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| Triple H will be succeeding Stephanie McMahon as WWE Head of Creative Photo Credit: WWE.com |
So, Triple H has been named Head of Creative for WWE. I've seen plenty of reactions to this news on social media. Some have met this decision with glee. Others have bristled at the promotion, most notably pointing out that Triple H, as a character ten years ago, put on a Kane mask and feigned sex with a corpse. My thoughts on this promotion are that I really don't have any thoughts.
Quick, someone name a creative decision, a story, anything that one could pin on Triple H over the last however many years he's been in Vince McMahon's ear. The WWE power structure and creative process seems to be so shrouded in secrecy that blame or credit can't be assigned to anyone except for McMahon himself, who has final say on all matters that go into the show.
The story notes that McMahon will continue to be the final gatekeeper for any story, which remains the most troubling part of any potential shakeup in WWE Creative. He can hire, fire, promote, or demote anyone, but if he's the final stopgap before anything gets to air, WWE will still have the same problems that they've had for the last decade regarding continuity, creating new stars, treatment of women, alignment accuracy, and diversity in character.
One might hope Triple H would have a little more pull in getting McMahon to change his mind, due to his years in the business. Then again, Trips is replacing his wife, Stephanie McMahon, after she was promoted to Chief Brand Officer. I am also not entirely sure that Trips has differing philosophies than either McMahon at this point. I literally know nothing about what Triple H thinks about the business and the creative process outside of interviews he's given (most notably to David Shoemaker and Bill Simmons at Grantland), so I can't forecast anything.
I think some light will be shed on how apt Trips' mind for a wrestling show is not in the coming months, but in the mop-up period between Extreme Rules and Money in the Bank. The build for WrestleMania has always been a hot time for WWE, but what will he and his team be able to do in the experimental period? And furthermore, will it be able to jibe with both McMahon's vision for his show and what fans expect from good wrestling programming?
At this point in time, however, I think taking a pessimistic view from Triple H's seemingly ego-driven rise to the top of WWE is a bit harsh. While I still harbor in-character wounds from Trips stabbing at me as a fan, the utter absurdity of the stories he's been involved in has been toned down. Of course, all that thinking is assuming that Trips was writing his own stories, a possibility, but something no one really knows or even can know until Vince McMahon's dead, allowing tell-alls to be written about backstage WWE to be written.
I'm not saying to take a positive view of the promotion at all, but I don't necessarily think this is a bad move. Right now, it's a neutral, almost lateral move until Triple H can prove otherwise. I'm in a decent place with WWE right now. Not the best place, but for every terrible story WWE has going right now, they have one good story and a bunch of great wrestling action behind either. If Trips' creative team can somehow at least maintain that status quo, then WWE will continue to be at least okay in my book.