Triple H and the company's overuse of "he's that damn smart"

[Deleted]

Anyone think it's overboard? No I don't mean him on screen but this "he's the smartest dude in the room" thing. I've heard of faces being the smart guy but shit, the company thinks Triple H is Batman or something. There's no one smarter than him it seems. Let me bring it back to the old days.

Triple H '99-'05. This guy was literally Bruce Wayne.

Man, I straight up hated Triple H. I was in junior high/high school and I absolutely loathed the guy. I remember going to school and being so pissed about what he did on Raw the night before and just talking to my friends about it. He really made you hate him with all the antics he did. He's always been the smartest dude out there and somehow he's in every damn angle. Some parts where you think that maybe Triple H had nothing to do with it, come to find out he was behind it. One example was the "who hit Austin" storyline. We went through the motions and come to find out it might be Rock, next thing we know it's Rikishi. We think it's Rikishi for a while but guess what? Nope! It's Triple-f***ing-H. He hired Rikishi. Man, I was floored.

He's really that smart? You mean he's really that smart? Even worse?

The "Shawn gets attacked in the parking lot" thing. Triple H was already in a damn feud with HBK and in the middle of a promo against him, he gets called to the back. Come to find out someone took Shawn out and Triple H is worried, very worried, the dude immediately called off the feud to look after his friend. The next time we hear from HBK (a week or 2 later) he's talking to Triple H as friends and Shawn shows the footage. The assailant was Triple H. What? Are you kidding me? What's the damn point?

That was insane. Come on now. Let's also bring up that whole Batista/JBL thing in 05. You mean to tell me that Triple H was so smart he bought a damn limo, put horns on it and then got SD footage to use against Batista? Seth Rollins breaking up the Shield is also an example of it.

How smart is this guy? Since then the only person who's been noted to be just as smart, crafy and "villainy" has been Edge.

Anyone know any other notable angles where Triple H's brain ends up coming on top?

[Amazing Kitsune]

Well, on the surface of things he was smart enough to kidnap Stephanie McMahon on her wedding night and marry her as a means of sticking it to Vince, ruining his life, and garnering extra power and influence. This involved hiring a guy to drug Stephanie while at her Bachelorette Party. A pretty cunning plan.

...but that's only half of it.

You see, it only looked like he kidnapped Stephanie. It was actually part of a complex revenge plot that Triple H planned with Stephanie as a means of getting back at Vince for two things:

A) Humiliating Stephanie by using her as a pawn during the Ministry of Darkness plot to get the title from Steve Austin even though he didn't even have the title at the beginning of the storyline.

B) Humiliating Triple H by punishing him for the Curtain Call incident at MSG several years before.

So they planned it to only make it look like she loved Test. She didn't. The bachelorette party was a ruse. The Vegas wedding was real. Stephanie was in on it the whole time.

It was Stephanie. It was Stephanie all along.

Even her own family bought it. Even her own immediate family bought it.

Triple H appreciated irony.

But we should not discount Triple H's role in all of this. He was the one who made it all happen and put it all together. Stephanie was already furious with her father. Triple H is the one who pushed her into doing it. He saw an opportunity to get everything he wanted and he took it.

Triple H thinks of everything...most of the time.

The man even randomly quoted HP Lovecraft. On a pro-wrestling/sport-entertainment variety show!

[67 more]

Well, he is the Cerebral Assassin.

[The Tee Why]

So Triple H was a superhero alter ego then huh?

"literally"

[Just call me D.j.m.]

WWE.com's Top 10 Superstars of all time, and why HHH is #1-8.

[TheSchattenjager]

Triple H was LITERALLY Bruce Wayne?

[Amazing Kitsune]

Hey now.

The use of "literally" to make a hyperbolic statement should not be mocked.

[Urfarkendarf]

Oct 25, 2014 0:08:51 GMT -5 @kn said:

Anyone think it's overboard? No I don't mean him on screen but this "he's the smartest dude in the room" thing. I've heard of faces being the smart guy but shit, the company thinks Triple H is Batman or something. There's no one smarter than him it seems. Let me bring it back to the old days.

