How Bad Was HHH’s Reign Of Terror? (2002-2005)

Triple H's reign of terror is without a doubt one of the most painful periods in WWE history. It was formulaic, it was boring, it was downright abysmal. WWE in an attempt to make Triple H one of the greatest heel characters of all time decided they would have Triple H be the focal point of Monday Night RAW. Him being on top meant that many others were cast aside for his benefit. Names like Booker T, Kane & RVD were some which suffered the most from Triple H's continued push to the top of WWE. The period did see some good come out of it however, Triple H became one of the most hated heels in the industry, Batista was made to look like a star & evolution happened in front of our very eyes. But how bad was the reign of terror, was it really that bad?
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0:00 Pain
1:21 The Beginning
3:09 Katie Vick
5:10 HBK
6:09 Scott Steiner
7:25 Racist HHH
9:08 Kevin Nash
11:27 Goldberg
13:44 Error 404
15:28 Eugene?
16:24 Orton
19:03 Batista
20:53 Good or Bad?
#TripleH #ReignOfTerror #TerraRyzing
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Twitter: / suprkickstudios
Instagram: / superkickstudiosytb
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This video is created with the purpose to educate and review works within professional wrestling. Images have been used to assist with the purposes outlined.
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[@SuperkickStudios]

Apologies my voiceover skills are not the greatest by any means, but I'm trying to improve them as time goes on. - The Motörhead line is a joke because I watched a solid 200 segments and heard that song at every turn😂 Nothing against Motörhead just wanted to clear that up// HHH is one of my favourite wrestlers so dont take it as hate

[@williamschaeffer409]

motorhead is a great band.

[@surenmathura3691]

so many torn quads in this video

[@labbaby189]

HHH's theme is prolly one of the greatest of all time, but to those that watched wrestling from '02-'04 it does have a Lamp Chops "Song That Doesn't End" vibe to it.

[@ZakynthosDiamandis]

So true tho - I wonder how much the total run time is of Triple H's entrances since 2001. I bet you laughed your ass off when Sheriff Austin stopped it "Shut that stupid music down!" 🤣

[@chibiromano5631]

Bro, you should do a sequel.. the Reign of Terror was already going on in 99 when the Rock was blowing up. After Austin got hurt, Rock was the Guy, but if you watch the booking, HHH was booked to be the guy. Before Austins injury Rock's winning ratio was at like 75% and HHH was 70% and Austin was 85% , after Austin got hurt and it was just Rock and HHH , Rocks dropped to 33% and HHH to 85% like if he was Austin. You can see this be so evident for when the Rock went on Saturday Night live, why did they add in HHH? It's in your face that HHH was shoved down our throats even back in 99. The only reason why we don't count the Rock as a burial vitim because Rock made it to Hollywood, had Rock not made out of Holywood, he would have been buried. THis also happened with Jericho and HHH even asked Vince to fire Jericho, the only reason why Jericho stayed was because Stephanie McMahon was his friend and the Rock was also protecting him too .

[@youtight8378]

Austin retired, Rock left for hollywood, Brock was on smackdown. Then Vince wanted to bury WCW once and for all. It was dark times on Raw.

[@vampirascoffin870]

HHH did nothing to build stars sadly he only build one and fucked up the company

[@therapper000]

No where near the dark times it is now on raw that's for sure😮‍💨

[@homelessjesse9453]

The death of Benoit and Guerero. The Ruthless Aggression era was truly awful.

[@bradleyrocks618]

@@homelessjesse9453 are you serious? So you like pg wwe crap I guess?

[@mauroretamal7879]

In 2003 HHH beat all the WCW Top Guys: Scott Steiner, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Goldberg, and Sting in 2015 xd (No one can hide of the HHHs burial )

[@jdcsteelers498]

As Paul Heyman once told JBL “The only reason you were wwe champion for a year….. is because triple h didn’t wanna work Tuesday” If that didn’t tell people what was going on idk

[@wesleycuban8649]

And Batista was injured at that time too. Soon as he was healthy they put it back on his waist loo

[@rlouie05]

Eddie was feeling the pressure of smaller gates as Smackdown headliner after WMXX, where with Brock's exit, Vince agreed that it was time to build a new heel to rival HHH on Raw. How Bradshaw got the nod over Angle, Taker, Booker, or anyone else is going to be studied one day.

