Posted in: Mr. Tito
MR. TITO STRIKES BACK - Triple H Needs to Step Up as WWE Executive Vice President of CREATIVE
By Mr. Tito
Sep 11, 2015 - 1:09:38 AM

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @titowrestling

Let's go back to 1982... Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr. purchased the World Wrestling Federation (WWF which would later become WWE) from his father, Vincent James McMahon Sr.. Vince Sr. was in his late 60's when he sold his company to his son and 2 years later, Vince Sr. passed away from pancreatic cancer just before his 70th birthday on May 24th, 1984.

Before he did, Vince McMahon Sr. received phone calls from angry wrestling promoters due to what his son, Vince McMahon Jr., was doing to the wrestling industry. Almost immediately, Vince Jr. began to convert the Northeast / Washington DC area based WWF territory into a national promotion. Through the early 1980's, pro wrestling was based on territories and promoters of each territory honored boundaries. Better yet, most promoters got along and would exchange talent from time to time to keep their territories fresh. In addition, each wrestling territory controlled wrestling programming in their local markets.

Vince Jr. went on his attack on the old territory system almost immediately. First of all, he began to strike deals with local television markets to syndicate WWF programming and in some cases, acquire exclusive deals to be the only wrestling program allowed to air on particular channels. This bumped off many territory wrestling programs and without television exposure, the territories immediately began to weaken. Then, the WWF began flirting with the rising Cable Television market which had channels available nationally. On top of exposing the nation to the WWF through television, Vince Jr. began raiding territories of their top talent. Vince Jr. began to borrow excess amounts of money to acquire the best talent in the nation which would serve to bolster the WWF and weaken the territories further. When many wrestling historians suggest that Wrestlemania 1 and later Wrestlemania 3 would "make or break" WWE financially, they weren't kidding based on the money that Vince Jr. was spending to expand.

Vince McMahon Sr. had to hear all of his old territory friends gripe about what his own flesh and blood was doing to the wrestling business. Sadly, he couldn't lecture his son for too long as he would soon pass away months after Hulk Hogan became Vince Jr.'s new WWF Champion. Yes, Hulk Hogan, the one that Vince McMahon Sr. wouldn't allow to film an appearance for Rocky 3. Hogan left the WWF during 1980 and returned to the WWF during late 1983 after Vince McMahon Jr. became owner.

Vince Sr. had to spend his last 2 years watching the company that he had built up since 1954 into something entirely different. Vince McMahon Jr. was quoted in a 1991 issue of Sports Illustrated as famously saying "had my father known what I was going to do, he never would have sold his stock to me". I'm sure that early on, Vince Sr. misunderstood what his son was attempting and knew that it would disrupt many of his friendships developed over the years. I'm sure there was some regret expressed by Vince Sr. over selling the company...

I'm sure that Vince McMahon Jr. remembers 1982-1984 quite well during the last years of his father's life. By selling to Vince Jr., Vince Sr. "retired" from the business and had no control over his predecessor's actions. Vince Sr. had to sit there and watch his legacy be dismantled...

With that being said, as the old George Santayana quote goes: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Do you honestly think that Vince McMahon will retire from the WWE? Sure, he's 70 years old and he has officially exceeded his father in age... But do you think that he wants to spend the rest of his life watching his baby, his legacy, and what he worked hard on for 30 years be dismantled by the ownership or CEO that follows him? No chance in hell!

Vince is currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the WWE. According to the 2014 Proxy Statements, Vince owns about 39.3 million shares of WWE common stock of about 75.5 million shares. Do the math, that's more than half... In addition, Vince McMahon, as board chairman, also has the WWE Corporation's ownership votes. Oh yeah, his wife Linda (6.5 million) and daughter Stephanie McMahon (2.5 million, HHH only owns about 50,764 shares himself) add to his totals. But even by himself, Vince owns more than 50% of WWE stock and retains the CEO/Board Chairman titles that he doesn't have to give up...

What's my point?

Triple H, the WWE Corporation's Executive Vice President (EVP) of Talent, Live Events, and Creative, should not wait around or hold his breath on Vince McMahon. He's NOT retiring anytime soon... Sure, Vince has given high daughter Stephanie more executive responsibilities (Chief Brand Officer, Director) at the offices and more duties backstage for Triple H, but Vince McMahon still has final say.

