wrestling / Columns
The Shimmy 9.17.07: The Triple H Report Card (Part Three)
Hey there, everybody. How are we this week? Glad to hear it. If you’re here that means you’re interesting in reading Part Three of the Triple H Report Card. Well then you’re in the right place because we have an entire year’s worth of Triple H PPV goodness! Enough of the small talk, let’s get to it!
2002 Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 2002)
I’ve often stated that this is my least favorite Rumble Match (although the 2006 version may actually beat it out, even if I did love the Rey victory) but this match did have some good moments. The tension between Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin was one of them. Triple H winning the Rumble didn’t really surprise anybody, but at least they made it interesting on the way to the win. In retrospect I think WWE would have been better served to have done Triple H-Austin at WrestleMania instead of Triple H-Jericho, but hindsight is 50-50. The match isn’t my favorite but Triple H’s role here is pretty decent.
My Grade: C
No. 1 Contender’s Match: Triple H vs. Kurt Angle; Guest Referee: Stephanie McMahon (No Way Out 2002)
You’d think these two men would match up well but this was another case of Angle and Triple H not delivering. Stephanie as the ref was pretty bad too. Add to everything the fact that the match was made moot the next night when Triple H, who had been screwed out of his title shot in this match, won it back on Raw. I guess they had to have Triple H kill some time between the Rumble and WrestleMania, but this seemed like too much. Very WCW-ish, or at least a bad Attitude Era copy.
My Grade: C-
WWE Title Match: Chris Jericho© vs. Triple H (WrestleMania X8)
Yet another disappointment. This match should have been a great match as it was a good match up based on the history between these two men. Unfortunately the build was less than spectacular and didn’t even revolve around Jericho, and the emotion for Rock-Hogan pretty much sapped the crowd. While the match itself isn’t as bad as some say, it was still a disappointing WrestleMania main event.
My Grade: C+
WWE Title Match: Triple H© vs. Hulk Hogan (Backlash 2002)
I have a feeling I’m alone here, but I quite enjoyed this match. I was incredibly surprised when they decided to have Hogan win the title off of Triple H here, especially after his big WrestleMania win. The match felt like a big time deal and it really seemed like a dream match, even if it wasn’t one that was at the top of everyone’s lists (as opposed to say, Rock-Goldberg which failed to deliver anything special or memorable). The ending interference from Jericho and Undertaker was kind of confusing (I understand Jericho didn’t want Triple H to win, but Undertaker wanting Hogan to win so he could fight Hogan for the title instead of Triple H made Hogan look weak) but ultimately I think the match delivered. It’s kind of weird watching Triple H actually show respect to Hogan seeing as how I don’t think I’ve heard Triple H say a nice thing about him since.
My Grade: B+
Hell in a Cell Match: Triple H vs. Chris Jericho (Judgment Day 2002)
And so the string of summertime Hell in a Cells for Triple H begins. This wasn’t a bad match, but it was a bit underwhelming. At this point getting out of the Cell was more of an important issue in these matches, so the match did progress to the top of the Cell. Jericho was an easy job boy here, but he did look strong in the loss. Perhaps the most notable thing about this match was the injury to Tim White which would eventually lead to the Tim White suicide videos in 2005.
My Grade: B-
WWE Title Match: Undertaker© vs. Triple H (King of the Ring 2002)
Wow, talk about a stinker. I rewatched this match about a year ago thinking it couldn’t be as bad as I remembered it. The first time I watched it I had come home from a concert, was apparently suffering from second hand pot-smoke munchies, and was quite tired watching the PPV replay, so perhaps I had a slanted point of view. As it turns out the second hand pot apparently HELPED the quality of the match because this was God awful. The match was sloppy, the finish was botched, the whole thing just came off badly. I will say I enjoyed The Rock’s participation in the match (I love anything with The Rock in it) and we briefly got to hear from the JR-Lawler-Paul Heyman three man announce team that I’ve been clamoring for for years. Other than that this match has nothing to offer. The Rock and Heyman are what’s saving this match from getting an F.
My Grade: D-
Unsanctioned Street Fight: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam 2002)
This match had no right to be this good. This was Shawn Michaels’ first match back in over four years and boy was it a great one. This was the first time I had ever seen Shawn Michaels wrestle in real time and boy was I impressed. HBK brought back some of the magic of old and showed just what he had left in the tank. For his part Triple H did a great job of completely heeling it up here, just obliterating Michaels’ back for the entire match. At the time it was unknown if Shawn Michaels would wrestle again after this or if this was his one last hurrah. If this had been Michaels’ real last match that would have been OK. The ending of the match really helped lend to that unpredictability, as Triple H delivered two brutal sledgehammer shots to the back of Shawn Michaels. Would this signal the end of HBK’s career? Or would he come back to extract revenge on his former friend?