[@JerichoFPS]

Ngl, Triple H is the only dude I've ever felt like he truly obsessed over the World Heavyweight Championship. No one else has given off that persona since. He gave the title it's highest value in the 2000s.

[@MistahJay7]

I always associate that Belt with Triple H

[@arthurwallis2788]

@@MistahJay7or batista

[@mulkmanto4797]

Edge and Jericho were crazy bout dat belt

[@arthurwallis2788]

@@mulkmanto4797 edge to me was always about the proper belt 😉

[@TyroneReinertsen-lg8qh]

I agree he was possessed almost as a kid it was heartbreaking as I seen him late 90s in dx and just be an awesome wrestler in evaluation I almost hated him but I guess that's why he was soo good

[@jblassio]

I’m sure HHH looks back at this era and at least a small part of himself realizes how this hurt his legacy more than it helped it. Great wrestler; he didn’t need the ‘the reign of terror’ to prove it.

[@Rucker1980]

That's his biggest problem, he can't let his legacy stand on it's own, he always goes overboard

[@RangoTheMercenary]

Can agree. Might be why he created NXT. To give back to the community and the industry.

[@mrsimpleslowmo]

@@jimjaspers3050 So daddy vince is alpha af

[@sunkid02]

like alot of these guys hes insecure needed to be on top to feel like a star unlike guys like the rock who doesnt need a title and could anybody over and still be the man cause he was that guy and he knew it he was an actual star he just had it

[@kylen4701]

Exactly, he would have been remembered as a better wrestler if he had lost some of those matches and allowed Raw to mix things up more.

[@andraiy644]

His title reign between late-2002 and late-2003 was absolutely god awful : his feud with Kane is probably the worst feud in professionnal wrestling history, his matches with Scott Steiner were awful and he buried Booker T at WrestleMania XIX : HHH was honestly the lowest point of Raw in 2002-2003. On the other hand, his title reign definitely improved in 2004 and 2005, his promos were very good and his feuds and matches with Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit and Batista were amazing. I think we can say that his Reign Of Terror was a mixed bag.

[@shoptalk7415]

I can agree with that...

[@kazallroberts]

Nope, it was outright unbearable

[@walterreed5849]

the kane feud wasnt bad the reasoning behind it was and the outcome of triple h going over was but kane as an opponent was a GREAT one. Kane was OVER as hell fans were crazy about kane once he returned from his bicep tear and after that ladder match they were ready for world champ kane

[@christhianborrero3623]

That feud with Kane was not that bad but they book the feud in the wrong way

[@num1Jaysta]

@@walterreed5849 The Katie Vick crap WAS bad though and that’s what tainted the feud

[@deexith9559]

Batista was possibly the best choice to uncrown Triple H. The storyline had it all going with THE ANIMAL getting unleashed to prove that he’s the best they has ever got. Whether you like it or not, this title reign still is arguably one of the most hated championship runs ever.

[@vampirascoffin870]

He build no stars but 1 thats it and thats why wwe is still doing NOT MAKING NEW STARS!!!!!!

[@Travis371]

Imagine thinking that Batista was the best, lol.

