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I remember in the year 2000 Triple H wrestled two matches vs. Cactus Jack, one vs. the Rock, and one vs. Chris Jericho that were all considered Match of the Year candidates. In the almost 9 years since, he has wrestled in very few matches that were even close to as good as those. Why is this? Is he better off as a heel? Is it lack of great opponents? Or is there another reason?

HHH is like the Miami Dolphins, he plays up and down to his competition. Guys like Angle can get great matches out of anybody and everybody. But if you put HHH with great wrestlers, or great stipulation matches in Foley's case then you can have a great match. But you can't put him in there with an average wrester and have a great match. During that same time period he wrestled Scott Steiner in what is considered one of the worst matches of that year.

safi wrote:HHH is like the Miami Dolphins, he plays up and down to his competition. Guys like Angle can get great matches out of anybody and everybody. But if you put HHH with great wrestlers, or great stipulation matches in Foley's case then you can have a great match. But you can't put him in there with an average wrester and have a great match. During that same time period he wrestled Scott Steiner in what is considered one of the worst matches of that year.

I thought Steiner was a very big part of why that match was so bad. You think it's competition? I remember Triple H had some great matches with Michaels but that's all I can remember. It just seems odd that he can have 4 great matches in a span of 7 months, but has had only around 4 great matches in a span of 9 years.

He's resting on his laurels, clearly. There's no doubt about it.

Thing is, you can get away with resting on your laurels when you're billed as 'the great wrestler to ever live'. Doesn't hurt when you're banging the bosses daughter either.

Celtsfan1980 wrote:

safi wrote:HHH is like the Miami Dolphins, he plays up and down to his competition. Guys like Angle can get great matches out of anybody and everybody. But if you put HHH with great wrestlers, or great stipulation matches in Foley's case then you can have a great match. But you can't put him in there with an average wrester and have a great match. During that same time period he wrestled Scott Steiner in what is considered one of the worst matches of that year.

I thought Steiner was a very big part of why that match was so bad. You think it's competition? I remember Triple H had some great matches with Michaels but that's all I can remember. It just seems odd that he can have 4 great matches in a span of 7 months, but has had only around 4 great matches in a span of 9 years.

Steiner was the main reason that match was so bad, but Trips wasn't exactly on the top of his game either. Every single guy I remember HHH having a great match with was a guy who was a legitimately great wrestler in his own right, or like I said in Foley's case perfectly suited for the type of match they were competing in. Guys like Michaels and Angle can have great matches with anybody. I remember Kurt Angle having a very good match with Kevin Nash like a year ago. Nash is beyond bad as a wrestler and that was probably the only singles match he's had in like 5 years that was even watchable. HHH has never been able to do that.

Stanford wrote:He's resting on his laurels, clearly. There's no doubt about it.

Thing is, you can get away with resting on your laurels when you're billed as 'the great wrestler to ever live'. Doesn't hurt when you're banging the bosses daughter either.

Let's keep in mind that was a self-given title. No one that doesn't have the last name Levesque actually believes HHH is the greatest wreslter to ever live.

That's his character. 'Guy who is the best'.

safi wrote:Steiner was the main reason that match was so bad, but Trips wasn't exactly on the top of his game either. Every single guy I remember HHH having a great match with was a guy who was a legitimately great wrestler in his own right, or like I said in Foley's case perfectly suited for the type of match they were competing in. Guys like Michaels and Angle can have great matches with anybody. I remember Kurt Angle having a very good match with Kevin Nash like a year ago. Nash is beyond bad as a wrestler and that was probably the only singles match he's had in like 5 years that was even watchable. HHH has never been able to do that.

I am not a huge Triple H fan, but I think that's a little unfair. Bret had great matches with Michaels, Hennig, Austin, and Owen, but I don't recall him having great matches with other wrestlers. Michaels had a great match with Diesel, but other than that every other great match he has had that I can remember was with a very good worker. Flair had great matches with Steamboat, Sting, Savage, Funk, and Vader, but I don't recall him having great matches with too many other wrestlers. I don't think Triple H is as good as those three but he's definitely one of the best in recent years and I do feel the statement you're making applies to virtually all other great wrestlers as well.

Celtsfan1980 wrote:

safi wrote:Steiner was the main reason that match was so bad, but Trips wasn't exactly on the top of his game either. Every single guy I remember HHH having a great match with was a guy who was a legitimately great wrestler in his own right, or like I said in Foley's case perfectly suited for the type of match they were competing in. Guys like Michaels and Angle can have great matches with anybody. I remember Kurt Angle having a very good match with Kevin Nash like a year ago. Nash is beyond bad as a wrestler and that was probably the only singles match he's had in like 5 years that was even watchable. HHH has never been able to do that.

I am not a huge Triple H fan, but I think that's a little unfair. Bret had great matches with Michaels, Hennig, Austin, and Owen, but I don't recall him having great matches with other wrestlers. Michaels had a great match with Diesel, but other than that every other great match he has had that I can remember was with a very good worker. Flair had great matches with Steamboat, Sting, Savage, Funk, and Vader, but I don't recall him having great matches with too many other wrestlers. I don't think Triple H is as good as those three but he's definitely one of the best in recent years and I do feel the statement you're making applies to virtually all other great wrestlers as well.

I remember Brett having great matches with guys like Yokozuna and Lex Luger, guys who were very limited in the ring, obviously these matches don't rise to the level of his match with Owen, or Austin or the Ironman match with HBK and are overlooked because of that, but that's to be expected because of the limitations of his opponents. But he had significantly better matches with these guys than just about anybody else. As far as HBK, his 07 match with Cena was PWI's match of the year and we don't really need to go into all of the criticism Cena gets for his in-ring ability. He also had a very good matches with Chris Masters and Vader. HHH is a fine wrestler, but he doesn't have the ability to elevate his opponents in the same way Angle, Michaels or Brett could.

Age possibly catching....

Celtsfan1980 wrote:I remember in the year 2000 Triple H wrestled two matches vs. Cactus Jack, one vs. the Rock, and one vs. Chris Jericho that were all considered Match of the Year candidates. In the almost 9 years since, he has wrestled in very few matches that were even close to as good as those. Why is this? Is he better off as a heel? Is it lack of great opponents? Or is there another reason?

Mick Foley (hardcore), the Rock, and Y2J are possibly three of the greatest wrestlers/performers of all time, now u see HHH feuding with the likes of Vladimir Kozlov and John Cena and I like Cena but neither of these guys can carry a match like The Rock or Y2J. Plus when he has a match with a Cena or Orton it will be interesting at first but when the feud last a year it just gets boring.

His matches with Shawn Michaels in 2004 were better in all of those imo

we was absolutely awesome in 2000 and early 2001 then he got hurt and came back with zero mobility all roided up and wasn't very good as a result for much of 2002 and 2003. He's still a hell of a performer but not to the degree he was back when he seemed most motivated/mobile.