Vince McMahon is constantly shredding scripts that are handed to him by Stephanie and now Triple H's WWE Creative Team and forcing rewrites just hours before shows. Furthermore, Vince keeps utilizing the same playbook and disregarding any changes to the wrestling industry... He still pushes male wrestlers based on look. Roman Reigns showed no signs of being an experienced singles wrestler or any type of main event draw. No problem... Vince gave Reigns back-to-back WWE Title shots following the Shield/Evolution field, gave him the 2014 "Wrestler of the Year" Slammy, and had him win the 2015 Royal Rumble. Additionally, Vince is still suck in his Sable playbook. He's looking for a mega superstar female personality (not wrestler) who can draw based on looks alone. That's why Nikki Bella is getting pushed so hard right now, in addition to her Total Divas success, and why other females like Kelly Kelly were pushed over any female who could actually work.

Already, we're seeing the Divas Revolution being marginalized and diminished by Vince and his old Executive Producer friend, Kevin Dunn. Former NXT Divas Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks put on amazing matches in NXT and all 3 are exactly what the WWE should want... Females who very beautiful but can also perform in the ring. After all, WWE remains a wrestling company now matter how much it claims to invest in movies and other industries. Last time I checked, the WWE still puts on wrestling events, shows, and Pay Per Views. They still wrestle over titles and act like a sports competition. Charlotte, Lynch, and Sasha have been forced to mix up with the older Divas divisions and the mix has not worked. Furthermore, Vince and Dunn still believe that Total Divas draws in new fans to RAW/Smackdown and yet both shows have seen nothing but ratings declines since Total Divas started.

HHH has to be PISSED about how Kevin Owens has been treated since his first John Cena match. Not many wrestlers get to debut against the company's top star, let alone defeat him. Kevin Owens did that and his match at WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 is a "Match of the Year" candidate. Ditto for the second match at WWE Money in the Bank 2015. Great, amazing matches... But, what has he done lately? Many losses and getting moved down the card. Reportedly, WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn does not like Kevin Owens's thicker overweight look. Even though guys like Dusty Rhodes and Mick Foley didn't have the chiseled look of a bodybuilder, they were still successful. While image is everything, talent matters too... Kevin Owens can flat-out wrestle and nobody has pushed John Cena to a better singles match (excluding the 3 way match at Royal Rumble) than Owens. But yet, he's depushed due to his look...

I believe that Triple H talked Vince McMahon out of the Roman Reigns WWE Title crowning at Wrestlemania 31. It certainly helped that Brock Lesnar re-signed with the WWE on a Tuesday before Wrestlemania 31, but Vince McMahon was reportedly hell bent on Roman becoming champion. However, plans changed and by Wrestlemania Sunday, Seth Rollins was reportedly told of the WWE Title plans. There were some insider reports that suggested Roman was disappointed in not winning the WWE Title and several of Roman's family members were quite outspoken online about Roman Reigns not winning the WWE Title at Wrestlemania 31.

HOWEVER - The use of Seth Rollins after Wrestlemania 31 has been very questionable. Seth Rollins has lost his finishing move (the Curb Stomp), has constantly argued with Kane and the Authority, and just isn't allowed to portray the evil heel that he once was before the WWE Title. The result? 500,000 lost viewers of RAW this summer and Smackdown is also reeling from diminished viewership as well. Now that football is back, we're pushing under 3.5 million viewers which pushes us into 2000 WCW Nitro territory on viewership. Not good and the Hulu/DVR numbers are negligible in that difference because RAW was pushing or at 4 million viewers before Wrestlemania 31.

At some point, Triple H needs to realize that he's the EVP of Talent, Live Events, and CREATIVE. He has to stand up to Vince McMahon backstage. After all, Triple H is, in fact, a former WWE wrestler and a successful one at that. Secondly, Triple H has now proven track record in developing talent since mid 2012 and boosting the NXT brand to be a successful exclusive entity to watch on WWE Network (and Hulu). HHH should be able to use that success to push leverage backstage against other influences, such as Kevin Dunn. Dunn is such a strong influence because he's loyal to Vince and hardworking. When the WWE expanded RAW to 2 hours and live, added 2 hours of Smackdown, and added 1 hour of Sunday Night Heat, Dunn took on the challenge... He's been responsible for producing many of the DVD/Blu-Ray and other WWE projects like Tough Enough and Total Divas. Not an easy job to do particularly trying to translate specifically what Vince McMahon wants.