[@23chips68]

Booker T definitely was the best guy to beat him for it because of the very bad storyline and the racist things HHH said to booker

[@michaelprada8123]

The whole point of his reign of terror and being bad with all those unrealistic wins that we’re tremendously obviously bad for ratings especially at that time because SmackDown had about four times as many views does raw

[@apetogetherstrong4243]

@@Travis371 batista was the face of smackdown and carried the company with cena after rock and austin. He won a title once a year and put over guys in every feud he had. He wasn't a yes guy like cena and he was very old compared to all the young guys as he got late into the business which made him injury prone that led to vince prioritizing cena over him.The man deserves his flowers

[@boallenmusic7464]

To me, the HHH reign of terror began around 2000, before Rock and Austin were out. I remember tuning in to Raw every week and it was “McMahon-Helmsley” and another “DX night.” The thing that saved the show during that time was that eventually Rock or Austin came around to shut him down, but the writing was on the wall. He was getting more and more air time, and he was doing the 20 minute segments then. He was beginning to use his pull and I knew he wouldn’t stop. We got several months of peace when he tore his quad. Surprisingly, I was happy to see his return as it was really a huge pop and he looked like something super human… but I realized that it was only the absence that made the heart grow fond. After that, he sucked the life out of WWE.

[@Ryan-rp4yv]

Triple h was amazing from 1999-2001 character work matches everything

[@Fantasyremix]

He dominated the show in both periods but in the 2000 era, he worked his tail off. When he came back from injury he was never the same.

[@josecarlosramolete6109]

​@@Fantasyremix We know who wrote and booked the Reign of Terror: Stephanie McMahon

[@vh9network]

You're right OP, I just made a comment on another thread here how it was this time Triple H stopped Billy Gun from becoming the next big solo star, because "The One Billy Gun" was catching fire, and he had that theme "I'm a Ass Man" that was poppin. I just remember they booked a match of Triple H just destroying Gun, and then had "DX 2000" (the name I give that DX faction that included Stephanie & Tori) jump him.

[@alanmacdonald1457]

yes, i always hated how much screen time he got and i never knew why until i found out about him fucking steph RIP chyna

[@kevantereese4197]

The burial of Rvd and Booker T is just unforgivable both were super over with the fans at that time and it didn't make sense to bury those guys.

[@IWTBF]

It’s not how it works unfortunately

[@stevenbryant8160]

Bury lol the became big stars in that company lol

[@rosec_rose6661]

Nah Roman's reign of terror caused part time retired wrestlers to come back to work and a lot of new potential stars were wasted. Atleast HHH didn't kept 2 titles at hostage

[@dapperdon8888]

They didn't put booker over because they had Goldberg coming in and wanted to push him

[@Hunkzilla]

​@@dapperdon8888 It still would have worked though .

[@Thecallmemisterajp]

One thing you missed Re: Kane in 03 after the unmasking is that ratings went up in the immediate aftermath, partially because of curiosity, but also because they had Kane just going off like a lunatic destroying everybody, and became genuinely compelling for a time. Plus, at least in the circles I was in, the critical reception to Raw after the Goldberg win went way up. Such that you’d think that a shift in direction would make sense at the time, but HHH just comes back at Armageddon and it’s business as usual. That was infuriating.

[@CharlesDarkson]

Goldberg's contract would have been a major reason he dropped the belt at Armageddon. Because he was only signed for a year, they couldn't plan anything long term with him.

[@Thecallmemisterajp]

@@CharlesDarkson I thought of that, but Kane was there too, and again was having some success. We saw similar a couple years later with Edge when he cashed in the MITB, and got his knees cut off at the Rumble so that HHH could have the Mania ME, which I think suggests that you can't really chalk it up to necessity re: them running back to HHH as the old standby.

[@CharlesDarkson]

@@Thecallmemisterajp HHH having the ME spot was purely to put Cena over. You're right about them cutting Edge's knees off though, especially when they have had Ray Mysterio win the Rumble and the other World Title at Wm22.

[@Thecallmemisterajp]

@@CharlesDarkson Just because he was putting him over doesn’t mean that ego or bias didn’t come into play, especially when the Cena/Edge feud was hot, and where Edge was succeeding where others had failed in actually getting Cena cheered. I don’t think HHH gets enough credit for making Cena, actually, but he wasn’t the be all end all WWE seemed to want us to think he was.

[@shortyg1018]

You not lying about the Kane unmasking, I was so fucking stoked about that plus we got that awesome Kane - Shane McMahon feud from it.

