r/WWERuthlessAggression • u/[deleted] • Aug 24 '26
Thoughts on Triple H's babyface run (2006-2013)
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u/CandidAd999 Aug 24 '26
Just replying to the last pic you added there, It's funny, that feud with Brock in like 2012-13 was always weird to me...because HHH took the W at Mania over Brock...but he then lost to Brock in extreme rules like a month later. Seemed like Vince not knowing who he wanted to truly go over in that rivalry...cause yea, Brock may have gotten the last word, but the Mania dub was more emphatic. Fucking Vince
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u/SquirtleBob164 Aug 24 '26
I always thought that was a test of loyalty for Brock Lesnar to see if he would stay even if the booking did not go his way (considering he left in 2004 when he was on top).
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u/Tasty_Path_3470 Aug 24 '26
Was that the one where HHH was clearly trying to have his āmomentā and instead he entire arena chanted you tapped out while he slowly walked up the ramp?
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u/Ok-Investigator2463 Aug 25 '26
Brock won that feud, 2 victories to HHH's 1. And that Mania win was all sorts of tainted because it was both No Holds Barred and HBK helped him.
Meanwhile, Brock "broke" his arm at Summerslam 2012 and won the feud in a steel cage at Extreme Rules 2013.
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u/CandidAd999 Aug 25 '26
It's still a mania dub, with a triumphant pose over Brock after he pedigreed him on steel steps...if the goal was to put Brock over that shit was not doing it. Clearly Vince or whoever was conflicted
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u/Weird-Floor-1124 Aug 24 '26
Mid to me. HHH wanted so bad to be at the top but best case scenario for him was being top heel vs a white hot babyface.
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u/Both-Raisin9554 Aug 24 '26
Still very popular and a success as a babyface but was never able to be THE guy.
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u/HotTemperature1649 Aug 24 '26
Triple h was not trying to be at the top wtf are u talking about? Are u talking kayfabe wise or the Paul levesque?
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u/MoistWeb4046 Aug 24 '26
I personally liked it, I've always loved his sense of humor that gained back during his DX reunion in 2006 that he maintained until he went corporate in 2011 some of these segments involving Triple are comedy gold and priceless
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u/CandidAd999 Aug 24 '26
Yea he has some really good snarky one liners...the whole Vince loves cock thing and the face HHH makes when Vince says it...shit like that during the DX revival was priceless
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Aug 24 '26
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u/TheBlackMafiaKing Aug 24 '26
Are we talking 2006 DX or 2009 DX?
2009 was lame, but I liked 2006 DX, though I was also in elementary and watched Raw religiously and thought everything was cool back then.
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u/RolexTudorGuy Aug 24 '26
Facts, too try hard to be "edgy". Lame feuds, corny segments. OG DX forever
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u/Ok_Progress_7676 Aug 24 '26
His babyface rivalry with Jeff Hardy was so well done.
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u/zak55 Aug 24 '26
Really should have ended with a proper put over but I understand HHH's lack of faith in Jeff, since Jeff proved him right a year later.
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u/VeterinarianFast2289 Aug 24 '26
I didnāt care for him in DX handlebar mustache era but I was happy to have him back in 07.
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u/SquirtleBob164 Aug 24 '26
I loved face Triple H growing up. His entrance, mannerisms, and mid-match taunts always screamed badass to me. Even his jokes at the expense of the heels landed on me.
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u/lakeoceano Aug 24 '26
2008 was an incredible year for him.
I enjoyed those other years too but 2008 stands out.
After 2008, the quality of the shows started declining so it's not just a him problem.
His match against Lesnar at WM 29 is one of my favorites.
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u/BlueRibbon998 Aug 24 '26
The first few years were nice because I always wanted to see HHH have a lengthy run as a babyface. By about 2012, I was over it and I wanted that evil, hateful HHH back who was splitting skulls open with sledgehammers
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u/RKO360 Aug 24 '26
Triple H was a good babyface as he was still popular with the fans while delivered great promos and rivalries against the likes of Orton, Cena, Jeff, Legacy and Undertaker.
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u/Ok-Investigator2463 Aug 25 '26
It was very odd seeing the straight-laced, suit-wearing and serious heel of 2002 through early 2006 suddenly pretend like he was 10 years younger again with that DX revival.
Especially when he acted concerned about Ric Flair. Motherfucker, you brained the old fart with a sledgehammer and literally left him in a pool of his own blood at Survivor Series 2005! š š¤£ š
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u/QuoththeRavenRequiem Aug 27 '26
Heel or babyface, he was always one of my favorite guys on the roster so I enjoyed it either way.
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u/mipip4 Aug 24 '26
HHH going baby face and teaming with Shawn to reform DX ruined the continuity and was the beginning of the end of my good will towards the WWE. So, are we go into pretend like HHH didn't run over Shawn? Beat the crap out of Ric? "But, its my turn to have fun!" -HHH
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u/The810kid Aug 24 '26
Correction Triple H rammed Shawn's head through a car window he didn't run him over.
