For The Record 7.12.09: Triple H Through 2020
Posted by Kristopher Rodriguez on 07.12.2009
The Game turns 40 on July 27th. Will he end his run in the next few years, or stick around through 2020?
Triple H is a 13-time world champion. He is one of THE most successful wrestlers of all-time. He has compiled excellent matches with the likes of The Rock, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, and Shawn Michaels. He's even had a few high-caliber matches with Randy Orton and Batista. His in-ring prowess is still, I would assume, beyond dispute. In fact, it's not a stretch to say that he's wrestling as well in 2009 as he was in 1999. However, two complaints consistently dog Triple H.
First, he's a McMahon. And as a member of that family, he'll always have an edge over other wrestlers. That drives smarks crazy. Would he have his spot if he weren't a McMahon? Perhaps. But many fans (particularly the IWC) still believe the playing field isn't level. The second complaint is the belief that Triple H holds other wrestlers down. He seemingly protects his spot by derailing other pushes. It also doesn't help that he's constantly "meddling" in the main event picture.
With all of that said, I ask… Who wants to see Triple H compete through 2020!
It could happen. Let's examine the possibility of Triple H going another 10+ years.
Wrestling Through 2020
Triple H turns 40 at the end of July. He's been with WWE for 14 years, and has no doubt made an impact. He's still an above average performer with above average charisma. He has shown no signs of slowing down. He is still wrestling 20-30 minute matches without much trouble. At the moment, Triple H has not given any indication that retirement is in the cards. In fact, he could possibly outlast two prominent main eventers, maybe three. More on that later.
The Game has suffered major injuries in the past. The most notable have been his torn quadriceps muscles. He has experienced tears in each leg. His first tear occurred in his early 30s, his second tear occurred when he was 37. However, as he enters his 40s, one has to wonder how forgiving his body would be with another tear.
Triple H could theoretically be one quadriceps injury away from ending his career or discontinuing a full-time schedule.
Triple H is a superior athlete. However, as he gets older his body will become less efficient… just like everybody else. Injuries will become more significant and severe as the years drag on. It's all a part of the aging process. Muscles don't heal as quickly as before. Aches and pains become commonplace. And it's even worse for a wrestler… for obvious reasons.
Wrestling is a contact sport, and "the hazards are real."
With all the pain, bumps, bruises, and breaks a wrestler experiences, life for a retired grappler can be quite a struggle. If Triple H continues to wrestle deep into, or beyond his 40s, he could experience a miserable post-wrestling career. Whether that matters a great deal to his wife or not is something to ponder.
So for the good of his long-term health, Triple H would probably be well advised to retire in the next five years. Or at least dramatically reduce his schedule. Much of this discussion seems to assume that Triple H will wrestle as a full-timer. It is possible that Triple H could become a quasi part-time wrestler along the lines of Shawn Michaels or The Undertaker. That is probably why The Undertaker can still perform in ****+ matches at the age of 44. The same goes for HBK. But the Triple H-Undertaker comparison is particularly worth examining.
Undertaker
The Undertaker started wrestling more infrequently in 2004. Remember when he made "rare" and "special" appearances on Smackdown? His schedule was reduced. How old was he at that time? He was 39-years-old (and still 38 at Wrestlemania XX). If Triple H wants to achieve similar longevity, he may need to consider reducing his schedule. However, that would probably result in a loosening of his main event death grip. Would that be a deal breaker? Maybe.
WWE can trust Triple H. That could be why we see The Game in such a high profile position. WWE has been burned before. Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley left amidst massive pushes. Chris Benoit, one of their former world champions, committed unspeakable crimes two years ago. Goldberg was given a main event spot before he left WWE in a dud match at Wrestlemania XX. Kurt Angle was removed from WWE for painkillers and drug-related issues. Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out during a live Raw because he refused to put over Brock Lesnar. We can even look back to Diesel, who left WWE just months after a yearlong world title reign. Even the Ultimate Warrior held up Vince McMahon for money at SummerSlam 1992. And of course Hulk Hogan was known for playing games.
Is there any wonder why WWE has trust issues with main eventers?
Triple H is WWE's most trustworthy main eventer. No wrestler has more stake in WWE than Triple H. He'll never desert WWE. He is fully invested in the company, and he'll always do what the McMahons think is best for business. The same cannot be said for the aforementioned wrestlers. And it's not like Triple H is the first wrestler to be booked favorably because of familial status. Jerry Lawler, Verne Gagne, the Von Erichs, and even Jeff Jarrett were booked favorably because they had the most at stake. Who can be trusted more than a promoter, or a promoter's relative, to carry a company? WWE knows that Triple H is loyal, and if he wrestles through 2020, WWE can be unshakably confident that their cornerstone star won't desert them.