BUT, Kevin Dunn can be wrong... Vince McMahon can also be wrong... Triple H has to speak up and do more with the WWE brand. Wrestling fans are hungry for good wrestling storylines in the WWE. Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn having final say over what Stephanie/Triple H/Michael PS Hayes/Hollywood Writers have submitting just isn't working. World Titles are diminished, many developmental wrestlers have not met their potential when called up to the WWE, and there are no back-up babyface wrestlers to John Cena that could replace him. NXT is drawing well because the wrestling storylines are connecting fans emotionally to the wrestlers and following through with great completions to those stories. Just watch the Bayley NXT Divas Title victory at Takeover Brooklyn against Sasha Banks. You almost want to cry when you see Bayley win that title because of what she had to overcome. Just to make a point about Vince/Dunn, I really worry about how they'll use Bayley. After all, the Divas Revolution could have called Bayley up but it didn't...

In my opinion, where Triple H can become a greater influence over Vince McMahon is by developing the next HUGE babyface wrestler through this NXT developmental system. In other words, he needs to find the next guy in the lineage (or close to) Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Rock, or John Cena. If Triple H can deliver that next big drawing superstar in pro wrestling, Vince McMahon will love him even more than he does now. HHH may have given Vince McMahon grandchildren to enjoy but if Triple H can deliver the next big male wrestling draw, that may top giving him grandchildren...

Take a look at the careers of former VP of Talent Relations Jim Ross and former Lead Writer Vince Russo. Jim Ross was able to build a developmental system that kept restocking the WWE roster with fresh superstars for years while also nailing free agent signings from WCW/ECW such as Mick Foley and Steve Austin. Vince Russo joined the WWE Creative team during 1996 when new creative ideas were needed. Momentum began to heavily shift by late 1997 and by mid-1998, WWE became the #1 promotion again and began to pull away by a wide margin during 1999. Both Russo and Ross, because of their success in supplying talent and great new ideas to Vince, were respected and given leeway backstage. It's funny... You never heard of Kevin Dunn as a major contributor during the Attitude Era. Why? Because he was just an Executive Producer back then and Vince McMahon didn't have to look for an old friend to bounce ideas off of.

That is all Triple H has to deliver... Male wrestler draw. Someone who can wear that WWE Title and make fans want to pay top dollar to see wrestle.

Is that guy employed by the WWE now? I don't know... We've seen some recent NXT call-ups such as Neville and Kevin Owens. We're seeing some Vince/Dunn resistance on Owens and Neville has been mostly used as a midcarder. For the future from NXT, I don't think Samoa Joe can rekindle the magic from the mid-2000's. He's just older (36) and has accumulated injuries from wrestling tough, tough matches over the years. Joe seems a bit slower than he once was and that is understandable if you've seen some of his work from the 2000's. He should have been in the WWE then... Finn Balor.... I just don't know. I think he'll make a good WWE wrestler but someone who can appeal to the mainstream WWE audience? Hard to say...

Past NXT call-ups, who knows? Just remember, not many people predicted that Austin, Foley, Triple H, or the Rock would become the Attitude Era's MEGA STARS. Steve Austin was called the "Ringmaster" when he first arrived for Christ's sake! I still think there is potential in all 3 former Shield members (Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns) but they just need time developing as singles wrestlers. I worry that too much damage has been done by bad booking for Rollins and Ambrose while pushing Reigns too fast. I think Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper are very talented but I just wonder if the Deliverance gimmick holds them back from being taken more seriously. Rusev is not bad but he's being used too much to get Lana over which is ridiculous. Cesaro is one of my most favorite in-ring performers but I can understand how difficult he could be to market to a wider WWE audience. But I've heard loud pops for him at times...

But like I said, that next drawing wrestler could be in the WWE right now. All it takes is a matter of luck and a moment like "Austin 3:16" or a "Pipebomb" speech to get over or maybe a great gimmick like Degeneration X. There's more luck involved than you think... With Triple H being in charge of CREATIVE and TALENT, he has a real chance to make a major difference in the WWE to position a wrestler to eventually replace John Cena as the top babyface drawing wrestler.

If I were Triple H, I'd raid every talent avenue possible... Comb the Independent Wrestling scene and acquire the best wrestlers possible. To HHH's credit, he has done that, but I'd go overboard on that with the prospects of TNA Wrestling and Global Force Wrestling not exactly proving to be long-term places to earn a living as a pro wrestler. Triple H has his pick of any great wrestling talent out there. He should continue making midcard divisions in NXT look great. He's trying to get tag team wrestling back while his success with the WWE Divas speaks for itself.

