Triple H interviewed by The Masked Man

[SirSmUgly]

Owen was really over doing the Sole Survivor thing. He should have at the very least had that title match at IYH: Degeneration X with Michaels instead of having it on RAW. I get that Michaels probably refused to work much with him, but the crowd was popping big for Owen at the time. 

 

Speaking of which, what about Ken Shamrock? 

[The Man Known as Dan]

The question with Shamrock was always the MMA thing. Pushing him to the main would have been a huge risk.

[Josh Mann]

Speaking of which, what about Ken Shamrock?

I don't recall him working at all with Austin post-accident (just the Raw gantlet, that's it) and I wonder if he was one of the guys he didn't want to work with. Just rampant speculation.And by the time it was just Rock as lead dog, Shamrock was long gone.

[Hooker]

I especially like the part where he says booking is hard because of people's egos and people refusing to do jobs and whatnot.  I'm not a CM Punk fan, but Triple H going over Punk at Night of Champions 2011 still makes no Goddamn sense today.

[pipGofern]

Shamrock couldn't do the promos necessary of a main eventer. Especially back then when they had 30 minute back-and-forths to set up big ppv matches. Shammy was best use as "Scary Guy Who Punches Himself Repeatedly About The Head Before His Matches."

 

HHH definitely earned his initial push into the main event. He's exactly the kind of guy that had he been in WCW, we'd all be looking back at and going "Why did those fucking idiots relegate him to the TV Title picture instead of doing something with him?"

 

My problem with HHH isn't how he got to the top. My problem has always been that he's held on to it far too long.

[Victator]

 

Speaking of which, what about Ken Shamrock?

I don't recall him working at all with Austin post-accident (just the Raw gantlet, that's it) and I wonder if he was one of the guys he didn't want to work with. Just rampant speculation.And by the time it was just Rock as lead dog, Shamrock was long gone.

 

They main evented an episode of Raw about a month before Breakdown.

[Fat Spanish Waiter]

I especially like the part where he says booking is hard because of people's egos and people refusing to do jobs and whatnot.  I'm not a CM Punk fan, but Triple H going over Punk at Night of Champions 2011 still makes no Goddamn sense today.

It was awesome.

[JustJay]

I especially like the part where he says booking is hard because of people's egos and people refusing to do jobs and whatnot.  I'm not a CM Punk fan, but Triple H going over Punk at Night of Champions 2011 still makes no Goddamn sense today.

 

Who's to say that they had a bigger story to that and then Vince being Vince switched it. So then Vince had H win and looking back on it everyone can point at and say LOOK H buried Punk. 

 

The interview was great. I always liked HHH and I want to see what more he will do with talent development. Seems to be moving in the right direction with Power Plant 2.0.

[Patrick B.]

I don't know if the phrase "set in his ways" is appropriate but it seems about right.  Triple H has his view of ideal wrestling(just like a lot of people) and probably has trouble stomaching any style that doesn't fit.  I live in the St. Louis area and a ton of fans around here still swear by Wrestling At The Chase, so that style seems to inspire a high level of dedication.

[Big Fresh]

I could think of a lot worse things than for wrestling to revert back to Wrestling at the Chase days. Of course, no one is able to imitate it successfully, they just think they are.

[Patrick B.]

Larry Matysik is involved with the creative process of the SICW group and they're one of the more organized groups in the area these days.  It helps that there's only the one main belt and things are centered around that...some promotions have WAY too many titles.

[Matt D]

I could think of a lot worse things than for wrestling to revert back to Wrestling at the Chase days. Of course, no one is able to imitate it successfully, they just think they are.

 

Mainly through trying to emulate Harley's mutton chops.

[Ace]

Val is a good one, and someone who got stuck: he got noticed and was memorable because of his gimmick, but no force could get him past it. Clear top card potential the gimmick killed.

 

The porn star gimmick didn't kill Val as much as the RTC turn did.

[Hooker]

 

I especially like the part where he says booking is hard because of people's egos and people refusing to do jobs and whatnot.  I'm not a CM Punk fan, but Triple H going over Punk at Night of Champions 2011 still makes no Goddamn sense today.

 

Who's to say that they had a bigger story to that and then Vince being Vince switched it. So then Vince had H win and looking back on it everyone can point at and say LOOK H buried Punk.

 

Yes, who is to say that?

[Overly Critical Man]

They had this weird attempt at elevating Val Venis in I wanna say...2000, where he turned heel on Mick Foley for no reason(And kept giving him the testicular claw) and wrestled Stone Cold in the main event of a Smackdown. It was all done really poorly and came so out of nowhere, that no one bought into it at all. 

[Zakk_Sabbath]

I vaguely remember the Val-Austin match, but even then I thought it was kind of like an HHH-Taka type situation more than a full fledged push attempt. I mean, maybe youre right, I was kinda young at the time so its perfectly reasonable I just didnt grasp that fact.