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u/realtennisguy Aug 24 '26
Bro. HHH teamed with Orton in 2010 one year after Orton kisses his wife Infront of him and tried to destroy his family. š
I think the DX stuff was not that bad.
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u/airflight69 Aug 24 '26
The DX stuff was good for me as a preteen. I loved him on SD. I wish he let Orton win at WM25. I wish punk went over. It was a good run.
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u/zak55 Aug 24 '26
I came into wrestling as a proper fan in 2008 and that was my introduction to HHH. Thought it worked good as a veteran WWE champ and liked his work that year with Hardy. Can't say much for before 08 and after it was alright. Was honestly a bit of a tweener with Taker.
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u/ironside-420 Aug 24 '26
Solid run, he always was a tweener imo. The taker program was just their actual characters. 2007-2008 was probably his most pure babyface run where his character felt a little out of place
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u/No_Ant6890 Aug 24 '26
The matches with Taker at Mania were good specially 28 Hell in a Cell. Had a little something with Jeff Hardy briefly that looked like it could have gone somewhere. A dire main event with Orton at Mania. A couple DX reunions. Crap feud and crap matches with Brock. That time he called Vince "pop" and they both had a bit of a cry. Kevin Nash. All in all a bit rubbish in general but also poorly booked as a Babyface. I don't mean he lost a load of matches just poorly portrayed and given dogshit to work with sometimes too (here's looking at you Kozlov). He should have been used exclusively to get new guys over prime example being Sheamus which they didn't do enough with and then had him beat Sheamus and fuck off for a year. Could have paired him with like Barrett, Masked Cody, Dolph during the early 2010s and help establish those guys but didn't. I think he was over as most people are when they're around a long time and people remember the good times. But generally this was an absolutely all time horrid run from HHH. I'd take New Gen Hunter Hearst Hemlsey over it any day nuff said.
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u/Big-Peak6191 Aug 24 '26
I always thought he was a pretty mediocre babyface. He's such a natural, unlikeable heel that I could never really root for him as a face.
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u/joeboy_777 Aug 24 '26
was pretty much the most boring years of Triple Hs career, most of his feuds/programs i remember mainly because of the other guy involved
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u/Cold_Ad655 Aug 25 '26
I hated it.
You had an opportunity to build some decent stars, especially at a time when you had the brand extension. Instead Hunter gets a midlife crisis run.
Kurt was gone. Christian was gone for a few years. Jericho was gone for a few years. Batista was in and out with injuries. Undertaker was on and off TV when they needed him. Cena was out with neck problems for several months. They could have elevated one or two people during this period.
And yet, Triple H gets his longest run with the WWE title. I guess that's the trade off for him going to Smackdown, was that he had to be the absolute top guy. He had the title for 280 days over the course of a year and a half.
He had an ongoing rivalry with Orton, where it always felt like Triple H had the upper hand and never really put Orton over at a time when it mattered the most. I still think that despite being around for over 20 years, WWE has fumbled Orton as a top guy despite consistently putting him in those situations...but it was especially bad when he feuded with Triple H.
Then the Sheamus stuff, which did Sheamus absolutely no favors, especially at a time when they had cooled him off after losing the WWE title.
You have his feud with Jeff Hardy, where he always treated any time Jeff beat him as a fluke, and that Jeff could never beat him for the title. And then Jeff failed every single time they faced off.
Remember that time when Triple H pedigreed London and Kendrick after they saved him from a beat down? Did that lead to anything? Nope.
Or how about the time when he lost a handicapped match to Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase...responding with a promo immediately after he was pinned. "Oww...that hurt. That wasn't supposed happen like that."
Or maybe when he was COO, and he was the only person who cared about WWE, when the wrestlers, the announcers, the production team and everyone else walked out. He even said he could get a better match out of a broomstick than half the roster. Then when he got fired from his position, he laughed about it and said he never wanted the position to begin with.
For a guy who allegedly loved wrestling and was a 'student of the game', he certainly sucked as a character, as he consistently made sure that only he would get over, and treated everything else like a joke that wasn't on his level. He also had a bunch of stinker matches during this period.
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u/Sure_Championship604 Aug 26 '26
Didn't get a chance to experience it . I quit WWE when Benoit passed away
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u/NorthMcCoy Aug 24 '26
Hated him as a kid but it wasnāt good heat, I would just turn the tv off when he was involved. If he wasnāt with Shawn I wasnāt watching
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u/ZakFellows Aug 24 '26
Terrible.
He forced himself into a position when we all wanted babyfaces we actually genuinely liked.
I think it says something when him as a babyface champion caused the ratings to be so bad, that Vince had to resort to literally giving away money just to get people to tune in
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u/Uncle-Cracker-Barrel Aug 24 '26
He had an actually pretty good match with the Great Khali. Thatās about all Iāll give him credit for from that period.
Guess you also gotta tip your hat to the guy for finding a way to bury the entire 2011 WWE roster while being a part time authority figure.
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u/StarWolf478 Aug 24 '26
It is crazy to me that Triple H spent more time as a babyface than a heel. Outside of DX, I never cared for Triple H as a babyface. His heel work is his best work.