Analyzing Triple H's Impact on WWE's Product as Executive VP

Triple H, once known for smashing his foes with a sledgehammer, has moved to shaping and carving out WWE's future.

Though he plays Chief Operation Officer on TV, his real-life title is that of Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events. If Triple H continues to make the advances and have the success he's had in his corporate role thus far, he may join the Hall of Fame as both a performer and an executive.

His qualifications for the job include 20 years as a pro wrestler and an intense love for the industry.

Rather than step away from WWE and enjoy a quiet retirement, Triple H is taking on his second career as aggressively as he took on his opponents. He is more active and more engaged in the product than he was as world champ.

His impact on WWE's product can be felt through his influence on whom the company recruits, how it trains and his work with the creative team.

                                                                                                            

Creative

WWE is still Vince McMahon's show, but Triple H has a powerful voice in the meeting room.

He told Brian Fritz in an interview that he works "hand in hand with Vince and the creative team on a fairly regular basis, but at the end of the day Vince is the final filter." That has led to a return to WWE's roots, in particular emphasizing tag teams.

Triple H is reportedly, per Wrestling Observer via WrestleZone.com, a big fan of tag team wrestling and has aimed to revitalize the oft-maligned division.

Even if the division isn't balanced and as deep as it could be, tag teams have recently been a way to build up newcomers or to repackage established stars. The Shield and the Wyatt Family have introduced themselves to the fanbase via teamwork and cohesion. Had all those Superstars been introduced individually without a uniting team gimmick, their careers would have taken longer to get rolling.

We've seen Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes form the entertaining Team Rhodes Scholars and Titus O'Neil and Darren Young exceed expectations as the Prime Time Players. Seeing more teams has been fun, but not showcasing them more consistently is still an issue.

The Shield and Team Hell No have headed a top-heavy division.

Even after winning the world title, Daniel Bryan wasn't nearly as popular as he is today. It was his run alongside Kane as the odd-couple tag team that showed off his entertainment skills and endeared him to fans more intensely than before.

Bryan rode a long tag team title reign to singles glory.

Longer title reigns are something Triple H has reportedly pushed for. Titles changing hands often is exciting, but it soon saps the meaning of being champion. CM Punk and Sheamus recently held onto their respective world titles for far longer than fans were used to.

Sheamus held the World Heavyweight Championship for over 200 days, and Punk famously held the WWE title for 434 days.

Now defeating these guys and taking the title from them meant so much more. The dramatic value of a new champ as well as the prestige of the belts themselves increased.

This move to lengthier title reigns and restored importance to the championships has to be a considered a success.

Changes born from Triple H's influence aren't without their flaws though.

The Divas division has dwindled down to a very narrow focus. If it's true that Triple H, as is rumored by WrestlingInc, has "never been that high on women wrestling," then we can assign him some blame for the women getting far less of the spotlight.

He also recently inserted himself into a storyline involving Vince and Stephanie McMahon, which is reportedly designed to lead to a match at WrestleMania XXX.

Even with these issues, Triple H has led WWE in a positive direction in terms of his work with the creative team.

It's his work with the stars of the future, though, that is his true strength.

Recruiting

Triple H could easily be an old-school guy telling the young kids coming up in the business about the glory days and refusing to change things from the way he remembers them. He could hire a bunch of guys that look and wrestle like him.

His approach, however, seems to be a balance of honoring tradition and making innovations.

Size and strength have traditionally been valued over skill and agility, but Triple H clearly recognizes and embraces the direction of the industry. Since taking the helm of WWE's talent relations, Triple H has signed a number of promising stars.

Gone are the days of scouring for talent in gyms and bodybuilding competitions.

Triple H is finding skillful, athletic wrestlers on the independent circuit. Antonio Cesaro, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose all succeeded in the indies before WWE signed them.

NXT now teems with indy talent of various sizes and abilities. The developmental system boasts speedsters and high-flyers like Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville and Samuray Del Sol. Guys like Sami Callihan and Ryan Drago, performers who have entertained fans and excelled at their in-ring craft who may not have gotten a chance due to their look or size, are now a part of the WWE system.

Triple H seems to be interested in finding and developing the world’s best wrestlers—as opposed to finding the world's biggest guys and trying to morph them into wrestlers.

This should lead to better matches, better in-ring work and an overall faster and more entertaining product.

Training

It's Triple H's commitment to the long process of talent development that will have the biggest impact on the product in the long run.

The WWE developmental system has been streamlined and vastly improved under Triple H's watch.

NXT now tapes its shows at Full Sail University in a partnership that Triple H himself says provides "real-world experience while giving us a fresh, creative perspective from ambitious students." He also reportedly, per Wrestling Observer via WrestleZone.com , has moved for prospects to do "away with word for word scripts and teach the developmental talents how to work with bullet points."

That may seem like common sense, but reverting back to letting wrestlers be themselves more and have more freedom is ground-breaking when the system is so dependent on scripting and micro-managing talent.

The biggest change Triple H has led in talent development has been the creation of the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

This center will provide "a world-class strength and conditioning program and cutting-edge edit and production facilities." The amenities and the training that happens there will help WWE get the most out of its prospects.

It isn't just a souped-up gym, either.

The center is much about technology as it is about weights and rings. Prospects can work on their promo skills in a private studio and production suites.

In the past, WWE would sign a guy like Mason Ryan and toss him onscreen after a few months of training, hoping for the best. Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling helped prepare guys like him, but Triple H's vision for how to get a guy ready is a great leap forward.

This appears to be a more comprehensive approach to training. Every angle of sports entertainment is tackled.

When the graduates from this center start to make their way to the main roster, when prospects like Drago, Zayn and Neville start to be a part of WrestleMania and SummerSlam, that's when we will see Triple's H greatest impact on the product.

This will be his sledgehammer shot to the company, his pioneering reshaping of the WWE.