Vince McMahon probably has no problem with Triple H wrestling through 2020. Why would he? Triple H is a talented, reliable, marquee name. He was one of the main characters of the Attitude Era, and is almost universally known by wrestling fans worldwide. Triple H is an asset, and probably still would be whether he was a McMahon or not.
The decision to remain a WWE wrestler through 2020 would ultimately be Triple H's to make. Does he want to risk becoming "one of those guys" who overstays his welcome? Is he willing to remain in the limelight once age and gravity alters his physical appearance? Will he be one of those wrestlers who competes in sweat pants and tang tops?
Can Triple H sustain another 10 years with his health and legacy intact? It's hard to say. I suppose it is at least somewhat possible that Triple H will thrive through 2020…
Maybe his body will hold up. Maybe he will be healthy and athletic enough to remain relevant for the next 10 years. And maybe he can remain a full-timer for the duration. I say the odds are against that happening, but who knows. He could become a 25-time world champion before he retires. Maybe that's his goal! We can't prove or disprove it. But if he does intend to make it through 2020, we'll probably see Triple H take on a lighter schedule within the next few years.
Who could he outlast?
John Cena is 32-years-old with a bright future ahead. He's been on WWE television since 2002. To go another 11 years, Cena will have had an 18-year WWE career. Will Cena go that long? Who knows, he may not. While his rap music and movie titles haven't set the world on fire, he is still on the map in those genres. He could permanently crossover before 2020, but that's pure speculation. His neck injury probably has a better chance of derailing his in-ring longevity than industry crossovers. Once wrestlers begin with the neck operations, the slow road to retirement/reduced schedules begin. John Cena's neck might not allow him to wrestle for the next 10 years. Well, at least not full-time. I suppose there's a chance that he too could take on a part-time schedule if need be. But all things considered, Cena's chances of wrestling through 2020 is probably 50/50.
Randy Orton is getting the push of a lifetime. He seems healthy and motivated. And at the age of 29, he's still relatively young by wrestling standards. Will he go another 11 years? That's another interesting question. Like John Cena, Randy Orton will have logged in 18 years as a WWE wrestler come 2020. But since he's already making serious money as a main eventer, will he have reason to stick with WWE that long? We shall see. Between John Cena and Randy Orton, I would bet on Orton having a longer career. Orton may have had a shoulder injury, but Cena's injuries are far more alarming. Wrestling is very fickle, but I would say that Orton's chances of remaining in WWE through 2020 are somewhere around 75/25.
I would be very surprised if Edge logged in another 10 years. A torn Achilles tendon is very severe for a pro athlete. While Edge will likely recover and entertain the fans, one can't help but wonder how much more his body can take. Edge is a brilliant, and I would even say underrated performer. He is a nine-time world champion, and nobody can take that away from him. However, the past 11 years have taken a lot out of Edge. It's hard to imagine Edge returning in 2010 and enduring another 10 years. I would guess that he's probably got less than a 10% chance of wrestling in a full-time or part-time capacity through 2020.
Bottom line is there's a slight chance that Triple H will outlast Cena, Orton, and Edge. Chances are good that he'll probably outlast at least two out of three. It's virtually a foregone conclusion that he'll be around long after The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Like I stated above, if Triple H reduces his schedule, he may make it through 2020. I just hope he's not shooting for 2030!
Moving On
That's it for this week. Below is a little Bobby Heenan/Gorilla Monsoon banter.
edge has become one of my all time favorites. i dont see him lasting too much longer either. batista and kennedy are injury prone. edge and matt hardy on the other hand have been through wars.
cm punk is also another long term solution. he's young and he maintains a healthy lifestyle (less likely to be like eddie or benoit)
Posted By: rey (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 01:15 PM
i think triple can can last thru 2020...
i read this months issue of muscle and fitness and this guy is an absolute beast. he keeps a healthy lifestyle and works out like a beast.
Posted By: Guest#9855 (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 02:28 PM
I hope that HHH continues in a position of revelance for quite some time. I believe that the Orton/HHH angle is only tolerable because of HHH skills as a pitchman. Orton will face make it or break it moments again once his feuds with either Cena or HHH end because he will no longer have the crutch of those 2 gifted and experienced characters.
I really like what HHH has become to the WWE. The man paid his dues and didn't give up on improving himself as a professional when Vince was burying him in Slopfest Hell in the mid 90s. He really should be a worker that other workers aspire to be, regardless if he was courting the promoter's daughter.
I wouldn't mind at all seeing HHH until 2020.
