One Of Vince McMahon’s Worst Habits Are Seeing A Revival In Triple H’s WWE

WWE has done well in recent years to get away from the worst booking problems that were so common under Vince McMahon, which has been key to its success under Triple H’s creative regime. In wrestling, it is often the little things that make all the difference, and this extends to how a booker reinforces the importance of week-to-week standards remaining high.

The build-up to WrestleMania 41 has brought its own problems, but there is a far more insidious trend developing during the matches on Raw and SmackDown in recent weeks. The rise in disqualifications and count-outs has severely diminished the importance of television matches, which was one of the prevailing issues throughout Vince McMahon’s time in charge of creative.

A Rise In Cheap Finishes On WWE TV

SmackDown Has Been Especially Bad With Match Endings

• Disqualifications and count-outs were commonplace in WWE during Vince McMahon’s stewardship.
• Triple H worked hard to decrease these types of finishes across WWE’s televised output.
• In recent weeks there has been a steep rise in cheap finishes, which is a cause for concern.

It may seem like hand-ringing to already point out an increase in cheap finishes, but this has been a sign of creative decline for wrestling companies before. Most notably, AEW established itself on delivering clear finishes to matches every week, but eventually became more lax about it, coinciding with its fall from grace.

Triple H has worked hard over his nearly three-year run as WWE’s booker to ensure that matches are satisfyingly concluded throughout the card – a huge departure from the weekly DQs and count-outs under Vince McMahon. It also meant that whenever there was a cheap finish it would scan as an injustice, making the device effective within WWE for the first time in decades.

This has fallen by the wayside in recent weeks as the number of matches that end disappointingly, or that are just thrown out entirely, has increased a great deal. This has been particularly noticeable on SmackDown, where many of the undercard matches ended poorly to the dismay of the audience, compounding an already fraught build to WrestleMania 41.

It is worth noting that throughout Triple H’s tenure, he has not been immune to having matches disrupted by run-ins and distractions, as this was a staple of almost every Bloodline match. However, these matches still had finishes with a clear winner and loser, which DQs and count-outs don’t offer as a lazy alternative to producing something with conviction.

WWE & Triple H Must Respect Their Fans

WWE Cannot Rely On Cheap Finishes To Matches

• Triple H has managed to win back the trust of WWE fans after Vince McMahon destroyed it.
• Even small details like cheap finishes can begin to erode fans’ excitement for the product.
• The key to WWE’s long-term success is ensuring the standards are kept up across the board.

The success of most wrestling boom periods has been predicated on earning the audience’s trust, and then paying off what they have been waiting to see. At some point, it became much easier for WWE to take this for granted under Vince McMahon, as they had a monopoly over the industry for two decades and could do what they wanted.

As part of winning back the zeitgeist, Triple H had to repair the years of damage caused by Vince on a booking level, as his father-in-law eroded any trust that fans had in WWE. The clean finishes of 2022/23 helped to establish ‘The Game’ as a creative genius in the minds of many when, in reality, he was just doing the simple things correctly to appease the audience.

WWE finds itself in the position of being the dominant force in wrestling once more, which makes the rise in cheap finishes an alarming thing to see. Triple H can not afford to fall into the same traps as his predecessor just because he has been on a hot streak, as the key to long-term success is ensuring that trust in the product is maintained through satisfying week-to-week content.

WrestleMania Season Brings Its Own Problems

WWE Could Just Be Feeling The Weight Of Its Marquee Event

• WrestleMania is usually a tumultuous time of year for WWE, which could be lowering standards elsewhere.
• Personnel changes within WWE, particularly on SmackDown, could also be contributing to recent changes.
• WWE cannot afford to get complacent, and will hopefully get back to more attentive booking after WrestleMania 41.

To give Triple H some credit, there could be some reasons as to why WWE’s booking of television matches has felt less attentive in recent weeks. The obvious factor is that it is WrestleMania season and the business and confusion that the marquee event sometimes brings will likely trickle down the card on most shows.

The fact that WrestleMania 41’s build-up could have been better has not helped television as of late, with WWE treating the European tour like a house show circuit for the most part. Fans should hope that when ‘The Show of Shows’ is out of the way, Triple H will have a more focused approach once more if he is still handling the weekly output.

There is also a suggestion that SmackDown has been influenced a lot by ‘Road Dogg’ Brian James in recent weeks, which could make him the scapegoat for some out-of-character changes to the booking. This may be a stretch, but if ‘The Game’ took a step back in some way, it would explain the shift in televised outcomes.

Hopefully, it is not just laziness that has struck Triple H and the rest of WWE as complacency can be the biggest killer of momentum in wrestling. Time will tell if these issues persist, but the warning signs are there and any future struggles could be caused by a fall in standards that seems to be occurring.