Regardless of Next Feud, Triple H Must Lose the Next WWE PPV He Wrestles

This past Monday, Triple H made his long-awaited return to WWE Raw. It's not that he's been hiding over the last five months—fans could still see him at various press conferences, NXT TakeOver specials and the United Kingdom Championship Tournament. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon even made appearances at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration.

But as far as Raw is concerned, Triple H has been a ghost. Until his cameo on Monday, his last Raw appearance was on August 29, 2016, when he interfered in the Fatal 4-Way match between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Big Cass and Kevin Owens. He jumped out of the crowd and hit Reigns with a Pedigree. He then did the same to Rollins, his one-time golden boy, before literally handing the title to Owens.

At this point, WWE had a compelling storyline on its hands. Triple H could be the cruel parental figure and aging king. Rollins could be the spurned son, hurt and angry over having lost his "father's" love. And Owens could have been the newly crowned prince, insulated and protected by a corrupt authority.

It could have led to numerous showdowns between Owens and Rollins. It could have been a "Stone Cold" Steve Austin-Vince McMahon feud for the New Era. It could have even forged a bridge between NXT and the main roster; Triple H could move Superstars up when he needed hired guns to take out Rollins.

But instead, by disappearing from Raw, Triple H created a power vacuum that neither McMahon nor Mick Foley were able to fill.

Fans still don't know exactly why Triple H betrayed Rollins or whether there was a single event that pushed him over the edge. The only person who should have been speaking for Triple H was Triple H. Even a backstage "Bret screwed Bret"-type interview would have sufficed

WWE applied short-term solutions. Chris Jericho teamed with Owens, becoming Triple H's de facto replacement. But although Jericho may be a legend, he doesn't have the same pull or intimidation factor as Triple H. 

Meanwhile, Rollins was deprived of feuding with the one person he had a legitimate, emotional gripe with. Triple H and Rollins wouldn't have even needed to physically fight. Just a couple of dueling promos in the ring and the occasional Triple H ringside cameo would have been enough.

And now, it seems as though WWE waited too long to pull the trigger. Rollins legitimately re-injured his knee on Monday, thanks to a debuting Samoa Joe. He may be out of WrestleMania—we'll find out more next week. And if so, we'll again be deprived of this Triple H showdown that we've been dying to see. 

Regardless, Triple H must lose his next pay-per-view appearance, which will probably be at WrestleMania 33. When he's seen on television this infrequently (fans see Goldberg more than Triple H at this point), it does the company no good to have him come in, get himself over and then disappear.

There's precedent for this sort of burial. He did it against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 29. He did it to Sting at WrestleMania 31, where he gave Sting a condescending pat on the head after they shook hands. So he must lose. There's no time to build to anything more interesting or even trade wins—the biggest show of the year is right around the corner.

Next time, WWE needs to plan ahead. Give the fans longer storylines instead of rushed builds. Make it so that part-time Superstars are integrated into the shows, even when they're gone, rather than presenting them as one-off freak shows. 

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Triple H laid low so that he wouldn't compete against Monday Night Football (h/t Alex Batt of Give Me Sport). In hindsight, it wasn't worth it. Give fans the best possible product every week rather than holding off on a money feud that might never materialize.