Posted By: thegunisgood2009 (Registered) on July 12, 2009 at 02:40 PM
If he starts reducing his schedule, HHH should last another ten years. HBK is meant to be gone next year, and I imagine the Undertaker will follow in another two years or so.
Orton, Cena and Edge should carry the main event after that, but all have been injured to varying degrees.
Ill agree with rey that CM Punk could be a good long term shot at the main event, and Chris Jericho is on the form of his life - but he is 39 this year!
But there seems to be an array of possible young stars to take up the main event mantle, with john Morrison and Jack Swagger the most likely to do so.
I can see HHH bowing out at WM XXV, with the main event scene dominated by Punk, Morrison, Swagger and who knows who could arise in the meantime.
Posted By: chris.crowing (Registered) on July 12, 2009 at 02:59 PM
I hope he's long gone by 2020. But that's beside the point.
It's kind of a sad thought to think of Edge gone by not only 2020, but a lot sooner maybe. Even a WWE without Cena or Orton is strange to think of.
The only part I have an issue with is where you talk about Triple H being so trustworthy and such. I'm saying what about somebody like Kane for example? Been through terrible storylines (see: Vick, Katie) and through everything has stuck around and been loyal for as long as Triple H, could easily become a viable main eventer again, yet he's a one time, make that one DAY champion. Or even a Matt Hardy who seems to be all the more WWE for life than his brother, and has stayed clean yet has stuck to the mid-card. And through out the years there have been many loyal wrestlers who never got pushed. How long was Hardcore Holly around? Or Val Venis? Sure it sounds silly but with pushes given to those like Batista or anybody, anybody can be pushed into the main event. Okay, not with Venis' gimmick, but that's beside the point.
Posted By: cowboysmb3dw28 (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 04:43 PM
I think Rey and Jeff Hardy are more likely to quit before Edge.
Good column though. Interesting to think. Certainly in 1999 when you look at the headliners then most would assume that big show and mankind would have been gone rather than the rock and goldberg...
Posted By: Jonberg (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 05:11 PM
I would like to see Trip take the rains from Vince in the future. He is so easily face or heel at any given time, that putting him in a position like Vince is in or was in back in the Austin era. When the time for him comes to slow down he would be a great Boss sorta speak, one that can sway fairly or vindictively. He is or should be the next Vince, when the time comes.
Posted By: Dan (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 05:38 PM
2020 might be stretching it if he's about to turn 40. If he can go another 5-7 years at a decent level that'd be a great accomplishment due to age. Even Hulk Hogan's body started to break down, HHH isn't immune to that.
Posted By: Guest#2638 (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 05:46 PM
I do believe that Triple H belongs in the upper card, but:
He isn't the wrestler he was in 1999. Not since his first quad tear.
He is reliably not a good Wrestlemania performer. I have found this a curious pattern.
Sure he is reliable for the WWE - but so are other wrestlers. Lesnar and Lashley had the background for MMA that Triple H does not - it wasn't a viable option when he was younger. Benoit had quite a bit of brain damage from wrestling - he wasn't purposely unreliable. He also wrestled in a way that Triple H does not (the higher quality aside). Triple H does not have the option of a real main stream career. I've seen Triple H on other shows and Hollywood is not so desperate that they will come calling again.
As for drugs and painkillers - well many believe there is a group that gets warned about testing ahead of time. Triple H isn't getting that any where else.
Besides being a McMahon, Triple H would be more accepted if there wasn't so damned much of him all the time. Absence does make the heart grow fonder and all that. He isn't exactly the Rock or Austin in terms of charisma, you know. People couldn't get enough of those two.
Triple H is over with the fans and in spite of all I have said, deservedly so. I have wondered how over the best of other wrestlers would be with the same push. Fans have been taught that the important story lines involve Triple H and, to quote Saturday Night Live, everything else is crap.
This is an important consideration when building the upper card for tomorrow. We have seen that the current group of writers/bookers aren't the greatest. They can only follow through on a few feuds. At wrestling's height, there were interesting things happening on the mid-card level too. That is part of the reason why development of new wrestlers seems so stunted.
Posted By: Guest#6239 (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 05:53 PM
what was the point of this?
Posted By: Guest#2256 (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 06:23 PM
Good lord, I hope not. I'd laugh so fucking hard if Kurt Angle beats him to Flair's record!
Posted By: John (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 07:22 PM
Rey, Jeff and Edge still incorporate quite a bit of dangerous high spots in their matches. Undertaker is 6'10 or so and the human body doesn't hold up under that size for long stretches which makes his "breaks" more and more necessary. But Taker has carved out a persona that would allow him to continue to make big appearances even it its not 4 star worthy. But the fans will tire of that before long as soon as he doesn't have a running mate capable of carrying a big part of the match ala Michaels. Cena is just so indebted to the company for his monster pushes that he can't say no to a full schedule and will eventually burn out. H will outlast them all in one way or another as he'll be able to command any resource he wants in the company.