My Grade: A+
World Heavyweight Title Match: Triple H© vs. Rob Van Dam (Unforgiven 2002)
The match was OK, but I think it was ultimately a disappointment. Triple H vs. Rob Van Dam should have been a big deal, almost a dream match. But the position this match held on the card (midway) and the finish (RVD not winning) took away from what was a decent, but not overwhelmingly good, match. The most notable thing about this match was that this match featured the first “Ric Flair is down and out because he’s old, gets picked up by a face, looks to be on the face’s side but then turns on the face to side with Triple H” bit that would be repeated with Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Batista over the next three years.
My Grade: C+
World Heavyweight Title vs. Intercontinental Title, Unification Match: Triple H© vs. Kane© (No Mercy 2002)
Ah yes, the Katie Vick era. For those that don’t know, WWE had the brilliant idea (that’s sarcasm) to unify the World Heavyweight Title and Intercontinental Title at No Mercy. Bad idea, but OK, I’ll go along. Kane won the IC Title from Chris Jericho to set up his match with Triple H (who defended the World Title against Bubba Ray Dudley of all people to keep his spot in the match, although to be fair Bubba got a significant push on Raw during the first few months of the Brand Extension). Following Kane’s participation in the big TLC Match on Raw Roulette a few weeks before No Mercy Triple H revealed that Kane had a secret: he was a murderer. I actually wouldn’t have minded too much if we had found out Kane had killed somebody, that actually fit his character. But instead it was revealed that Kane (who was supposedly locked away at home through his childhood) had been in a car accident as a teenager alongside his good friend Katie Vick who died in the crash. Triple H then proceeded to claim that Kane had had sex with Katie Vick’s dead body on the side of the road, even getting rather graphic with the forensic evidence. If the story wasn’t bad enough, the following week on Raw Triple H would present a very long and very disturbing reenactment of the Kane-Dead Katie tryst, with Triple H playing the role of Kane and a mannequin (laying in a coffin) playing the role of Katie. With a backstory like that it would need to be one hell of a match to compensate. This was not that match. It was rather boring and anticlimactic. Again it came on in the middle of the show, and instead of it feeling like they put it there just so the two title matches wouldn’t suck the heat from one another, this just felt like it was a midcard match. The match was actually quite forgettable (the WWE would realize their mistake and bring the IC Title back in May 2003) but unfortunately the angle leading up to it isn’t.
My Grade: D+
World Heavyweight Title, Elimination Chamber Match: Triple H© vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam (Survivor Series 2002)
My opinion on this match keeps changing. At first I was disappointed as I didn’t feel like the Elimination Chamber was as brutal as it was hyped, especially coming off of a gory Hell in a Cell Match. However, looking back it was an innovative match and was a decent debut for the gimmick. The real story here was Shawn Michaels winning a World Championship for the first time in four years. Triple H gets the extra special toughness award for finishing the match with a crushed larynx, courtesy of Rob Van Dam. From what I’ve heard it could have been very bad for Triple H had they not acted quickly (if the match had gone longer Triple H may not be with us any more), so finishing the match took a lot of guts.
My Grade: B+
World Heavyweight Title, 3 Stages of Hell Match (Street Fight, Steel Cage, Ladder): Shawn Michaels© vs. Triple H (Armageddon 2002)
I’m sure I’m in the vast minority on this one, but I really didn’t dig this match. Which is disappointing, too, because the gimmick behind it is a damn good one, one that could have ended up being so much better. At this point I don’t think anybody wanted to see Triple H back with the belt, and I think there were some bitter feelings left over from getting screwed out of HBK-RVD a few weeks earlier. This certainly wasn’t a bad match but one of the weaker Triple H-HBK matches. Oh, and the “will he be Shawn Michaels or The Showstopper” storyline was really dumb. This was merely a formality for Triple H to get his title back.
My Grade: C+
Well that’s it for 2002. Man, I was more negative this week than I had planned. Hopefully 2003 will be better, although I can guarantee you the first two matches I talk about won’t be. 2003 will be either next week or the week after, so stay tuned.
Andy! Andy! At Last You Have Some Feedback!
Jonathan Malankar comments on my WrestleMania 24 card:
Very solid card there my friend. I think the triple threat main event would be out of this world and easily top the benoit triple threat since cena happens to be the master of triple threats. Who wins though? Wait, stupid question, cena of course.