Also, whoever mentioned Jarrett (My apologies, im on my phone and cant go back to check): do you think he wouldve been a good candidate for the HHH push if Austin wouldve worked with him? Even though the Austin rub was invaluable at that time, im still not convinced it wouldve rocketed him into the stratusphere like a Rock or Foley.

[JonnyLaw]

Owen was really over doing the Sole Survivor thing. He should have at the very least had that title match at IYH: Degeneration X with Michaels instead of having it on RAW. I get that Michaels probably refused to work much with him, but the crowd was popping big for Owen at the time. 

 

 

I feel like Owen is the answer if anyone is.  He came back and was red hot attacking HBK, and then got shunted down to an endless Euro Title feud against HHH where every match seemed to end in Chyna cheating to give HHH the win.  The crowd was pretty red hot for Owen until it became clear he wasn't going to go over HHH, and then he randomly joined the Nation.

[JonnyLaw]

They had this weird attempt at elevating Val Venis in I wanna say...2000, where he turned heel on Mick Foley for no reason(And kept giving him the testicular claw) and wrestled Stone Cold in the main event of a Smackdown. It was all done really poorly and came so out of nowhere, that no one bought into it at all. 

 

Wasn't the Val mini-push around the same time as Al Snow's mini-push heel turn based on all the jokes in Foley's book?  I feel like there were some Val/Snow - Rock/Sock matches back then, and the crowd just wasn't buying it.

 

There seemed to be a lot of guys the crowd just didn't buy getting briefly pushed into a high spot back then, continuing on into the early days of the brand split.  Val, Snow, Billy Gunn, Bubba Ray.  I think that is what made the initial Benoit/Jericho push so energizing.  It seemed like one of the rare times back then where who the WWE was trying to move up the card completely coincided with who the crowd wanted to see move up.

[Domino_Not_Deuce]

 

They had this weird attempt at elevating Val Venis in I wanna say...2000, where he turned heel on Mick Foley for no reason(And kept giving him the testicular claw) and wrestled Stone Cold in the main event of a Smackdown. It was all done really poorly and came so out of nowhere, that no one bought into it at all. 

 

Wasn't the Val mini-push around the same time as Al Snow's mini-push heel turn based on all the jokes in Foley's book?  I feel like there were some Val/Snow - Rock/Sock matches back then, and the crowd just wasn't buying it.

 

There seemed to be a lot of guys the crowd just didn't buy getting briefly pushed into a high spot back then, continuing on into the early days of the brand split.  Val, Snow, Billy Gunn, Bubba Ray.  I think that is what made the initial Benoit/Jericho push so energizing.  It seemed like one of the rare times back then where who the WWE was trying to move up the card completely coincided with who the crowd wanted to see move up.

 

 

There was a renewed Val push in mid-2000 when he and Rikishi had the cage match at Summerslam and he ditched the pornstar gimmick. Was right before the RTC gimmick and I don't remember fans taking to it then, even with Trish at his side.

[Overly Critical Man]

That was the weird period of time where he got a haircut, changed his gear so it became all white and looked generic as hell. It's no wonder no one bought into it.

[Curt McGirt]

 

He doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs - all of which are things Vince hates.

 

Well, he hates smoking. There is no doubt he has taken roids, probably snorted coke, and is known to have been plastered various times back in the '80s. Nowadays though, I can see your point.

[Victator]

People are confusing the Val pushes. He got a brief push in late 99 vs Mick Foley and Foley blames himself for Val not getting over. In mid 2000 he got involved in the IC Title feud with Bob Holly, Benoit and Jericho. Before moving on to Rikishi and he was doing well before getting put into RTC. 

[The Man Known as Dan]

Yeah, him being Trish's big singles act was the IC reign. That shit should have held, and was working rather well imo.

[Victator]

He also had a decent push during the initial Smackdown brand split. Some really good TV matches and then it just dried up.

[jaedmc]

 

Owen was really over doing the Sole Survivor thing. He should have at the very least had that title match at IYH: Degeneration X with Michaels instead of having it on RAW. I get that Michaels probably refused to work much with him, but the crowd was popping big for Owen at the time. 

 

 

I feel like Owen is the answer if anyone is.  He came back and was red hot attacking HBK, and then got shunted down to an endless Euro Title feud against HHH where every match seemed to end in Chyna cheating to give HHH the win.  The crowd was pretty red hot for Owen until it became clear he wasn't going to go over HHH, and then he randomly joined the Nation.

 

But you gotta wonder if Owen would really stick with the company. Bret said Owen was thinking about getting out of wrestling period after Montreal, so it's possible he wasn't worth pushing because he was just going to bounce anyway. Also, would you give a major title to the brother of the guy you just fucked on pay per view? Probably not. Especially compared to Triple H, who was working overtime to be involved.

 

What was Owen's contract status before he died? Was Blue Blazer probably going to be his last hurrah before leaving the biz or going to WCW?