Triple H Is Currently on One of His Best Heel Runs Ever

Is Triple H currently having one of his best heel runs ever? I think so.

As the head of The Authority, Triple H has been a solid highlight of WWE television over the past year.

Along with wife Stephanie, he’s been ruling over the company with an iron fist.

Of course, the “evil boss” character isn’t exactly something new in wrestling. In fact, Hunter’s father-in-law Vince McMahon was plastered all over television with that same character 17 years ago.

Credit: WWE.com

However, the truly intriguing thing is that Triple H actually manages to bring a new perspective to what should be a tired and stale act.

Most authority figure heels—including Vince—have seemingly just been bad for the sake of it. They were pantomime villains with no real depth beyond “I hate the good guys and will make their lives miserable because I can!”

Triple H’s current character is very different, though. From the beginning he said he never hated Daniel Bryan or had anything personal against him—and I believed him.

Credit: WWE.com

In his mind, his reluctance to push Bryan was fully justified: The former Ring of Honor performer just didn’t have all the qualities needed to carry WWE as a top star. It was simply business.

Unlike Vince with Steve Austin, Triple H never wanted Bryan out of the company or to ruin his life. He was fine with him having a prominent role in WWE—just not as the main guy.

And in spite of Triple H’s more overtly heel antics—like last week’s brutal beatdown of a handcuffed Bryan—you can still see where he is coming from, even if he is wrong. In his mind, everyone else has driven him here with their unreasonable behavior and unwillingness to compromise.

At a time when wrestling doesn’t have that many compelling characters, Triple H’s current heel act is shockingly well-rounded and three-dimensional.

It makes his feud with Bryan even more interesting: We can see where both of these men are coming from. This storyline has a genuine depth not found in most main event angles.

Of course, that shouldn’t suggest Triple H’s present run is without any flaws whatsoever.

For one thing, you have to wonder how smart an idea it is to heavily push an aging part-timer who rarely steps in the ring except for special occasions.

Credit: WWE.com

Promoting “The Game” as a heel over Randy Orton has also been unwise.

There are a few other reasons Orton’s title reign hasn’t set the world on fire—terrible booking hasn’t helped—but forcing “The Viper” to play second fiddle to Triple H has undoubtedly been a pivotal factor.

No wonder Orton doesn’t seem like a big deal anymore; he’s been relegated to the role of sidekick.

WWE needs to build for their future, and focusing things on Hunter yet again is definitely not the way to do that.

So, the COO is on a tremendous run, maybe the best of his career.

But let’s just hope after WrestleMania XXX, the booking team decides to scale down his role somewhat and focus more on the full-time roster members like Bray Wyatt and Cesaro. To borrow a line from Helmsley himself, it really would be “best for business.”