[@jeffmalonga2088]

This is one of the time periods where Vince uses the most reliable wrestlers and storylines as much as possible

[@DarKKnightt07]

The problem I had with the Triple H's reign of terror was how it started. WWE literally awarded him the world heavyweight championship without having him work for it.

[@Thearmyofsnipers]

Wow. You hate that right? Almost like that's something a bad guy...a heel perhaps, would do?

[@interceptingfist5682]

​@@Thearmyofsniperseven heels had a match for it

[@the757general2]

@@Thearmyofsnipers plenty of heels won their titles through matches so that's not a legit excuse

[@Lp-cd5mx]

It's almost like he is married to the boss's daughter or something 🙄

[@DarKKnightt07]

@@Thearmyofsnipers come on, don't you find it too convenient that a guy married to Vince's daughter gets "awarded" a world championship? No one else got that treatment and before he was married to Stephanie, Vince made him wait in line to become world champ back in 1999. He wouldn't get that kind of pull like that if wasn't sucking up to his father in law.

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

It ate at him that he wasn't on the same level as Austin, Rock or Taker as a draw, and he couldn't stand to have even more other talent climb over him for the top spot on Raw. I really think it started with his burial of Chris Jericho. Getting traded straight back to Raw for Booker AND the Dudleyz was the biggest slap in the face of the entire reign IMO, as if he hadn't done Booker wrong enough already.

[@therxckstar]

It always felt like he was fighting to be on Austin & The Rock’s level even back then you could just tell.

[@cliffbot638]

Jim Cornette even said he was the guy who worked with the Stars. Plus Bischoff flat out saying he married the bosses daughter.

[@alec2000]

Man, although the ruthless aggression era wasn’t perfect and had many flawed characters, storylines, and segments like the reign of terror, it truly was engaging to see each show, praying that one day HHH would lose and when WrestleMania 21 happened, it was the greatest thing ever. Awesome video, bro.

[@Pennywise467]

Alec L

[@dombak0531]

What are you talking about? Besides the Attitude Era, The Ruthless Aggression (2002-2007) was an amazing time to be a wrestling fan.

[@CARTERCYCLOPS]

@@dombak0531 THANK YOU! early 2007 was very good that’s when I started watching and for whatever reason most people say 2007 was an awful year for WWE i’m pretty sure it’s because of The Benoit Tragedy however 2007 is VERY underrated sure it was the year of Super Cena not losing at all and opportunities being missed but the rivalry between Cena and Orton honestly legendary and also the rivalry between Batista and Undertaker then Batista and Edge tho there are two things I wasn’t too sure about in 2007, those two things were ECW and Mr Kennedy basically getting robbed of the Money In The Bank briefcase due to “injuries” but those are completely different stories. oh and the Money In The Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 that was awesome same with Benoit and MVP where they didn’t leave the ring ONCE Cena and Shawn and Batista and Taker did wonders at that Mania tho, it was literally fire. another amazing thing about that year was Orton pretty much going on a Legend Killing spree cause well he was “The Legend Killer” Shawn Michaels and RVD well really RVD because he wasn’t seen in the company again until two years later at the Royal Rumble which was only a one night thing but yeah! that’s really everything I enjoy about WWE in 2007 well Ruthless Aggression WWE period including the arenas 2002-2008 RAW and 2001-2008 SmackDown THE FIST! but once again very underrated year.

[@shady3legend]

Attitude era also had some flawed characters and storylines like mae young birth to a hand, hhh drugging stephanie, the whole undertaker sacrificing people, Terri runnels miscarriage, bossman making fun of big show father death, killing al snow dog, etc ...Overall both eras was my favorite and had classic matches/moments

[@alec2000]

@@dombak0531 I wasn’t bashing the era. I was simply saying that despite the flaws it had like every era, I enjoyed it. Don’t know how you got confused there.

