8 WWE Storylines Triple H Has Botched Since WrestleMania 41
After three years of Triple H being in creative control of WWE, the cracks have finally started to show in his regime.
The first stretch of shows after he took the reins saw a drastic shift in quality compared to what was being produced under Vince McMahon at the end of his tenure.
Although the weekly television product is in a far better place than it was our years ago, it's clear that the powers that be have become complacent following the surge of success WWE has experienced business-wise.
WrestleMania 41 in particular served as a significant turning point for the company creatively. While there have been bright spots on SmackDown and Raw in the last six months, the many critically-panned blunders can't be ignored.
Some stories have taken longer to play out and the payoffs haven't always landed. There's a sense of sameness toward the top of the card with little actually catching fire, making it difficult for viewers to fully invest in what they're watching.
Imminent change is paramount, otherwise both brands will continue to suffer from stagnation.
These are Triple H's eight biggest botched storylines since WrestleMania.
R-Truth as Ron Killings
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Whether their contract wasn't renewed or they were straight-up released without warning, several stars have departed WWE in recent months. R-Truth fell in the former category at the beginning of June when he announced WWE was allowing his contract to expire.
This was just over a week removed from Truth competing against John Cena on an installment of Saturday Night's Main Event. The decision took the wrestling world by surprise and led to fans and talent alike lobbying for him to be brought back.
Not only was Truth reinstated within days, but he also closed out the Money in the Bank event by attacking Cena and showed off a more serious side by cutting his signature hair on Raw. He also demanded he be referred to by his real name: Ron Killings.
He targeted Cena for a few weeks thereafter, but despite the disappointing disqualification finish to their rematch on SmackDown, their program was abruptly dropped. Truth quietly moved on to working with Aleister Black, and that rivalry was never resolved, either.
Truth wouldn't have been a permanent fixture in the main event scene at this stage of his career, but WWE didn't bother capitalizing on the hot momentum he had or trying him out as more than a one-off in the world championship picture, simply because he was never factored into its plans in the first place.
Brock Lesnar Is Back, For Some Reason
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The reasoning behind Brock Lesnar's sudden disappearance from WWE TV in early 2024 was never a secret, and it was widely assumed by fans that he'd be possibly brought back to WWE when the lawsuit against Vince McMahon that Lesnar was named in was either dropped or close to settling.
The lawsuit remains ongoing, yet that didn't stop WWE from having him resurface at SummerSlam.
The Beast Incarnate swiftly laid out John Cena and leftābut not without controversy. The online reaction from fans was mixed to say the least, and it just so happened to coincide with WWE's cancellation of post-show press conferences.
Worse yet, an on-air explanation was never provided as to why Lesnar returned when he did. He hinted at wanting to ruin Cena's retirement tour in a quick vignette ahead of their outing at Wrestlepalooza, but the build was nearly nonexistent and WWE did virtually nothing to make sense of it all.
The match being a bust was equally underwhelming, as was the failure to follow it up. Cena quickly shifted his focus toward facing AJ Styles at Crown Jewel, while Lesnar hasn't been seen since the Sept. 20 premium live event.
In addition to WWE having no need for Lesnar at this point, it hasn't helped that his entire run so far has reeked of laziness.
The New Day's World Tag Team Championship Reign
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The New Day were easily the hottest heels in all of WWE coming into 2025 following their betrayal of Big E on the December 2, 2024 edition of Raw.
However, it was painfully apparent that WWE didn't intend for the angle to be as well-received as it was based on how directionless they were in the weeks that followed.
Triple H thankfully carved out a spot for them on the WrestleMania 41 card by having them challenge The War Raiders for the World Tag Team Championship. The match delivered, but it came together on a whim, meaning the crowd largely did not care.
New Day winning the tag titles seemed to signal they were in line for a renewed push. Instead, they were absent from Raw more often than not and only successfully defended their titles once before dropping them less than two months into their reign.
Raw's depleted tag team division as a whole has been badly botched in 2025, but the mishandling of New Day's heel run has been especially unfortunate considering the potential it had.
They remain regulars on Raw, but they are primarily utilized as stepping stones for the rest of the roster.
Karrion Kross' Organic Rise
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Despite Karrion Kross being one of the first people Triple H brought back to WWE upon taking over in the summer of 2022, he rapidly went from working with top talent on SmackDown to ending up in meaningless midcard matches and feuds, and he never really recovered.
With rumors indicating Kross' future with WWE was uncertain ahead of his contract expiring this past August, the writing was on the wall, until his scathing online rant immediately following Night 2 of WrestleMania 41.
He became an overnight sensation with everyone buzzing about the fire he showed in his promo and what officials had been missing out on this entire time.
