Take up thy wrestling boots and walk - Where do we go from here Paul II - This time it's fictional
Submitted by Pt2 on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 1:10 AM EST





At the beginning of the year, I wrote a column called ‘Where do we go from here, Paul?’ HHH had just suffered an injury, mere days after my column looking ahead to the next year in which I had predicted that Hunter, along with many other stars, would have a huge part to play in the upcoming year. With the injury to Hunter, ‘Where do we go from here, Paul?’ looked at the options for the rest of the roster (particularly Shawn Michaels) in his absence, and also at his own future upon his return from injury.

Today, I heard a rumour floating around the ‘net that HHH wants to turn heel, and feud either with John Cena on his return, or with Shawn Michaels. In all honesty, both prospects bored me to tears.

I’m a HHH fan. I think he comes off as an arrogant ass, but he’s had great matches, been in great angles and been one of the great stars of WWE history over the past 10 years. I am one of those people who believes that HHH would still be one of the top players in the WWE even if he were not married to Stephanie, purely because he is good enough to be. But the idea of him going down the roads mentioned didn’t exactly inspire me.

Let’s be fair, Shawn Michaels vs. HHH has been done. Especially when they are placed in their traditional roles. Michaels face vs. HHHeel has seen it’s day, and while the matches live long in the memory, do we REALLY want to go back down that road? I know I don’t. There are plenty of people for both Michaels and Hunter to work with that would throw fresh matches and situations – there really is no need to run over the same old ground. They have been too close together, either as friends or enemies, for the last ten years (whenever Michaels has been active), for another high profile feud to work.

As for John Cena… where do I begin? They headlined Wrestlemania 22 together, and that is the only Wrestlemania of recent years that I refused to buy. That should speak volumes. HHH vs. John Cena will only work again, in my opinion, as a face vs. face match – and when you consider the mixed reaction both men get anyway, it would be well on its way to being face vs. face anyway. Turning HHH forces you back down a route you have already gone, and just makes me think…. Meh.

First of all, does HHH really need to turn Heel at all? He’s spent most of his career as a heel, so it is still a bit more refreshing to see him as a babyface. There is always the question about where he would fit into the roster, as a heel. As a babyface his role is already there – he’s a fun, fan favourite, who can get away with murder because people cheer him purely because they want to.

As a heel though, he doesn’t seem to have a top of the card role anymore. Randy Orton is the top heel on RAW right now, and is being pushed heavily in that position. You’d have to figure he WILL be the top heel throughout his run with Jericho, and until John Cena’s return, so that Cena can have his revenge feud. Mr. Kennedy is also near the top end of the card as a heel. He’s not likely to become a destructive monster heel type with Umaga and Snitsky on the RAW roster, either.

He’s also feuded with most of the company’s top stars on RAW as a heel. He’s wrestled Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, John Cena and Chris Jericho, all as the bad guy. As a babyface, he’s only wrestled Jericho and Orton – and he’s not wrestled either of those in a face vs. face match.

Looking at the options out there, I think turning HHH heel ruins most, if not all of them. I’d take HHH turning heel and feuding with Jericho. I know that it has been done before, but it was seven years ago, and only a brief feud. If they could recapture some of the magic that went into their 2000 last man standing match, it would be worth the price of a PPV on its own. Jericho will obviously not turn heel so soon, which leaves the other option of them having a big face vs. face match – which is another excellent prospect, and one that would, if properly booked, be very difficult to call.

Then there is Shawn Michaels. As I said earlier on, the old format has been done to death on this one. But that doesn’t exclude new formats. There is definitely the prospect for a face vs. face match here, but also the interesting twist of a Michaels as heel match with Hunter. That could give their rivalry a whole new engine and carry them through for a significant portion of 2008. The big flaw, and as far as I can see, only flaw, is that Michaels might find it hard to get people to boo him, as we saw in his feud with Hogan. He’s just too damn popular.