[@jwellsmediainc.4593]

The thing is with Austin gone, The Rock choosing his acting career over his wrestling career, the reign of Triple H just seemed natural. However, it was just executed poorly. Too much favoritism was given to Triple H, at the expense of other guys that should have gotten a greater push. There were definitely behind the scenes politics going on. I always said that Triple H’s proximity to the McMahon’s puts a blemish on his legacy. Because he has been shown immense favoritism by the MaMahon’s you can easily forget that the guy is incredibly talented and is one the most entertaining performers in the company’s history. The entire reign of Triple H just seem like a vanity promotion in favor of Triple H. And that was the problem.

[@Blackhaze3000]

Exactly, he had all the attributes to be the face of the promotion but like you said the way they went about it messed all that up.

[@TheMelody15]

You explained it perfectly! 👌 That whole era wasn't great and made it difficult for me to even watch Raw, I rather look at the highlights on Smackdown. But it did create a great fraction of Evolution (plus the rise of Orton and Batista)

[@g.o.a.t.8168]

RVD & Booker T were the only ones I can fully understand on why people were upset. My problem is that these smarks acted like they cared about Kane, Steiner & Goldberg. Kane was already getting treated like a joke until he was unmasked so these smarks saying that HHH destroyed his momentum cz of the Katie Vick storyline is pure bullshit considering he barely had any momentum before all of that shit went down. Steiner was already gassed after 5 minutes of every match during his WWE stint even if HHH buried him ya'll are telling me ya'll would rather watch Steiner deliver promos that don't make sense & matches that will be complete DUDS. WWE made Goldberg wrestle longer matches which wasn't his specialty so even before he got to HHH he was already misused should've won at Summerslam tho

[@ABCDyeahyeahyeah]

It’s ironic that when Rock and Austin were around, Jericho, Angle and Benoit got more momentum than when they were gone.

[@fungunsun1]

The reign of terror may not have felt as great at the time, but I think its one of the big factors that gave birth to Triple H authority gimmick later in 2014. Which is now feeos great.

[@soar123]

This was truly Triple H's time. No longer did he have to compete with the likes of Steve Austin and the Rock. And it stunk

[@therxckstar]

Yeah lol the parents left so we got left with him and he messed it all up during that time😭

[@cadendicky1855]

Yeah, that's honestly the reason why it sucked so bad. There needs to be someone as an obstacle to the champion to keep the people's interest and have someone to root for. I think he learned from this reign however when he became head of creative.

[@thewhitewolf58]

When there is no challenge then there is no point.

[@fungunsun1]

I mean there was still Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, and Goldberg. There was some decent opposition.

[@christophercomer1877]

Benoit was on Smackdown before 2004 ​@@fungunsun1

[@JoeOct31]

Compare this to current WWE Universe, I'll take this any day of the week. I can't do a 3 hour RAW episode with match after match with jobbers, no story, and no payoff. I'm literally dying for this kind of content again 😄😄😄

[@RyanKaufman]

That's my thing, yeah this shit was formulaic but it had a formula. The feuds weren't great but they were feuds and they were believable. The wrestlers involved were some great names and led to some great matches. Modern WWE has such a mediocre approach now, yeah Kayfabe is dead but "Dude Soap Opera" is what it's always been, inject the drama please

[@BigPekka69]

Plus people seem to not realize roman reigns has held the title almost 3 years and its been the exact same kind of run. Romans looks good at the start, then gets a beat down, here come solo or uso for interference, roman retains. Every now and then its a spear or superman punch but it feels less often than interference.

[@danielborgman4308]

Superkick & WrestlingGifs are the best storytellers on wrestling KZbin.

[@ieatcockz]

Dont forget Pilana Productions

[@MoneyWayMare]

Wrestlingpremier also

[@danielborgman4308]

@@MoneyWayMare WP stalls editorializes too much

[@redwan6605]

This channel is the best

[@ngonimutezo6670]

Used to think they were related or the same person. Thier voices are kinda similar

[@SuperkickStudios]

Another new series is starting up soon👀. Keep your eyes out for that and booked episode 3 in the next little while. Appreciate y’all ❤️

[@topdawg2916]

can you make a video on bron breaker

[@Gut_Bomb]

@SuperkickStudios can you do a video about the recent releases in the wwe?

