Triple H's Title Reign Proof WWE Has Failed to Develop High-Quality Heels

The 2016 Royal Rumble was an event filled to its brim with memorable moments, but none was bigger or more important to the current landscape of World Wrestling Entertainment than Triple H's victory in the titular match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

As memorable and integral as that moment may be to the story WWE is trying to tell in the build to WrestleMania 32, it never should have happened. Triple H's victory in the Rumble match—and his current reign as champion—is evidence of the company's utter failure to develop high-quality heels over the last five years.

Triple H, for as great as he has been over the course of his career, never should have been in the position to win the gigantic 30-man match or capture the top prize in the industry. Had WWE spent the last handful of years building quality villains to oppose their wealth of babyface stars, it never would have had to rely on a 46-year-old man whose best days as an in-ring performer are far behind him.

Instead, Superstars such as Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and even Brock Lesnar have seen their potential starring roles as the most hated baddies on the WWE roster diminished by poor booking and even less forward thinking.

Too often, the heels on the WWE roster have gone undefined. They have been presented as one-dimensional, generic bad guys who have either gotten over in that role as a result of their relationship with The Authority or because they targeted lead babyface John Cena. Then, when those stories wrap up, they descend into mediocrity as part of the company's mangled mess of midcard talent.

Bray Wyatt was the only modern heel to be introduced to the main roster fans with any sort of compelling background and a story fans could latch on to—and how did things fare for him? WWE heated him up, booked him against future Hall of Famers only to be beaten down, and he cooled off.

The company's failure to understand that a hero is only as good as its villain is one of the greatest detriments to today's WWE product. Vince McMahon and the creative staff behind Raw, SmackDown and other company productions have spent so much time focusing on the growth and development of a lead babyface to one day supplant Cena that they have forgotten that quality heels are essential to the process.

WWE cannot conceivably ask fans to invest themselves emotionally in a babyface such as Roman Reigns, for example, when the heels he is tasked with facing are as white bread and boring, or have lost credibility over months of alternating between winning and losing matches.

Batman is as beloved and interesting a character as he is because of the rogues gallery that is present in his stories. The Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and the Riddler are all compelling villains that accentuate the need for a hero.

That is the key element missing from WWE in 2016.

As WWE continues to put all of its time and effort behind elevating Reigns, it finds itself in a position where Triple H must be utilized in the top heel role for the third consecutive year, due mainly to the incompetency demonstrated on the company's part when it comes to positioning any other villain on the roster as a credible threat to the hero.

It is acceptable for The Game to have a role in the story. However, for him to be the star at the center of the feud, preparing to headline WrestleMania in Dallas at age 46 when there is a wealth of young talent that needs only to benefit from the sort of booking he has to this point, is a major issue that will continue rearing its ugly head with every passing week, month and year that the company fails to promote, elevate and grow compelling, full-time heels.