent athlete. His matches with HBK were little less than amazing with their SummerSlam 2002 encounter topping the lot, even though he may not be fond of losing the belt he does put people over in the feuds he has.

Another point - it makes more sense to have a heel as champion, I would rather watch faces chasing heels for the belt. WWE learned this train of thought in 2000/2001 with The Rock and Austin. Triple H also has great charisma. He can deliver a decent segment, he knows how to work all aspects of wrestling. Triple H is playing the Game and he's in the lead and will be there for a while...

As far as crowds go, Triple H is what gets them going. I don't mean cheering but the fact that he puts people over. If they just came out and talked about him, the crowd wouldn't be alive.

If you want another example of Triple H putting people over, then simply look at Evolution. He has put over every single one of them. The first case I think it was late May 2003 when he chose to face Ric Flair in a title defense. He spent the entire match putting the guy over though Flair probably didn't need it. Then Randy Orton - sure, after they kicked him out of Evolution he took the world title despite the fact that was Orton's idea, because he likes the face chasing heel thing. Since then he has not complained about being used to keep Orton put over though it seems that chapter is now over. And of course now he is putting Batista over...again like Flair and Orton he doesn't need it but he does it anyway. Batista is awesome, I will admit it, I like his character as a whole and I am looking forward to the WrestleMania main event. The bottom line is Triple H does whatever he can to keep RAW alive and he deserves respect for that.

So in conclusion, yes he may have his bad points like not giving RVD the belt, but he is carrying RAW. Bottom line RAW needs him and so do the fans. Before you criticize line up the situation and take into account what I have said.

by Nathan Cortez ..

Erkka J�rvinen wrote:
It's good that people can see how important Triple H is for RAW and for the hole WWE. You got great points especially the one where you said that Triple H is great heel. Who else could be a fine world champion or what kind of feuds they would have without HHH. Triple H is the only good heel on RAW right now along with Edge and WWE wont let Edge become the world champion cause they cant see whats best to WWE. There is really nobody who could turn into heel right now. Chris benoit is gonna be the same forever. HBK cant turn to heel anymore and he is washed up anyway so just keep him there that people can beat him and get push like Edge did. Chris Jericho is great heel but WWE have made his character ridicilous and i cant even watch his matches anymore. Kane is a lame babyface but he can still put his A game on. Fact is that HHH is the best thing after sliced bread.

EJO10488 wrote:
I like Triple H so don't think I am just bashing him-

-How will we know if any other heel can be better than Triple H if WWE doesn't give anyone else a chance" They should at least take some risks and try something different. It isnt like they will go out of business. They are the only real big time wrestling promotion in the US that is still active.

-They have to stop centering things around Hunter all the time. Even when Benoit was the World Heavyweight champ, Triple H was hogging RAW still and Benoits 'title reign' that he has waited 20 years for was crap. They could have at least tried to make Benoit the biggest thing on RAW

-I am just starting to really dislike Triple H for the fact that he has to keep the title just because he is the 'Number 1 Heel on RAW' or the 'Top Draw on Raw' when no one else is even given a chance. You can't say "Oh the fans wouldnt like it" or crap like that because you wouldn't know what their reaction would be until it was at least tried.

Bottom line, sure, Triple H may be one of the better heels in a while, but he shouldn't be hogging most of RAW just because of it. Others should be given a chance to shine, and by a chance I don't mean a Benoit-type title reign.

Rhey wrote:
Well stated. I'm more than sick of hearing "Triple H should drop the title", "Triple H sucks", and all that other bullshit. He's a damn good heel, and, although he's married to the boss's daughter, he still paid his dues to get where he was (remember how many matches he jobbed in before winning his first title") Still, I think Edge is an awesome heel, and his time at the top will (hopefully) come soon. And Erkka: What the hell is wrong with Jericho's character" ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING!!!!! You can't watch his maches any more...I truly pity you. True, he may not be as good as a face as he was as a heel, but he's stil JERICHO, dammit!!!! I like Triple H, but Y2J's matches/segments are truly the Highlight Of The Night!!!!

Andrew Betts wrote:
Granted HHH is the best thing on Raw but his charactor is just getting stale i've been watching this cocky arrogant act for 2 plus years now after awhile this act tends to get boring now what needs to happen is for HHH to go off TV for about 2-3 months so we will be ready for the new and improved super heel HHH. Now the i think the biggest mistake HHH could make is to job for Batista at WM 21. Batista just isn't ready yet he hasn't even cut a dectent promo yet but then again that didn't stop Goldeberg but that's another story which i won't get in to. In closing I would just like to say that HHH is the best thing in the WWE but he takes up too much air time his promos need to be shorter and needs to let some younger guys come up i mean it's about time for HHH to start giving back he can't be world champ forever I figure HHH has about 5 good years left in him that's if he doesn't blow it at WM 21 by jobbing to Batista which would be a huge mistake on HHH's part if all goes well HHH will still be the WWE by this time next year

XtremeFalls43 wrote:
First HHH is the only strong heel because he put himself in that position, I find it hard to believe that Kane shouldn't have been Champion during his Heel run. Also HHH title run killed the steam of Goldberg and Scott Steiner when they came in to the fold. Also HHH spits on Ric Flair everytime he says he is the greatest Wrestler ever cause honestly he isn't. HHH Title runs have turned off more fans that most people care to count, as i remember a lot of fans were very upset that night back in 2003 at Summerslam when we saw HHH beat 5 other men even though he was hurt and couldn't walk that well but nope he still beat of the other stars and made Goldberg look stupid, Also back in January at New Years Revolution when he won the belt after a month of a vacate Title which ended up being completely pointless.

Roger OConnell wrote:
I think that Triple H is a great heel, great on the mic, and a great wrestler. First of all, you are hearing this from a guy who bashed HHH for a long time. I have heard people saying "HHH is only where he is because he screwed the boss's daughter!". My reply to that statement is that even if it wasn't HHH, It would've been somebody else, probably Test(great heel, great wrestler, great on the mic, same as hhh) or A-Train or Mark Henry. True that Triple H may be hogging the World Title, but I actually find him much more entertaining when he is chasing after the belt rather than having the belt. Also the fact that he puts people over makes him a great person. He has put over Goldberg (who we all know has exchanged not-too-friendly words with HHH before he came into the WWE), Randy Orton (who the majority of Internet Wrestling Fans including me really hate), Shawn Michaels (HHH's pal), and jobbed like hell in tag team matches to Kevin Nash (I wish internet fans would stop making fun of his quad tear, its serious you know), Booker T (WWE might be Racist for not letting an all Black man hold the WWE/World Title).

Also HHH is a great husband, which is why he is still married to Steph. I swear that even if Shane was WWE champ, people would also complain. ------ Another Irony: HHH = Hollywood Hulk Hogan

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