Purely HHHypothetical Question for ye.

D.Q

Now obviously we don't/can't ever really know for sure.

But lets pretend a butterfly flapped his wings in a different way and HHH and Steph never got married.

Where do you think HHH would be now? in the same role? primed to take over the company?

would he have been pushed as hard? on his own merits?

could he have politicked his way to the sort of ower he has now by himself, without the muscle of mcmahon support?

would I even be born?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuRFD6ANt8Y

in before pointless thread is pointless....

jaykhunter

For the purposes of the question I'm going to say that Triple H got booked the way he did up to his return in 2002 on his own merit; so he was already a world champion and main-eventer without the McMahon's help.

I still think he'd face Jericho at WMX8, but it wouldn't have main-evented.

His reign of terror/bicycle shorts in 2002 wouldn't have happened, so consequently, demasked Kane, RVD, Booker, Orton's first title reign etc all got pushed much better and so WWE had more main-event draws; meaning WWE didn't have to rely on Cena/Orton for the best part of a decade. HHH would be forced to sell for other wrestlers and not be the only heel who wins clean, and consequently made him more personable and a bigger star. He continues to rack up world title reigns (after all, Vinnie Mack is still insane) but is far more beloved as a rare breed of hard-working, oldschool wrestling stock.

Overall the world is a happier place. SIGH!

CMpunked

Had HHH not be in the mcmahon family i firmly believe that Shane would have stuck around and the last 10 years would have been a hell of a lot different.

For the better or worse? No idea, thats open to opinion. How much have we heard about HHH using his pull for feather his own nest and how many times have we credited him for using his knowledge as a performer to further the business aspects.

jaykhunter

Oh, and Goldberg wouldn't have been a disaster. Hopefully without politics, he would've been booked like he was in WCW, and WWE/Goldberg made a ton of cash. WMXX would've been a much more positive affair as Lesnar (who would've left anyway) would've been boo'ed, but I reckon Goldberg would've stayed another year.

Umaga wouldn't have been squashed about 5 years ago, maybe Jeff Hardy would've been put over right and convinced to not become a smack bag, and Punk would've made it to the top a bit sooner.

It's all speculation but judging from the amount of pushes HHH killed, I can't imagine him not being in power could result in a bad thing. Maybe Orton wouldn't be so quick to never put the mid-carders over if he wasn't constantly battered by HHH!

rovert

Largely the same.

Vince suggested Steph marry someone like HHH before HHH & Steph got together.

smallerthanyou

Sorry read OP wrong.

Things would be pretty much the same although I'm sure Chyna and HHH's kids wouldn't be nearly as pretty!

LoganIn

I believe he currently would not be in WWE.

If you look to other main eventers - they have their run, few years in that spot, then eventually leave the company (the rock, steve austin, hulk hogan, brock lensar, kurt angle, Bret hart, Mick Foley, Ultimate Warrior, Sycho Sid, etc We could go on :pac:)

Triple H has some run in WWE. The only other 2 that come to mind are the taker and michaels who held such a run. I firmly believe if HHH didnt hook up with Stephanie he would of certainely been a main eventer ... but most likely not being with WWE now.


A real good question tho would be if HHH didnt suck up to michaels, nash and hall back in the day :pac: Would he of originally gotten that mid-carder / main eventer push?

jaykhunter

Assuming HHH remained healthy, if he left wrestling, where do u think he'd go?

D.Q

Something to do with bodybuilding I imagine! thats a big hobby of his isnt it?

jaykhunter

I imagine unless you're one of the greatest ever, there's no money in it; well less than wrestling? Rock went to Hollywood, Austin was injured, Brock went to the NFL... I've seen tripper act so I dunno what else he could do!

Charisteas

D.Q wrote: »

would he have been pushed as hard? on his own merits?

I'd say he still would have been pushed extremely hard but whereas he was largely regarded as the #3 guy in the WWF in the Attitude Era (Austin and Rock being 1 & 2) I think Undertaker may have been pushed as the number 3 guy in the company instead.

D.Q wrote: »

Where do you think HHH would be now? in the same role? primed to take over the company?

No I doubt he would be primed to take over the company, I reckon Vince would want to keep it in the family, thus Shane and Stephanie would be heirs to the throne.

Even if Stephanie married someone else such as The Undertaker, I don't think the WWE would really be much different today anyway.

CMpunked

jaykhunter wrote: »

Assuming HHH remained healthy, if he left wrestling, where do u think he'd go?

Open a school, personal training, TNA?

GTR63

Hadn't Triple H power in wwe before he married Steph, he got Chyna a huge push afterall. I'd say he'd be kept around & would have power and a say in what happens. Long term what are Taker's plans when he retires.

glenjamin

jaykhunter wrote: »

Assuming HHH remained healthy, if he left wrestling, where do u think he'd go?

Making porn with Chyna?!?

Dercola

glenjamin wrote: »

Making porn with Chyna?!?

