WWE: 15 Things We Should Be Able to Look Forward to in the Triple H Era

In the summer of 2011, Triple H replaced Vince McMahon as the head of the WWE as part of an angle on Monday Night Raw.

But that storyline actually mirrored what is going on in real life.

Triple H has taken on two backstage roles--as Executive Senior Advisor and Executive Vice President, Talent--in WWE, and he is gradually taking over control of the company from Vince.

It's likely that Triple H won't have full control of the company until after Vince's death, but even as he gets more backstage responsibilities, I think we can expect to see some noticeable and welcome changes with Triple H in charge.

Here are 15 things we should be able to look forward to in the Triple H era.

As evidenced by Hulk Hogan in TNA, not all change is for the better, and it certainly won't be easy for the WWE to "replace" Vince McMahon.

But what Triple H will bring to the WWE is a breath fresh of air.

Triple H is younger, more in tune with what the fans want and can draw on his past experience as a wrestler to know what does and doesn't work.

He may not run the company incredibly differently than McMahon did, but I think we'll see a product that is noticeably different from what we've gotten from McMahon.

Triple H won't change the company so drastically that he loses most of the current fanbase, though.

Back in August 2011, PWInsider.com (via WrestleNewz.com) reported that we could see the return of the Cruiserweight division and that it would be spearheaded by Triple H:

There has been discussion within WWE lately about the company looking to see what cruiserweight or light heavyweight talents are out there and signing them to developmental deals.

It hasn’t been confirmed yet that WWE will be doing a full-fledged revival of the cruiserweight division but they are interested in bringing talents who fit that bill.

The idea is that cruiserweights will give guys like Evan Bourne or Sin Cara someone to work with and would add a quality of wrestling to WWE’s undercard.

This goes back to Triple H and changes he is making as he slowly takes over day-to-day control of the company.

I myself have stated numerous times in the past that a Cruiserweight division would really help the undercard and the WWE's smaller workers, so I'd definitely be in favor of this move.

We haven't really heard much about a returning Cruiserweight division since this report came out (and Triple H may have totally scrapped it), but it at least looks like somewhat of a possibility.

Just don't expect to see Bourne as a part of the division because he may no longer be with the company if/when we ever see it.

I know that it seems like Triple H, who looks like a bodybuilder himself, would go out of his way to push big, jacked-up meatheads.

But since he's taken on a bigger backstage role, that actually hasn't been the case.

Gone are the pushes for guys like Ezekiel Jackson and Mason Ryan, who look like a million bucks but have move sets that make Ultimate Warrior look like Shawn Michaels.

Big Zeke hardly gets on TV anymore, and Ryan is largely relegated to Superstars because someone in the WWE (Triple H, perhaps?) finally seems to have realized that you can't expect someone who looks like Hercules but sucks in the ring to get over.

Maybe we'll continue to see guys who struggle as wrestlers get put on the back burner, which is exactly the way it should be.

Although we can't be sure how much direct impact Triple H has had on this, we've seen a number of big-name stars return in the past year or so.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin came back to work as a special guest referee at last year's WrestleMania, The Rock is facing John Cena at WrestleMania 28, Triple H worked a lengthy program with Kevin Nash, Mick Foley is back on TV, and Booker T is Smackdown's color commentator.

That's a lot of legends returning to the company in a very short span, which can be very good for business.

Although bringing back too many legends can be overkill, there's nothing wrong with having a couple return every year to help the WWE's up-and-coming stars get over and increase revenue.

You wanna know how Vince McMahon feels about the Divas division?

Here's how, courtesy of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via WrestleNewz.com):

It’s said that Vince McMahon has developed a love-hate relationship with the WWE Divas. The mentality is that both RAW and SmackDown have to have one segment with the Divas. Vince is convinced that Divas segment is needed because it draws in a certain demographic.

When the Divas segments and matches are actually going on, it’s said that Vince feels they are a waste of time. This is part of the reason he has Michael Cole act the way he does when the Divas are out.

So, in other words, McMahon doesn't really think too highly of the Divas.

I'll admit that it's hard to be excited about the current division when it's clearly lacking in talent, but it seems like McMahon has almost completely given up on them.

Triple H, who is the man behind the WWE's signing of Kharma, at least seems to be willing to try to improve it.

This isn't to say that he's going to suddenly give the Divas a 10-minute match on Raw every week, but five minutes or so seems possible.

We all tend to rip Michael Cole for being outrageously annoying and just downright awful, but we should actually put that blame on someone else: Vince McMahon.

Though Cole is the one being ridiculous on Raw and Smackdown every week, he's only working as McMahon's mouthpiece.

McMahon is known for feeding Cole lines through his headset, so a large part of what we see out of Cole is actually coming from Vinny Mac.

Cole's heel persona hasn't been nearly as bad as of late, but as long as McMahon is around, I'd expect Cole to be at least pretty annoying.

The one man who can change that for good, though, is Triple H, who realizes that Cole's commentary is more detrimental to the WWE and its talents than it is helpful. 

Triple H has said countless times that the PG rating is here to stay and that the WWE is now more of a family form of entertainment.

Oddly enough, though, we've seen the WWE product get considerably edgier over the last year or so.

We've witnessed more sexual innuendos (with Aksana, Teddy Long and Santino Marella), more cursing (primarily with CM Punk and The Rock) and just a product with more attitude overall.

No, we're not going back to the Attitude Era. But the WWE isn't totally PG or totally TV-14.

It's somewhere in between, and as much as Triple H likes to claim PG is going nowhere, I find it odd that we've seen superstars have a bit more leeway since he's taken on more responsibilities backstage.

And I don't know about you, but I'd expect the WWE product to become even edgier as Triple H gets more backstage pull.

