Instant Feedback: Embrace the Inner Devil

Triple H had to embrace his inner asshole tonight, and he did Photo Credit: WWE.com

I was prepared to write an entry about necessary evil, and how Triple H needed to insert himself into the main event of WrestleMania to stoke the crowd even further despite the fact that I absolutely loathed his delivery, his wavering, babyface glomming, spotlight craving, coolest-guy-in-the-room aura. I was ready to talk about the good of the story despite the fact that Trips was reverting back to his pre-quad tear, prototypical e-fed character where he wanted to be the badass heel who did everything the cool assholes did but also wanted so desperately to be cheered.

And then he tipped his hand at the indie wrestlers cosplaying as cops and made his wavering entirely worth it, even if only for the night.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon showed their final forms as the ultimate dynastic tyrants, one part Bonnie and Clyde, one part Vigo the Carpathian, one part deranged Redditors. They teased this reign of terror at various points between SummerSlam and now, especially during the nascency of The Authority's rise, but tonight was a crescendo, man. The groundswell was needed, and now, Daniel Bryan, bathed in (proverbial) blood and stripped of his health, is set up for the ultimate payoff.

Of course, fear lingers that some kind of swerve waits overhead, dangling like the Sword of Damocles. This WrestleMania looks to be the most predictable since XIV, when Steve Austin defeated an ailing Shawn Michaels and officially became the face of WWE. Of course, the times are different. Bryan wouldn't have to carry the load with other newbies to the main event (Undertaker notwithstanding). He'd have a pastiche of established stars and prospects to buttress his moment. But because his arc, wasting Triple H and then swooping into snatch the dual belts from the grasp of the volcanic pit where Evolution used to be, is so transparent, and because WWE is still saddled with the mindset from Vince Russo that anything you can see coming from a mile away isn't worth presenting, could Triple H throw some kind of spanner into the works?

That fear is what being a fan of WWE in the post-modern era entails. WWE has the surest thing ever, and it showed how simple storytelling can stoke the flames of a crowd that is already hot for a desired endgame. But right now, the path seems to be the right one. Put one final roadblock in the path of the conquering hero. Throw one final canister of gasoline on the fire and make his path look even more daunting. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have finally gone the final step needed in order to make their villainous presence at WrestleMania appropriate.