Triple H '99-'05. This guy was literally Bruce Wayne.

Man, I straight up hated Triple H. I was in junior high/high school and I absolutely loathed the guy. I remember going to school and being so pissed about what he did on Raw the night before and just talking to my friends about it. He really made you hate him with all the antics he did. He's always been the smartest dude out there and somehow he's in every damn angle. Some parts where you think that maybe Triple H had nothing to do with it, come to find out he was behind it. One example was the "who hit Austin" storyline. We went through the motions and come to find out it might be Rock, next thing we know it's Rikishi. We think it's Rikishi for a while but guess what? Nope! It's Triple-f***ing-H. He hired Rikishi. Man, I was floored.

He's really that smart? You mean he's really that smart? Even worse?

The "Shawn gets attacked in the parking lot" thing. Triple H was already in a damn feud with HBK and in the middle of a promo against him, he gets called to the back. Come to find out someone took Shawn out and Triple H is worried, very worried, the dude immediately called off the feud to look after his friend. The next time we hear from HBK (a week or 2 later) he's talking to Triple H as friends and Shawn shows the footage. The assailant was Triple H. What? Are you kidding me? What's the damn point?

That was insane. Come on now. Let's also bring up that whole Batista/JBL thing in 05. You mean to tell me that Triple H was so smart he bought a damn limo, put horns on it and then got SD footage to use against Batista? Seth Rollins breaking up the Shield is also an example of it.

How smart is this guy? Since then the only person who's been noted to be just as smart, crafy and "villainy" has been Edge.

Anyone know any other notable angles where Triple H's brain ends up coming on top?

Triple H is basically a McMahon now. He's married to Steph, Vince loves him and hes pretty much 150% involved witht he running of the company and is probably going to be CEO when Vince passes away (Steph will be that high too, but HHH will get that title and she will have another). Of course, they're going to put him over huge with hyperbolic statements and comparisons. You also seem to forget, even before he married Steph, he was already known as the "Cerebral Assassin" because of his ring psychology tactics. HHH has always been considered a "thinker" in strictly kayfabe terms. His feuds with Rock (even going way back to the Hunter Hearst Helmsley days), Foley, and even Jericho showed these aspects. The whole sledgehammer bit was put over as being "smart" and "crafty". I distinctly remember Jim Ross talking about HHH's smarts very early in his career (pre-DX). Its always been an aspect of his.

That said, I agree with you about "straight up hating HHH". I have only had that kind of heel heat for one guy since late 90s/early 2000s HHH and that was Edge during the Matt Hardy feud. Since then, I've come to like HHH a lot. He deserves the respect. Sure, he's never been the marquee guy except on very few occasions (i.e. his return from his quad injury) but he was a perfect heel foil for the big named faces during his prime. I LOVED seeing Triple H lose. He's also a decent enough face, but he's always been best as a mean and nasty heel. I also have come to like Edge a lot too (and despise Matt Hardy lol). Hell, I have NEVER been more pissed off at this company more than when HHH retained at WM2000. I was there for one and was a huge Rock mark. I didn't even boo. I was just silent for at least an hour after that ended.

[nm]

Oct 25, 2014 2:19:40 GMT -5 TheSchattenjager said:

Triple H was LITERALLY Bruce Wayne?

Yes. That's how smart he is.

[Deleted]

Oct 25, 2014 2:19:40 GMT -5 TheSchattenjager said:

Triple H was LITERALLY Bruce Wayne?

[mrbananagrabber]

Maybe he IS Batman. Can you prove he's not?

[Hit Girl]

It's why HHH is detrimental as an on-screen character. For all the good work he does behind the scenes, his character always prevails one way or another, and it hurts storylines.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Oct 25, 2014 4:58:27 GMT -5 mrbananagrabber said:

Maybe he IS Batman. Can you prove he's not?

Yes, were Triple H Batman, his mask would have to resemble one worn by a Plague Doctor in order to hold that big ol' nose of his.

