So here we are, three weeks from the day that WWE put on their best show since last WrestleMania – and I’m still not that excited. Don’t get me wrong; WrestleMania 21 was by far the best show that I have seen WWE put on in a while. The matches were nearly flawless, the energy in the building came across on pay-per-view, and the “extra” that makes WrestleMania the spectacle that it is was certainly there.
I was happy to see The Undertaker extend his streak (which should remain from now until he retires) and I was happy to see Cena and Batista win their respective brand’s titles. Actually, after watching WrestleMania I was a little aggravated that I hadn’t found more time to watch Smackdown! in the past three years. It’s not because I am a bigger fan of Cena than I am Batista nor is it because the Smackdown! guys put on great performances during their matches.
I wished that I was a bigger Smackdown! fan because the last match of WrestleMania 21 will be remembered as the height of Batista’s career.
That’s pretty sad, folks. It’s pretty sad that a guy in his mid twenties has no forseeable future ahead of him now that he’s won the world title. Sure, maybe he could pop over to Smackdown! and win the WWE Championship and add that notch in his belt, but I doubt that will happen. I am, however, pretty confident of at least one thing happening in the next year…
Triple H will win the title back from Batista.
Some of you may now want to switch to another area of TBL, because I’m about to go on an anti-Triple H tirade.
What does it say about WWE when their biggest event of the year and the biggest event of a very popular superstar’s life is overshadowed by the fact that Triple H will eventually write himself back into the championship? That’s pretty disgusting if you ask me. Yeah I know – Triple H doesn’t write the scripts. And yes, I would agree that even though Triple H is married to the head writer, Stephanie is probably more professional than putting the title on her husband just because he’s her husband.
What bothers me is the bullshit campaign that Triple H has gone on in the past few years. It is no secret that he is out to break Ric Flair’s record by holding more than 16 world championships in the modern era of wrestling. Hey, that’s great. I am pretty confident that The Hurricane, Shannon Moore, Batista, Chris Benoit, John Cena, JBL, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Shelton Benjamin, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, and a host of other superstars would also like to break that record. But there is a difference between those men, Ric Flair, and Triple H.
Ric Flair won the majority of his title reigns because the people in charge knew that he was the man. He won his title reigns because the companies that he worked with needed a champion that they knew could perform day and night, night and day. But much more than these two facts, he won those championships because he was the absolute best at what he did – the fans loved to hate him when he was bad, they loved to cheer him when he was good, and they loved to watch him perform at all times.
The superstars that are in WWE today are made or broken on these very principles. If you cannot perform in the ring, you probably won’t get hired in the first place. If you cannot perform day in and day out, either you’ll break (Nathan Jones anyone?) or WWE will find a way to weed you out. If the fans just don’t like hating you and don’t like cheering you, chances are today that you’ll get the boot (not so in the past). But again, much more than all of these facts – if the fans adore you, if they love to watch you, love to hate you, love to cheer you…if the fans love you – you will become a champion in WWE.
Ask John Cena. Ask Chris Benoit. Ask Batista. Ask Eddie Guerrero.
They rose to fame through more than their ability to perform, more than their ability to sell merchandise, more than their “dedication” to the business. These men became champions because the people wanted them to become champions.
Then we have Triple H. People do not like cheering this man. They do not like hating this man. They may enjoy watching him perform (let’s face it – he’s seamless in the ring), but Triple H is missing that perpetual fan base that all of the greats before him had and all of the up and comers beneath him have.
Ric Flair won his titles because the fans loved to hate him. Shawn Michaels won his titles because the fans loved to cheer him. One year ago, Chris Benoit won the World Championship because the fans could not wait for it to happen any longer. This year, both John Cena and Batista rode the wave of major fan support to their respective brand’s titles.
And at some point later this year, my current disenfranchisement will be justified – Triple H will come out on top of his opponent once again and take the World Championship. No, not because the masses want him to be champion. And no, definitely not because the company has done well with him as champion. Triple H has it set in the minds of the writers at WWE that he is the best there is, period.
Folks – they believe it.
And as long as they believe it…well, Triple H can lose the title to anyone he wants. History proves that he’s going to convince WWE to give it back to him anyway, so who cares who won at WrestleMania 21?
That’s what the main event of WrestleMania has come to mean to me. I know that Triple H is manipulating the system in his favor – it’s obvious on it’s face. For me, and so many more wrestling fans these days, the question revolving around the main event of WrestleMania is no longer “Who won?” but “Who cares?”
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