John Cena – I think it’d require some pretty great build up to get me interested in a HHH vs. John Cena match, somehow. Cena as a heel could throw an interesting spin on it, but is probably quite unlikely. Face vs. Face, again could work would require some superb build up work by the WWE. Personally though, this is very low on my proverbial wish-list.

That is about it, for Hunter’s options, short of turning heel and working with Bobby Lashley, which is another option that doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. The real problems, I think, are two-fold:

First, there is a huge gap between the top level talent on RAW, and those beneath them. While there would be plenty of people that HHH could work with in theory, many of those people have been off the main show for so long, or portrayed in such a fashion, that no one could really believe them hanging with Hunter without a vast character overhaul. The likes of Val Venis and Charlie Haas could certainly put on a good performance with Hunter, but everyone and their grandmother could predict the result which in turn leads to apathy. Cade and Murdoch can’t exactly move up because years of neglect regarding the tag divisions’ means that they are almost regarded as second class wrestlers. Snitsky has the credibility, purely because of his size, but has barely been used in such a way that suggests he’s a threat, and so he is almost forgotten. Santino Marella is a joke character, and everyone knows he isn’t beating Hunter. Cody Rhodes is a newcomer, far too new to be thrown in front of a legitimate main event star. Hardcore Holly neither has the star power or the ability to handle such a feud.

Now that I’ve pretty much shot out the entire RAW roster, I’ll move onto the second part of the problem; namely, that HHH has been on RAW far too long.

He’s one of the only people in the whole WWE not to switch shows at any time. As a consequence, anyone worthwhile that is on RAW, and has been for a while, has wrestled HHH at some point. Short of shifting the rosters around again, it is almost unavoidable that HHH will have worked with everyone. Compare his options on RAW, as listed above, with the ones he would have on Smackdown! and ECW.

On Friday nights, the only top star that he really couldn’t work with again (at least, any time soon) is Batista, after their 3-0 series of matches following Batista’s leaving Evolution. Kane could also be problematic; especially when you consider that every feud they have ever had has resulted in Kane’s career going backwards. His other options are almost limitless – Edge jumps out at me immediately, especially with him being one of the company’s great heels right now. HHH and Undertaker have had matches, most notably at Wrestlemania X-7, but the feud hasn’t been done to death at all, and another high profile match or two six years later would hardly be the end of the world.

Then are the less obvious names – names like Finlay, MVP, Rey Mysterio, and even someone like Kenny Dykstra (one of Bret Hart’s current favourites) could all work out great. Hell, you could EVEN go crazy and put him up against Khali – it’d certainly draw better than HHH vs. Bob Holly.

While we are unlikely to ever see HHH as a member of the ECW roster, his options on there aren’t exactly limited either, especially when you compare the size of the roster with that of RAW. CM Punk provides one option, as does John Morrison – and you’d be quite foolish to overlook someone like Elijah Burke as well.

Plenty of opportunities for him, then, on the other two shows – especially when you consider that on the other shows, he can work as face or heel without it seeming repetitive.

At this point, it’s not so much ‘Where do we go from here, Paul?’ as it is ‘Where do you go from here, Paul?” With Jericho and Edge returning, Orton solidifying himself at the top of the card, Kennedy, MVP and Jeff Hardy all pushing towards the main event places, veterans like Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker back and healthy, and young talent like Ken Dykstra and DH Smith appearing on the shows, we know that for most of the company life is looking pretty rosy. For HHH and the people making the decisions surrounding his future, however, there are big decisions ahead.

I’ll go on the record right now – it would be cowardice to go backwards to a HHH vs. Shawn Michaels feud. I’ll close simply by saying to them… gentlemen, if you don’t gamble, you don’t win.

Thanks for reading. Apologies on the three week absence. I’ve had a few ideas for columns along the way, but for various reasons the various ideas just never seemed to end up how I wanted them. Hopefully this has made up for my unscheduled break.

You can reach me at the usual address. Until next time, take care.

Pt2









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