Posted By: Steven Xavier (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 08:52 PM
Batista will be gone before HHH too
Posted By: RareStorm (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 08:52 PM
"WWE knows that Triple H is loyal, and if he wrestles through 2020, WWE can be unshakably confident that their cornerstone star won't desert them"
Yeah, but the fans might...
Posted By: Guest#3548 (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Well, after reading this, one would think that the WWE should be taking notice of this and start building up new main eventers since scenarios are even being written about in the first place. Yes, it's obvious that HHH will outlast Cena, Taker, HBK, Batista and even Edge. Orton has the best chance of of surving because of his luck with injuries over the years. Then again concerning SuperCena as he is called, something tells me he's gonna do what Dwayne Johnson did, even though he said he won't. But all in all, HHH is gonna have to slow down sooner than later. The King of Kings will have to have a successor, by choice or by force. Good read, Mr. Rodriguez.
Posted By: Brian B. (Guest) on July 12, 2009 at 10:33 PM
Well, how about Jericho? He's been one of the luckiest guys in the business since he hasn't suffered mayor injuries throghout his career and he's probably the most loyal guy even if he's a maverick of sorts. He COULD go 10 more years.
Posted By: Mr. Moderately Right (Guest) on July 13, 2009 at 12:09 AM
Greatest column ever! Most fans like me hope that HHH will headline every Wrestlemania (and every PPV in between) until at least 2020.
Posted By: HHH Rulz (Guest) on July 13, 2009 at 02:36 AM
undertaker has another 2-4 years left in him. with the last year of his career being limited to only a handful of matches. i still expect him to reach 20-0 before hanging up the boots.
i remember reading a link by 411 that edge said he would retire before he is 40.
jericho is 40. but i still see him wrestling until he is 45-46.
shawn michaels WILL be done by 2010.
batista is another one that will only be here another 1-2 more years.
Posted By: guest (Guest) on July 13, 2009 at 04:18 AM
Interesting column.
I wouldn't lump Goldberg in with those who left WWE high and dry. It was pretty obvious that he was only going to be around for one WWE calendar year. Now, they may have tried to persuade him to sign longer by booking him as seemingly the only man capable of offing the H's but I believe it was a shock to no one that WrestleMania XX was his last night.
As for Hunter going to 2020 I have no problem...provided he allow himself to be fallible and not always near the top of the card. I'm sick to death of Triple H the Superman and Triple H the Perennial Champion/Contender, but I wouldn't mind an upper midcard feud that results in him putting over the star of the future.
Posted By: neverAcquiesce (Guest) on July 13, 2009 at 03:03 PM
We'll be lucky if he quits by 2050, gotta at least triple Flair's title number. Why? Because he's Triple H and he can.
Posted By: Guest#3093 (Guest) on July 13, 2009 at 04:27 PM
Triple H is a lying weasel who has been on the top for too long. The more he hypes himself, the more the WWE will lose money. The fans last year were tired of seeing him, so they turned off Raw. They know he gets special privileges from being the boss' son-in-law. He is not a Hulk Hogan-like superstar, and he never will be. He will never gain as much draw power as either Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin did
Posted By: Kevin (Guest) on July 13, 2009 at 06:03 PM
Finlay will outlast them all ;-)
Posted By: Nicole (Guest) on July 13, 2009 at 11:54 PM
All of these guys will have died well before 2020.
Why bother to speculate on their legacies?
Posted By: Guest#2621 (Guest) on July 14, 2009 at 08:51 PM
I hope that HHH continues in a position of revelance for quite some time. I believe that the Orton/HHH angle is only tolerable because of HHH skills as a pitchman. Orton will face make it or break it moments again once his feuds with either Cena or HHH end because he will no longer have the crutch of those 2 gifted and experienced characters.
I really like what HHH has become to the WWE. The man paid his dues and didn't give up on improving himself as a professional when Vince was burying him in Slopfest Hell in the mid 90s. He really should be a worker that other workers aspire to be, regardless if he was courting the promoter's daughter.
I wouldn't mind at all seeing HHH until 2020.
Posted By: thegunisgood2009 (Registered) on July 12, 2009 at 02:40 PM
...Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha......
Posted By: Isaiah (Guest) on July 16, 2009 at 05:48 PM
"I wouldn't mind an upper midcard feud that results in him putting over the star of the future."
Please...no more...my ribs...can't breathe. Thank you I haven't laughed like that in years.
Posted By: Funny (Guest) on July 17, 2009 at 10:14 AM
