Triple H recently gave a rare, shoot interview with Powerslam Magazine. In a style blatantly stolen from the PWTorch’s article here are some choice quotes from Triple H, followed by my commentary on each:
"I've always said that I won't be one of those guys still wrestling at 50 or 60. I look at the business now from the other side and, if I was Vince McMahon, I'd know when to tell me to step away. Right now, the talent's not there: there is no depth. But, yeah, I do think about retiring: wrestling isn't the only thing in my life, like it was when I broke in. If my family asked me to give up wrestling tomorrow, I'd do it in a heartbeat for them, and I'd never look back."
While this sounds good, it’s something every guy has to say, along with, “No, honey, your ass doesn’t look fat in that dress at all.” Hunter here gives himself at least a decade more of wrestling, extending his career to somewhere between 50 and 60. I always get the feeling he’d be a great booker so long as he wasn’t booing himself.
"People say the power I have puts me in a position of dominance but, if I lost that power, I'd be quite happy/ It's all about what benefits the business for me. ...The critics I listen to are the ones I can hear when I walk into the arena. When people aren't caring about me anymore, I'll know."
So he’s saying he’d be happy to get a divorce? Short of that, how exactly would he lose power? He’s a top guy, booked strong against everyone – of course he gets the response he does. He should experiment, push, say, John Morrison as hard as Triple H himself is booked for a year, not the 10 for Triple H, for one year, and then see the response he gets. If response is all that matters, why does Evan Bourne, who got a great response, do jobs now?
"When I was coming up, there were lots of places to work and learn your craft and, by the time you got called up to the WWE, you already had plenty of ability - whereas now, you achieve a bit of success and you come in before you've learned. There's fewer places to send wrestlers where you can let them make mistakes. Guys used to say that WWE wouldn't even look at you until you've had five years' experience. But, now, we're looking at guys who've had between six months and a year."
So, with no depth, let’s do a brand extension so we have to rush everyone onto television. If they want guys to be great right away, leave them in FCW for a year or two and have them work with legends who still wrestle like Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton.
"C.M. Punk is obviously already on his way to becoming a big star. Jack Swagger, I like. Sheamus. Evan Bourne is very good. Kofi Kingston. They are all moving up, but slowly, which is the right way."
Bourne went from working with Mysterio and Kane to jobbing every week. The others are fine, but come on about Bourne. How slow did the Rock come up? Main Event of Wrestlemania within three years, you say? Balderdash, he didn’t do things the right way.
“You put C.M. Punk in a 30-minute match with The Undertaker, it’s 50-50 all the way and then Punk wins clean, the fans won’t accept it. It does nothing for C.M. Punk, and it’s also detrimental to the Undertaker.”
Matches should never really be 50-50 as it’s almost impossible to build drama that way, but Punk losing in a longer match would have made him seem more serious.
“The closest (younger star) to me is probably Sheamus, because we always train together on the road. But I try to watch all the young guys’ matches and give them advice, if they want to hear it,”… “If they take advice to heart and really want to improve, them I am wanting to help. As for seeing some of myself in someone? That’s tough. Sheamus just the other day showed up at a show he didn’t have to be at. He does whatever he’s asked to do without complaining, he goes to every show and is always wanting to work: he does it all, goes above and beyond. That’s what I was like.”
What I don’t like is that Sheamus was in a program with Shelton Benjamin on ECW. He was being groomed as a contender for Christian. Now, because he’s buddies with Triple H, he’s on Raw, which is already stacked with young heels between The Miz, Jack Swagger, and Legacy. How is that bringing guys along slowly?
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