In general, wrestling fans who talk about wrestling on the internet are hated by wrestlers. I'm currently half-way through reading Bret Hart's awesome book and he also feels the same way, stating somewhere along the lines of not liking people who talk about the wrestling business when they aren't even in it. I neither agree nor disagree with this. I just feel that a wrestling fan who knows a few things about the biz through attending shows, watching it on TV, reading the magazines etc, especially for a number of years has the right to an opinion which, as long as its shared in the right manner can do no harm.

At the same time i do have an issue with people who think they are fans who can only muster up a feeble "Cena suks dik an he can't wresle" (just to give you a deliberately badly spelled and childish example.) or the even feebler classic "wrestling is gay and fake". When i have the unfortunate honour of reading crap like that i can understand how the Hitman and most other wrestlers, past and present, feel about the internet.

I might be critical sometimes and perhaps even harsh...possibly even unfair with some of my "opinions" but i try my best to come across as somebody who respects all wrestlers and has a decent knowledge of their profession, even if i'm not "in it". I talk about wrestling because i love it as a fan in exactly the same way that a Star Wars fan would talk about Star Wars for example.



Triple H was one of three WWE Superstars who actually made me want to watch wrestling, and in particular the WWE properly again. I was starting to get back into wrestling during the attitude era of the company. Stone Cold Steve Austin (now a very deserving WWE Hall of Famer.) was wreaking havoc as the Champion, D-Generation X were crotch-chopping and getting women in the crowd to expose their "puppies" and WCW was dieing a slow and painful death due to the misuse of it's younger stars and poor booking amongst other reasons.

I was sort-of pondering whether i liked wrestling again or not. After Hulk Hogan and the rock n' wrestling era ended i found myself only occasionally watching it. If guys like Bret Hart, The British Bulldog and Undertaker were on then i'd watch it but other than that i was exploring other interests - mainly involving a certain blue hedgehog called Sonic (i was still a kid then.). Then one day my friend from across the street, Leon, brought over a VHS tape of the 2000 Royal Rumble. Channel 4 had started airing episodes of WWF HeAT beforehand so i'd seen some of the build-up to this particular event and it had my interest. Leon was like, "Dan! You've gotta watch it with me! There's this big red guy called Kane and he's awesome! There were pins all over the ring (In England, a "thumbtack" is known as a "(drawing)pin".) and this guy got slammed onto 'em! And you'll really like The Rock!"

So i watched the 2000 Royal Rumble and was absolutely blown away by the match between Triple H and Cactus Jack, a Street Fight. It all seemed so real, they both told a heck of a story and there was plenty of pins, barbed wire 2x4s, smashed tables and blood. The Rock totally and pun intended 'electrified' me with his promos and the drama that occurred when he 'controversially' won the Rumble after eliminating the Big Show. Needless to say i've been fully hooked ever since.

Triple H, Cactus Jack and The Rock. The three guys that made me a full-time wrestling fan again. Fact.



Throughout 2000, whenever I saw Triple H I knew i was going to see something big happen. For most of that yeat Hunter feuded with The Rock, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle (who had hair at the time). Because his character was such a believable asshole i felt compelled to watch him because i wanted somebody, desperately, to kick his ass. But as i learned more about the ins and outs of pro wrestling i grew to respect him because he was a great in-ring performer. I grew so fond of the guy that i would leap to his defence in arguments with friends at school. One friend in particular, who was a big Steve Austin fan, would rave to me about his bald-headed, beer swilling, finger gesturing idol to no end. "Yeah but Tripper'll kick his bald-ass at Survivor Series coz he's the better wrestler!" i would argue before eating humble pie, as Austin dropped Triple H in a car from a forklift at the end of the match.



By the time 2003 came along, Hunter was with Evolution and was constantly the world champion, after being awarded the belt by then Raw GM Eric Bischoff. A couple of brief losses to a returning Shawn Michaels (his good friend) and Bill Goldberg would not console me. I was becoming sick of the sight of the guy. Then i started learning about all the reports, the so-called 'dirt-sheets", the backstage info and more. The era of kayfabe had pretty much disintegrated. Hunter was beating everybody, Scott Steiner, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Kevin Nash, Chris Jericho...the list was endless.