[Abdullah]

Oct 25, 2014 6:18:39 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

It's why HHH is detrimental as an on-screen character. For all the good work he does behind the scenes, his character always prevails one way or another, and it hurts storylines.

Like when Daniel Bryan beat him clean at this past WM or when it looked like Brie could kick his ass, for even a moment, at Summerslam?

He still has a long way to go, I agree, but the guy has been okay this year. The Authority, as in Stephanie and HHH, mostly open the show now then let the goons take over.

[Hit Girl]

Oct 25, 2014 6:27:50 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

Oct 25, 2014 6:18:39 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

It's why HHH is detrimental as an on-screen character. For all the good work he does behind the scenes, his character always prevails one way or another, and it hurts storylines.

Like when Daniel Bryan beat him clean at this past WM or when it looked like Brie could kick his ass, for even a moment, at Summerslam?

He still has a long way to go, I agree, but the guy has been okay this year. The Authority, as in Stephanie and HHH, mostly open the show now then let the goons take over.

And what followed the Daniel Bryan victory? He was still called the B+, the troll, the goatface etc...If nothing changes, then the clean win means very little. It's all about the follow-up. If the big bad villain doesn't show some humility, then it's dismissed and meaningless.

[Abdullah]

Oct 25, 2014 8:10:35 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

Oct 25, 2014 6:27:50 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

Like when Daniel Bryan beat him clean at this past WM or when it looked like Brie could kick his ass, for even a moment, at Summerslam?

He still has a long way to go, I agree, but the guy has been okay this year. The Authority, as in Stephanie and HHH, mostly open the show now then let the goons take over.

And what followed the Daniel Bryan victory? He was still called the B+, the troll, the goatface etc...If nothing changes, then the clean win means very little. It's all about the follow-up. If the big bad villain doesn't show some humility, then it's dismissed and meaningless.

Fair enough. I'd say that's the least of post-WM's troubles for Bryan; the Kane feud and Brie when it should have been Bryan/Shield versus The Authority/Miz or Sheamus. They dropped the ball on that.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

All I see are examples of why he's arguably the best heel WWE's ever had. Yes, even better than Mr. McMahon, Dibiase, Jake Roberts and Piper.

[Adam Black]

Edge over powers HHH in terms of making a guy look like shit in the ring. I remember they had a match against each other and there it is again Edge with his "making-guy-look-like-shit" powers going to work. I think Edge won clean.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Oct 25, 2014 8:10:35 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

Oct 25, 2014 6:27:50 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

Like when Daniel Bryan beat him clean at this past WM or when it looked like Brie could kick his ass, for even a moment, at Summerslam?

He still has a long way to go, I agree, but the guy has been okay this year. The Authority, as in Stephanie and HHH, mostly open the show now then let the goons take over.

And what followed the Daniel Bryan victory? He was still called the B+, the troll, the goatface etc...If nothing changes, then the clean win means very little. It's all about the follow-up. If the big bad villain doesn't show some humility, then it's dismissed and meaningless.

Why should the villain HAVE to show humility? When has a heel ever done that without it being part of a face turn?

To me, it just doesn't seem like something a heel would do otherwise. Normally they just keep spouting their BS and move on to the next feud.

[Hit Girl]

Oct 25, 2014 10:31:26 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Oct 25, 2014 8:10:35 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

And what followed the Daniel Bryan victory? He was still called the B+, the troll, the goatface etc...If nothing changes, then the clean win means very little. It's all about the follow-up. If the big bad villain doesn't show some humility, then it's dismissed and meaningless.

Why should the villain HAVE to show humility? When has a heel ever done that without it being part of a face turn?

To me, it just doesn't seem like something a heel would do otherwise. Normally they just keep spouting their BS and move on to the next feud.

The villain has to show humility towards the person who won the feud, even if it's grudgingly done. Then they both move on to their next feuds. There would have been nothing wrong with HHH and Stephanie simply saying that they were wrong about Daniel Bryan, and although they don't have to like him, they can at least respect him. It would have made them all look good, and that's the core principle of wrestling booking.