WWE's grand plan with Kross from that point forward was to acknowledge none of it on television and instead relegate him to blink-and-you-missed-it backstage segments on Raw that amounted to nothing.
His subsequent storyline with Sami Zayn was an encouraging use of him, even though their series of matches failed to impress. His SummerSlam loss to Zayn served as his sendoff, with WWE opting to not renew his contract the next weekend.
It's possible Kross returns to WWE eventually after a successful stint back on the independent scene, but there's no telling where he'd be today had the company capitalized on his groundswell of support sooner.
El Grande Americano
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El Grande Americano started out as a clever gimmick for Chad Gable after Triple H decided not to have him win the Intercontinental Championship last year, which was a highly questionable booking decision in itself.
It was obvious from the get-go that he was under the mask, but it simultaneously got him on Raw more frequently and landed him a pretty prominent storyline with Rey Mysterio heading into WrestleMania 41.
A last-minute injury to Mysterio forced WWE to replace him with Rey Fenix, who Americano beat decisively at the event. That was practically the peak of his push, as he's been bouncing around the card since then without being involved anything of note.
He's traded wins with AJ Styles, failed to become Mr. Money in the Bank and unsuccessfully challenged for the AAA Mega Championship, but all of it has been to keep him busy and not necessarily further any storylines.
Of course, Gable also getting hurt and having to be temporarily replaced by Ludvig Kaiser in the role wasn't ideal, but there's no rhyme nor reason for how the character has been used post-WrestleMania.
The Wyatt Sicks' Return
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Just as The Wyatt Sicks were beginning to find their footing as a faction last year and organically generate momentum, they disappeared from programming in the midst of a feud with The Final Testament and The Miz in late 2024.
Injuries were believed to be the reason for their extended absence, but nothing was stopping WWE from using the other active members in the meantime.
Keeping them off the shows hurt their stock considerably, to the point where they essentially had to start from scratch upon their return this past May.
The vignettes discussing their comeback to television were well-produced, but fans were confused as to whether they were supposed to be portrayed as babyfaces or heels. There was no clear direction for them beyond being inexplicably placed in the SmackDown tag team division.
Although they did capture the WWE Tag Team Championship over the summer, their reign has suffered from not being overly interesting. Since they aren't an act that relies on their matches to get them over with the audience, it's been difficult for them to get anything going.
All hope isn't lost for The Wyatt Sicks, but a strong storyline is needed to get them back on track.
Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu
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Jacob Fatu was well on his way toward breaking out as a big-time babyface in the months following WrestleMania 41, but his abysmal feud with Solo Sikoa undoubtedly cooled him off.
WWE waited too long to split them up, and once it finally did, the focus had shifted from Fatu as United States champion to Sikoa building a new faction.
Sikoa recruited Tonga Loa, JC Mateo and Talla Tonga to help him unseat Fatu for the star-spangled prize at Night of Champions in June.
The endgame should have been Fatu regaining the gold at SummerSlam, but WWE went in a different direction completely by having Sikoa beat him in one of the dullest, most interference-filled steel cage matches in recent history.
Sami Zayn dethroning Sikoa instead has worked out wonderfully and the weekly U.S. open challenges have been a recurring highlight on SmackDown, but Fatu being sidelined without explanation has been frustrating for fans.
His newfound feud with Drew McIntyre means he'll be done with Sikoa moving forward at long last, and he can benefit from being positioned near the main event scene as opposed to being stuck in midcard purgatory.
John Cena's Heel Run
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It's astounding that while John Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber was perfectly executed, the general consensus among fans is that Triple H couldn't have botched the aftermath worse if he tried.
The unsatisfying fashion in which Cena won the Undisputed WWE Championship with an assist from Travis Scott (and not The Rock) at WrestleMania 41 is well-documented. Everything that came after it was almost as awful.
Cena rekindling his rivalries with longtime foes Randy Orton and CM Punk should have been more exciting than it was. The matches themselves were enjoyable, but the segments leading up to them left a lot to be desired.
His promos were hardly authentic and his character work was basic at best. Everything WWE could have done wrong with the heel turn, it arguably did.
The only thing more impressive than bungling such an unprecedented angle was WWE's ability to move on from it so quickly and forgetting it ever happened. Cena returned to his roots as a fan favorite a mere two days before his SummerSlam clash with Cody Rhodes, and he's since chalked his five months as a villain up to a "bad day" on various occasions.
WWE has attempted to correct course with Cena in his remaining months by booking him against Logan Paul, Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles on consecutive PLEs, but the time spent on his heel run was wasted because of a lack of forethought, proper planning and genuine effort.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website,Ā WrestleRant, and subscribe to hisĀ YouTube channelĀ for more wrestling-related content.