But to get that 1 male babyface draw would make HHH legendary as a WWE Executive and it would make all fans ask "Kevin Dunn who?".

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PHAT QUESTIONS

Question #1 - The Nintendo 3DS has 50 million units worldwide owned by gamers and yet no new WWE games by 2K Sports. Why?

Since I'm a hardcore wrestling fan and Nintendo fanboy, I'm getting this question often and I believe that I've answered it several times already... Simple answer. If you own a Nintendo system, you like to play Nintendo trademark games such as Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc., and if you are a handheld player, Pokemon. Other games just don't sell that well... The 3DS is the top selling system of this gaming generation and yet big Third Party game producers want no part of it. Why? Because they don't sell.

Don't believe me? If you look at the Nintendo 3DS's game sales numbers, no Third Party game appears in their Top 10 list. Seriously... Capcom and their Monster Hunter series, along with a few Square-Enix titles, are the only entries to appear on the top 25 list and to also sell at least 1 million or more. Therefore, the WWE All Stars 3DS title didn't sell 1 million copies... Then again, that title sort of bombed for THQ with only 1.3 million copies reportedly sold across all platforms for the WWE All Stars Title. Ouch.

As I've suggested for a while now, if WWE would just port WWE No Mercy for the Nintendo 64 and advertise it as such, that game would sell. Just update the roster and sell it... Only problem would be multiplayer and if you'd do anything online. But I bet a WWE No Mercy game from the N64 era would sell 1,000,000. If it sold at $39.99 like any other 3DS game, do the math...

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Question #2 - Do you think that WWE would ever employ Kurt Angle again?

I don't know... What Kurt Angle did during 2006 was something that Vince McMahon might not be able to forgive... As you'll recall, Angle had injuries mounting and discussed with Vince to be released from his WWE contract to heal up. I think he sold a "retirement" story to the WWE, they believed him, and granted Angle his release during the Fall of 2006. Then, 1 month later, Kurt Angle appears in TNA wrestling. Guys who did this, such as Lex Luger and Jeff Jarrett, have been mostly blackballed by the WWE as a result.

I think the WWE Corporation would have concerns over his legal troubles while also worrying about his 46 year old age combined with many injuries sustained. Returning to being a full time wrestler could be out of the question as the WWE Corporation would worry about his health long-term. Short term, though, he could out well for whatever tread is left on his tires. In my opinion, where Angle could be used best is as a NXT trainer. Nobody has learned more quickly in the wrestling business than Angle. He became a pro wrestler by 1998 and by early 2000, you could see that he was exceptional as a wrestling superstar. The guy not only knows how to perform in the ring but he also knew how to draw heat. Amazing personality that got him over and Angle became "the man" by 2001-2003 when his in-ring ability caught up to him.

I would wonder if something else would serve Angle better than a WWE return such as Japan or Ring of Honor. With Vince still in the WWE, I don't know how Angle could ever get a fair shake.

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Question #3 - Does Performance Enhancers and any other Drug use still exist in the WWE despite the Wellness Policy?

Does PED or other drug use still exist in the National Football League (NFL) or Major League Baseball (MLB) despite their testing programs? Ditto for the Olympics... As long as there is an incentive to cheat, whether it's performance or cosmetic, drug use will always exist. The incentive is too great. In order for an athlete or a wrestler to maximize their income in their short shelf life as an athlete or entertainer, they have to do whatever it takes they feel.

Now, what the Wellness Policy does, however, is to help keep liability away from the WWE. By having a policy in place and regular drug testing, WWE can show regulators documentation of testing and the policy's effectiveness. They can't stop everything but they have to prove to the law that something is in place as an internal control. Right now, you're seeing lawsuits over concussions but I also think lawsuits regarding steroid/HGH use are coming as well. With the WWE having a Wellness Policy since early 2006 and strengthening that after June 2007 (you know why), they can at least show that they are trying to test and abide by the law.

What WWE has to avoid, however, are any exceptions to the Wellness Policy. In other words, are there any one exempted from testing or are there any failed tests that are getting swept under the rug.

Can't stop everything especially when the incentive to cheat is there... It's nice to make money and many athletes are using steroids through safer means now than many years before.

SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE!

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