There's a horiffic image, that's branded in my brain for the rest of time

Thank you ever so kindly!

gnfnrhead

GTR63 wrote: »

Hadn't Triple H power in wwe before he married Steph, he got Chyna a huge push afterall. I'd say he'd be kept around & would have power and a say in what happens. Long term what are Taker's plans when he retires.

Minimal. It was only cause he sucked up to the likes of Shawn Michaels who held a lot of power. Had Hall and Nash stayed, he probably wouldn't have gotten much of a say in anything. But with them out of the picture it gave him the chance to see how much he could get away with.

As for the original question, he'd still have made it to the top, but he wouldn't have stayed there anywhere near as long as he did. Couple of title reigns before fading a little around 2003/2004. After that, he'd have been the same as Jericho. A mid carder who can main event when needed.

starviewadams

HHH was/is miles ahead of Jericho talent wise,Jericho is tremendously over-rated,both promo wise and in ring wise.HHH was the whole package from late 99 until he was injured in mid 2001.Jericho was never,nor will ever be that good.

glenjamin

Dercola wrote: »

There's a horiffic image, that's branded in my brain for the rest of time

Thank you ever so kindly!

You're very welcome

SlickRic

how good HHH actually was gets horrendously forgotten because of the fact he was pounded into that spot from 2003 onwards.

circa 99-01, he was the best heel in the entire business, by a distance. he blows Jericho out of the water. Hunter was central to the success of the company. as good as Stone Cold was, and as good as The Rock was, the audience would get bored if there was no credible heel to get behind, who you could actually believe was a threat.

i legitimately hated him as a teenager. he performed his role absolutely perfectly, and put on some awesome matches with Austin, Rock and Foley in particular. there is no question he would have been in the spot he was until at least mid-2002.

it was from then where it all got a bit silly with the starting every show, and being completely battered in that top spot despite Goldberg, Lesnar, RVD and the like all being around to be made credible stars. none of them succeeded. and only for John Cena's talent and marketability, and the fact that it couldn't be ignored, Hunter would have buried him too as quick as you like. Cena succeeded despite, not because of, HHH in that WM 22 feud. Hunter tried to make him look like a moron rather than a threat. and we all know Batista made it because they were gym buddies

in a sense, HHH's journey from 2003-ish is unfortunate. he'd be remembered in such a fonder light by more people if he wasn't such a wánker for that period. but ho-hum, i don't feel sorry for him since he's inheriting the company.

short answer, he'd be remembered differently because he wouldn't have been pounded into the spot, and he obviously wouldn't be taking over the company, but his initial push would have, and rightly so, been the exact same.

jaykhunter

I agree with that. HHH was fantastic from his 99 title push up until his quad tear. It's such a shame that one of my favourite wrestlers became the most despised wrestler such a short time after that. It annoys me that someone with such great wrestling, storytelling & promo skills is also deeply insecure about his guaranteed spot, and despite helping WWE for a few years, ruined WWE in the process by killing any other possible draws he could feud with. He eat/sleeps/breathes wrestling and is pretty much the perfect guy (once he isn't wrestling) to take over from Vince. He got away without jobbing to Punk last year. He's still protective of his spot, it's so sad to see, business-wise he's shooting himself in the foot.

It's worth noting that Cena's ascension was on the blue brand, while HHH squashed everything in sight on the red brand. Had Cena been on RAW back in 03 it might've been a very, very different story!

SlickRic

jaykhunter wrote: »

He's still protective of his spot, it's so sad to see, business-wise he's shooting himself in the foot.

whereas despite many wrestlers not liking The Rock for instance, believing he's taking their "spot" (morons), and generally having a reason to just say to Vince, "no, I'm not jobbing to Cena. I'm a movie star, and don't need to be seen as being beaten up by a glorified weightlifter", we're all going to see The Rock job to Cena, and give him everything he needs for the good of the company.

whether it's this Sunday, or over a series of matches, The Rock is jobbing to Cena, and if HHH was in the same position, there is no chance he would do the same thing unfortunately. it is so sad.

GTR63

jaykhunter wrote: »

It's worth noting that Cena's ascension was on the blue brand, while HHH squashed everything in sight on the red brand. Had Cena been on RAW back in 03 it might've been a very, very different story!

Isn't that the same now that guys get pushed way more effectively on Smackdown & then get drafted to Raw in April then they more likely sink rather than swim (who is responsible for that then?). Lesnar probably benefited the most from being down on smackdown iirc while HHH was hampering Rvd, Goldberg & more on Raw. At that time Smackdown was a dream to work on with Benoit, Angle, Eddie, I could go on & on. Cena was working in a never ending feud with walking Crate Rene Dupree.

starviewadams

It's such a pity that Goldberg and RVD in particular were stuck on Raw during HHH's over-muscled,bicycle shorts wearing,manic 'bury everyone' phase.I reckon if they'd been on SD! they would of at least been given a fair crack at becoming legitimate main event draws for the WWE,like Cena,Benoit,Brock and Eddie were.