Triple H has taken on a major role in WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, even hiring someone whose sole responsibility is to come up with debut story lines for FCW talent.

It definitely looks as if Triple H is hoping to improve FCW, the talent level there and the process of how FCW workers are called up to the main roster.

In fact, we've seen a boatload of developmental wrestlers (such as Seth Rollins, Antonio Cesaro and Damien Sandow) work dark matches and house shows in recent months, and I'll take that as a sign that Triple H is serious about infusing the main roster with new talent.

That's a great move because FCW is loaded with potential superstars at the moment, and there are a number of guys who we'd like to see on the main roster ASAP.

With Triple H working close with FCW, expect to see more deserving FCW talents get called up to Raw or Smackdown in the near future.

According to a report by PWInsider.com (via SEScoops.com) from last summer, Triple H is looking to revitalize the WWE's tag team division:

As the head of WWE’s revamped talent development program, Triple H has a lot of influence over which talents are signed and featured on WWE television.

It’s been reported that Triple H is serious about introducing new talents through ‘coming soon’ vignettes, as we saw with the first two people signed underTriple H: Sin Cara and Karma.

Now, Triple H is said to have his sights set on a new objective: rebuilding WWE’s  tag team division.

WWE is looking to recruit tag teams from other promotions, including Ring of Honor’s Kings of Wrestling & Brisco Brothers as well as TNA tag team Beer Money, when they become free agents.

While we've certainly gotten mixed results out of this so far, it does appear as if the tag team division is at least making some improvements.

It's been pretty bad for the last several years, but in 2011, we saw the formation of more permanent tag teams like Air Boom and Epico & Primo, as well some temporary ones like Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger and the Awesome Truth.

If Triple H can somehow manage to create new tag teams from the current roster and sign some top indy tag teams, then he's well on his way to fixing one of the WWE's biggest problems.

In my opinion, 2011 was one of the best years for the WWE wrestling-wise in recent memory.

We witnessed a boatload of great TV matches, including Triple H vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania, John Cena vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam and that great series of matches between Randy Orton and Christian.

Plus, we were fortunate enough to see a number of memorable TV bouts, such as John Morrison vs. The Miz on the first Raw of the year and Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler back in November.

As much as we like to criticize the WWE for "not focusing on wrestling," that's exactly what the company did last year.

I don't think that it was a coincidence that that happened the same year that Triple H focused more on his backstage roles, either.

Vince McMahon has been around the wrestling business all his life and is the greatest promoter who's ever lived.

But he's largely set in his ways. He sticks to what he knows how to do and doesn't really pay attention to the complaints of his fans.

Since Triple H has begun to take over, however, we've all noticed that the WWE is at least trying to fix the problems we complain about on the Internet.

We've seen pushes for smaller (and better) wrestlers, fewer pushes for guys who can't wrestle, non-stereotypical World champions, an effort to improve the tag team division, etc.

These are all things that we, the very vocal minority, have complained about for years, but the WWE did not start listening to us until recently.

I think that has a lot to do with the fact that Triple H is younger, more willing to hear what the fans have to say and more capable of adapting and changing with the times.

Things like injuries and suspensions are bound to happen, and as a result, they will cause some major changes to what we see on WWE TV.

But when Triple H takes over from Vince McMahon, I think we'll say goodbye to the days of the creative team constantly booking on the fly.

Will we still see it sometimes? Sure. But McMahon is notorious for changing his mind about story lines week-by-week, and this really hurts the WWE product in the long run.

I'd look for Triple H to change that, and in fact, I think he's already started doing so, as evidenced by Chris Jericho's current storyline and the fact that Triple H does not want to call up FCW workers until a long-term plan is in place.

Triple H realizes that the WWE product suffers a lot when long-term plans aren't in place, so expect him to start booking month-by-month rather than week-by-week.

Just look at some of the guys who have risen to the main-event scene in the last year or two for their first sustained run there in their entire WWE careers: The Miz, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Mark Henry, R-Truth and Wade Barrett.

That's a boatload of names that have been elevated to the top of the WWE in a relatively short span, and I have no doubt that Triple H is at least partially behind this.

We all know that you can't rely on John Cena and Randy Orton for every World title match, so you have to be able to create new stars who are capable of wrestling in the main event and World title scenes.

The WWE has done that tremendously well over the last year and a half or so, with a number of deserving talents winning or challenging for World titles.

Kudos to Triple H for helping these guys reach the highest points of their careers.

Just look at the two guys holding the WWE's two World titles: Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.

Be honest with yourself. Did you ever see both of these guys becoming World champions in the WWE, much less at the same time?

Probably not.

But Bryan and Punk have broken just about every mold possible, and even though they aren't tall or jacked, they are holding the two most prestigious titles in the company.

Would this have ever happened if Vince McMahon was still solely in charge? I high doubt it.

Triple H likely has a lot to do with the pushes of Bryan and Punk, and their recent successes bode well for future stars who may not look like your stereotypical World champion.

Triple H definitely has an eye for talent.

Since becoming more involved in scouting prospective wrestlers for the WWE, Triple H has signed a number of major names.

He's the man behind the signings of Kharma and Sin Cara, and he's also at least partially responsible for the signings of Antonio Cesaro (a.k.a. Claudio Castagnoli) and Dean Ambrose (a.k.a. Jon Moxley).

Kharma was a phenomenal signing for the Divas division (even though she got pregnant), I'm still holding out hope for Sin Cara, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Cesaro and Ambrose become huge stars in the near future.

Say what you want about Triple H, but he's definitely improving the WWE's future by signing some of the top talent from around the world.

And he will likely continue to do so for years to come.

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