WWE SummerSlam 2012 Results: Triple H Exposed in Main Event as Overrated

After his loss to Brock Lesnar at WWE’s 2012 edition of SummerSlam, Triple H tried to play up the drama after the match by teasing that he could be retiring.

Instead of allowing the victor to stand tall in the ring and building Lesnar as this war machine that could beat anyone, Triple H decided to steal the spotlight, once again directing all of the attention at the end of the show to him.

Triple H tried to be the martyr, but the fans weren’t buying it.

When the chants of “you tapped out” rained down from the rafters of the building, you could see the shock on Triple H’s face because he knew right then and there that the crowd had figured him out.

Triple H is overrated.

To understand this truth, you must look at Triple H’s full career—pre-2000 and post-2000.

Pre-2000

Triple H’s career before his relationship with future wife and WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s daughter Stephanie was not as amazing as everyone chooses to remember.

While there is no doubting that the D-Generation X was a great part of wrestling history, that was only a short time before he eventually married McMahon. We can’t forget his terrible run in WCW or in WWE as the Connecticut Blue Blood.

If it wasn’t for the friendship with Shawn Michaels and the relationship with Stephanie, Triple H would’ve been a career tweener, tasting the World title just once or twice.

With the right people helping the push come more frequently, though, you get Triple H’s post-2000 career.

Post-2000

After starting to date Stephanie McMahon in 2000, Triple H’s career took off. With the support of the WWE brass, the majority of Triple H’s title reigns and pushes came after 2000.

The battles with Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels and every other big star in the company during the period was likely made possible not because of his ability to get over, but because of who he knew and who he was married to.

There is no doubt that Triple H’s career was great after 2000, but to say that he is one of the greatest superstars in wrestling history is so far from true it’s ridiculous. That is the WWE trying to influence the fans.

The rest of the WWE Universe can fall for it, but I’m not.

Conclusion

Pro wrestling is unique in the fact that almost everything is based on opinion.

With no sure-fire way to judge a wrestler’s career, and the fact that backstage politics can alter history, there is no doubt that Triple H’s career greatly benefited from his relationship with his wife and father-in-law.

No one can fault him for what he did or take away the things that he accomplished, but they all have to be taken with a grain of salt. There are far better wrestlers and far better entertainers than Triple H, but you wouldn’t know that listening to a WWE broadcast.

As CM Punk said, it’s the WWE propaganda machine at work.

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