I learned about the politics. Triple H was at the center of it all because he had married Vince's daughter. I had lost a lot of respect for him because to cut a long story short, i read too many stories of how he would bury his opponents and how he would always make sure he was "going over", influencing creative decisions and changing match finishes and so on. Even recently as i wrote about this past September on deviantART, Magazines weren't allowed to print game screenshots of Smackdown VS Raw 2009 if they showed Triple H's character in a vulnerable position. For me that is way past pathetic. To quote part of Kryten's description of Cat from a Red Dwarf episode, "...mind-meltingly shallow."



True, i'm not in the business. I don't have backstage passes and i don't hang out with the wrestlers. I've wrote many negative things about Tripper since i started this account, but is it really fair to judge him by what i see on TV or read in magazines? Or the internet?

Maybe, maybe not. I respect what is written in magazines because they usually have wrestlers and people who are or have been in the business most of their lives making up the staff who write them. For example, UK-based magazine FSM has former WWE/WCW/ECW great Lance Storm and former Gladiator turned TNA wrestler Nick Aldis (Brutus Magnus) writing their own columns. I don't always agree with everything that's written of course but these people know where of they speak.

The internet is another kettle of fish though. I have been asked why i haven't joined a wrestling chat room or board. Not all of them, but most feature the same types of arguments that i stated near the start of this journal. I tell you, i feel really sorry for poor John Cena. Not that he's bothered 'cause he knows its not true of course. But apparantly he sucks dick, is gay and can't wrestle. If the guy couldn't wrestle, he wouldn't be in the ring and he certainly wouldn't be the World Heavyweight Champion. Would i say he is the best wrestler ever? Is it for me to judge? From a fan standpoint maybe but nothing more than that. No i don't think he is. But the guy works damn hard, loves his job and is awesome on the mic. Forgive me for being so blunt here, but has any 'fan' ever seen Mr. Cena suck anything that even resembles another man's genitalia? I don't even need to answer that question do i - and he's getting married - to a woman, not something a gay man would do...unless his name is Elton John i s'ose.



In my humble opinion...
Triple H has always been a great wrestler and has always kept me entertained. He loves the business and yes, anybody who has a different attitude about being the world champion shouldn't be in it. As a fan i believe that too.

Anybody who says that he only became the world champion because he married Stephanie McMahon need to brush up on their history because he first became champion in 1999 which was before they were even kayfabe married! He has done a lot of good for charity with the WWE and he seems to have good character. I know if i were a new wrestler in WWE i would ask him for advice out of sheer respect of what he has achieved.

Yeah it seems he also has his ego and he loves being over. Particularly at this stage of his career he needs to start helping build the stars of the future. How many more Wrestlemania main events has he got left? I'll never forget the smirk on his face when Jeff Hardy pinned him at Armageddon '07. I wasn't impressed. Instead of letting Jeff beat him for the WWE Title it was Edge who, like the pro that he is, took the fall instead last year.

No i don't hate him at all. That would be ridiculous. I just wish he wouldn't put himself first so much when it comes to his job. But lets face it, is he doing any different from Ric Flair? Shawn Michaels? Undertaker? All great wrestlers but with great egos and great ambitions.

There will always be politics, everywhere. Maybe its time i lightened up a bit.

W.H.



1) [link]
Armageddon 2007. At the end of the match, the smirk on HHH's face makes Jeff's victory seem a joke. At least to me it did anyway.

2) [link]
The match that got me hooked. Royal Rumble 2000. Triple H VS Cactus Jack.

3) [link]
Wrestlemania seems to be the only event where he actually puts someone over, bless him. But also note his entrance. The whole King of Kings gimmick is a complete ego-soother. This entrance made him look like a complete a$$ IMO.
Yes, that is CM Punk as one of Cena's gangsters.

Next journal, Legends of Wrestlemania.