When Vince McMahon stepped down from his position with WWE, many people were nervous about what would come next. For all the old man’s flaws, he was still the steady hand of the promotion for over 40 years. Who would fill that void now that he was gone?
Enter Triple H… the prodigal son-in-law.
Paul Levesque returned to a prominent executive role after months away from all the combustion. He had been laid up with heart-related issues. In his absence, everything he had built in NXT was completely changed, many of his hand-picked stars were released and all three brands were floundering. It was a dark time in WWE, punctuated by the scandal that shook up Titan Towers.
During his absence, Trips was having a heart monitor surgically implanted. One that fires an electrical pulse through him anytime his ticker starts to slow down. Thankfully, he’s firing on all cylinders these days, because the fans are reaping the benefits of his newfound vibrancy.
Since Assuming Power in WWE, Triple H Has Flipped the Switch on Some Big Changes in Programming
Let’s face it: For the past several years, World Wrestling Entertainment programming has been running low on juice. The battery was going dead and it needed a jolt. With what seemed to be no creative vision and storylines that went nowhere, the WWE Universe was growing weary of things basically going nowhere.
It was time for fresh ideas to send a charge through The Biggest Sports Entertainment Company in the World. Triple H has done that so far, and the audience is feeling the good vibrations of it all. Some fan favorites have been re-hired and several wrongs have been righted. Most notably, shifting NXT away from its ‘2.0 reboot’ back to what appears to be its original roots.
Some might say that The Cerebral Assassin is doing all this out of spite. They have speculated that he’s trying to prove a point to Vince, that he should have had more faith in him. Or, maybe this was all just a power grab on the part of Triple H and Stephanie, etc. and blah blah blah. Every motor mouth has an opinion.
Yes, Triple H has taken full control and he’s making big changes. If that means he’s on a ‘power trip’, then that’s fine. Besides? It wouldn’t be the first time. He and Steve Austin already pulled off a two-man act of the same name nearly 20 years ago. But that was just a storyline.
This Time? The Power Trip Is Very Real and Absolutely Vital to WWE’s Success
The new man in charge may be doing things in a hurry, but all that movement is providing a current throughout the WWE Universe. That energy was desperately needed, as viewership from both RAW and SmackDown was consistently low. However, since Triple H took over, the needle has been steadily climbing for both shows.
So far, it’s been a shot of juice for fans whose faith was starting to fade. It’s as if WWE was a car stalled on the side of the road, and Triple H just happened to come along with a set of jumper cables. It doesn’t matter who got us back on the right road. All that counts is that things are rolling forward now.
If the shock waves that he’s currently sending through the promotion are intended to re-energize the fan base? Then it’s working. The changes that Triple H is currently implementing have not just provided a spark; they’ve been more like a lightning strike. And that’s what’s powering WWE right now.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.