I love the idea of lashley vs. undertaker too, they should end the streak with a young rub. Taker has said he’s willing to lose to kane among others at wrestlemania, so I don’t think he’d oppose it.
Orton should be given something to do, same for Rey and King Booker. As much as I love MITB, it becomes an excuse for not giving programs to some great wrestlers (i.e. why in the world didn’t Orton vs. Edge happen this year??? Forget Edge’s jaw).
Anyways, otherwise great stuff, but I thought an IWC card would have the cruiserweight and US titles represented.
I’ve made it clear that I’m not a supporter of Undertaker losing at WrestleMania, but if it did happen it would make sense to give a younger guy the rub. It also has to be someone that WWE is sure they are going to push. They couldn’t give the win to somebody like Chris Masters for instance and then decide to job him out. Beating Undertaker at WrestleMania should be akin to winning a World Title, and they need to protect that investment. I agree that Orton, Rey, and Booker should be given something to do, and like I said, I’m kind of down with the doomed Orton-Batista match. Booker may not need to be booked on the show, though. We should find out in about 60 days or so. Edge vs. Orton would have been great this year because their match on Raw the night after Backlash rocked. Edge’s jaw really would have prevented him from competing though, so I understand. Personally I would have had John Morrison win the Battle Royal for Edge’s MITB shot (remember they booked that to swerve the IWC about a week before Mania) and taken Edge out. It was incredibly stupid to end Edge’s undefeated streak in a mutli-man match like this when he really didn’t need to be there. They could have had Edge conduct a Cutting Edge segment later in the show to get him on the card and help fill some of the dead time. Plus, Morrison could have used the continued push (they looked like they may have pushed him when he got that mean streak after he lost his MITB Qualifier) and something like that might have made it seem a bit less awkward when he won the ECW Title. I may be a member of the IWC but that doesn’t mean I needed to put the US Title or Cruiserweight Title on the card. I would imagine the US Champion would be in the MITB Match, and it would take a real marquee match or well booked Cruiserweight Title feud to get that belt on the show. I’m not in favor of putting midcarders on the show at the expense of the top stars just for the sake of getting a title defense in.
Chris Jacobs comments on two matches I talked about last week:
On the rock and HHH iron man match, a somewhat hidden highlight of shawn michaels, as Rock went for the People’s Elbow, shawn shuffled sideways as he does going in for the kick, as he did when he screwed the Rock last time, and given there history of hatred, he probabally didn’t pull it, lol. Anyway he shuffled in looking like the kick was coming, but he was basically shuffling out of the way of the rock to get a better look at the offensive move and go right into the pinfall with no shifty screwings of any sort.
I also agree on how you commented on my comment for the show, rock, hhh match, yeah the bait and switch they pulled there was a pretty bitchy move.
Good call on the HBK-Rock stuff. Shawn Michaels vs. The Rock would own all. As for the Survivor Series bait and switch (forget Bret Hart, that was the REAL screwjob) I don’t see how anyone could have ordered that show and not been pissed off.
Pimps Up, Hoes Down
This Friday in Richmond, VA, Hermie Sadler’s United Wrestling Federation is presenting Capital Punishment II at the lovely Stuart C. Siegel Center. UWF is a very interesting promotion that uses stars from the past, TNA wrestlers, some major indepent performers, and local Mid-Atlantic talent to fill out their shows. This time, however, the show will feature WWE superstars JBL, Ron Simmons, Sgt. Slaughter, and Ricky Steamboat as well. Proceeds go to the Commonwealth Autism Service. All the talent is volunteering their time for this show (I believe the WWE guys are getting paid a small fee), and there were even auctions for people to manage wrestlers at the event. The card is as follows:
There are $10 General Admission seats available and their really isn’t a bad seat in the house. Doors open at 7:00 and bell time is at 8:00. It’s for a good cause, the price is right, and the night should be incredibly fun. Due to the bad name wrestling has received over the past few months UWF has had a hard time securing bookings for 2008 and as such will be severely reducing their schedule next year. This may be one of their last big shows, and while they may not be ROH or PWG in terms of in ring work (and they DO have some workhorses) they are a great promotion for fun, old school, family friendly wrestling. If anybody is in the area I strongly encourage you to attend. If you do decide to go send me and e-mail and I’ll see you there!
The Shimmy Likes It Raw!
That does it for me everybody. Next week is a flex week. Either you’ll get Part Four of the Triple H Report Card or a full UWF Capital Punishment II breakdown. Depends on how much material Hermie and the boys give me! For those looking to contact me, be sure to note the new address of [email protected]. Until then, don’t die. Clark…out.
