5 Reasons Roman Reigns’ WWE Championship Run Has Succeeded
By Josh.0
wwe.com
4. The Wisdom of Triple H
As the heir apparent to the WWE kingdom, Paul Levesque knows a thing or two about the professional wrestling business. More importantly, he knows what it takes to develop a character from a simple gimmick into a lasting persona. Just before WrestleMania 32, Triple H spoke with CBS Sports and foreshadowed the difficulty Reigns would face:
"“You know, the hardest thing in this business to do now is, as a character, to either make everyone love you or everyone hate you…Choices now, and people’s opinions, are front and center more than ever.”"
Allow me to translate: “I don’t care what you nerds think.”
As part-time wrestler and full-time corporate executive, Triple H has to make tough decisions in and out of the ring. Besides being the brain-child behind NXT, he also has to assume the voice of reason when Vince decides that what fans really want to see is a tag team duo from Puerto Rico. Other tough decisions include deciding who gets which titles, a choice that is impossible to please everyone. As with any good story, the good guy can’t win all the time and Vince trusts Triple H to balance out fan satisfaction with the overall direction of the company. More than anyone, Triple H knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of someone else’s push.
In his first appearance at WrestleMania 12, Triple H faced the Ultimate Warrior in what amounted to a squash. The match lasted less than two minutes with Warrior no-selling a pedigree, recovering almost immediately, and finishing off Triple H for the win. Triple H has been exactly where Roman Reigns is now and he sees more than a little of himself in the future star. If he didn’t, Reigns would have never been chosen to wear the gold and would have been repackaged as someone else after his initial title run was ended.
Next: No. 3 Two to Tango