TLC 2013: Triple H Attacking Orton on Raw Was the Perfect Development

With TLC just days away, Monday Night Raw went out with a bang this week—and a highly decorated bang at that.

The show closed with one of the most star-studded brawls of recent memory, as some of the company's biggest stars—both past and present—saw their tempers boil over in a few moments of madness.

In light of such drama, I felt compelled to revisit the vibrant realm of the IWC, eager to see how opinions would divide themselves on this occasion.

And there was one such opinion that wasted no time in seizing my attention.

Andy Soucek's candidly titled article outlined the faults in having the WWE's authority figure lay out its No. 1 champion just days before what is being labelled as the biggest match in company history. And though I fully appreciate the points that Andy makes, I have to respectfully disagree with his underlying sentiment.

Having Triple H take out Orton was a wholly unexpected move. Ever since SummerSlam, the COO and the WWE champion have been in cahoots as the Authority has taken control. To seemingly shatter that alliance so close to the TLC pay-per-view adds a whole new layer of intrigue to a match that now just might have the potential to live up to its grandiose billing.

Of course, Triple H's decision to attack Orton was a rash one, made firmly in the heat of the moment after the latter had inadvertently floored the Game's wife. I think this rash behaviour was the perfect development for two reasons.

First, it offers a story that makes perfect sense and gives Hunter's unexpected actions a rationale. How else would you expect a man to react to seeing the love of his life struck down right in front of him?

And second, the sheer impulsiveness of the whole debacle leaves the door open for both men to accept that this was perhaps all just a spur-of-the-moment accident.

The result of this?

It all comes back to those layers of intrigue. We are left in a state of utter uncertainty. Does Hunter view Orton as a friend or foe? Will he attempt to screw the champ at the upcoming PPV or remain true to the man that he hand-picked as the new "face of the WWE"? And could we see—dare I say it—the Authority align itself with John Cena as a result?

Okay, maybe I'm clutching at straws with that last one. But my point is that there is now a much wider range of possible scenarios that we could see play out come TLC this Sunday. That existence of mystery is what great storytelling thrives on and means that Raw served its purpose perfectly as a go-home show. Without Triple H nailing Orton with the pedigree, would anticipation ahead of TLC be as a high as it is right now?

I suspect not, and as a result, I am now thoroughly looking forward to witnessing Sunday evening's outcome.

Referring back to Soucek's aforementioned article, though, he made another good point when comparing Triple H to authority figures of years gone by. Back in the 90s, we didn't see the likes of Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon laying out Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin and for good reason.

But I think that in the case of Triple H, this kind of behaviour isn't as inappropriate. For one, neither Bischoff nor McMahon had 13 world titles of pedigree behind them (pardon the pun), and furthermore, the Game is still significantly younger than either man was at the time.

Remember, his semi-retirement was self-imposed after the "shame" of being bested by Brock Lesnar, which in itself is really nothing to be ashamed about at all. My point is that this is not some out-of-shape geriatric that we're talking about here. Sure, maybe he wouldn't be able to perform week-in, week-out at the very highest level anymore, but it's certainly not beyond the boundaries of belief to accept that Triple H would be able to get one up on Orton at least on this one occasion.

Perhaps he should be looking to cut down on his in-ring involvement over the coming years. But, for now at least, I feel that developments such as those that we saw on Raw this past week are both sufficiently believable and of great benefit to the overall product.

For me, it was an awesome ending to an awesome closing segment and one that perfectly sets up TLC this Sunday.

Of course, I'm sure my opinions will not be shared by everyone, so please feel free to comment below with your own thoughts on the article and of the issues that were discussed!