[@kevint6854]

SuperkickStudios dude u ain't have to be harsh about triple h promos

[@SuperkickStudios]

@@kevint6854 don’t get me wrong bro HHH is one of my all time favourites. but the promos were a whole lot of nothing and went 15-20 minutes to start raw every week. If you can’t be honest with one of your favourites you can’t be honest at all

[@camrynturner9802]

I've been waiting since booked since the month started. It's my favorite series

[@JS-yx4pr]

I don't remember it being as bad. Triple H was great in the mic and great in the ring. He knows how to sell well. He always looked beatable that's why he always have rick and evolution to help him cheat. That's great heel work if you ask me. And the most important thing was the pay-off, because the "reign of terror" ended with the birth of megastar Batista. Everything was worth it.

[@samikjeans8509]

He was great on the 🎤 . He pumped you up and had you excited to see who he was going to fight next. He made Superstars out of Randy Orton and Batista. He rejuvenated Ric Flair's career. He is an amazing wrestler one of my favorites. Maybe the match selection wasn't the best. But triple h is a great performer

[@TheKendeHD]

I do not remember it being bad at all, people like to look back at the reign in retrospect now that everyone is sensitive nowadays and felt bad for guys like Booker T, Steiner & Kane. The only problem was some of the promos but he actually gave his villiany championship run some purpose

[@theholymackerel072]

You didn’t watch enough wrestling if you think this wasn’t bad. It was the WORST. Period.

[@ProjectLDV]

@@theholymackerel072 Yea these dudes couldn’t have watched, this was anti hype

[@m.b8157]

You clearly didn't watch this era if you felt it was good. Alot of awful feuds and terrible storylines. Katie Vick, Booker t and Steiner. Smackdown was THE A SHOW in this era due to the reign of terror

[@ryandenslow8225]

This era was a little bittersweet. While I liked a few of the things going on in WWE, this reign drove me to the independent scenes where I developed an attachment to guys like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe (who, still, kinda got shafted), AJ Styles, and Seth Rollins. Which made 2010's WWE much more enjoyable.

[@M.B1s0n]

Same here. WWE was no longer the Can't Miss-TV it once was during the Attitude Era.

[@cameo1013]

Truth is The Rock and Stone Cold leaving during 2002 was (mostly) the end of wrestling being mainstream, RAW lost around 4M viewers from 2000 to 2004. The huge rise of UFC didn't help either.

[@Lord_Bibulous]

This was Triple H literally trying to be Ric Flair. Except with Flair, whether he won or lost, his opponent always looked good. Triple H does not possess that talent.

[@rusty9508]

Wow I didn't know this era had so much hate. I actually loved it. He was the untimate bad guy and I loved evolution. It kinda reminded me of when a sports team dominates an era and everyone hates them. Raw was still getting 6-8 million viewers a week too. I stopped watching in 2009. Now a days AEW gets 900k and that's "good numbers".

[@jameammarijr.2248]

I completely agree with you bro. Maybe this person hates Triple H and that is evident here. I absolutely loved Raw 2002-05. The Across the Nation Raw theme was amazing to start with. I kind of loved both Triple H matches and Shwan Michaels matches. The Raw GM Eric has also lot's of contribution for Raw's success I even believe today.

[@FlareDope]

Well said

[@balance1619]

Yeah idk where this guy is getting all these shitty opinions from. Only feud that was bad was the kane one and I’d argue that’s mostly kanes fault cause his mic skills are pretty much nonexistent so they had to get creative. If he knew anything about Goldberg you’d know he’s a pretty bad wrestler and is faulting triple h for poor matches with him. Then you have a top 5 feud of all time imo Batista vs triple h. You got an amazing one with Shawn as well. He’s like the best heel on the show carrying all the weight and getting shit on for it…really bad video tbh

[@joshcohn7508]

I loved this time

[@GodyP]

Exactly eventually ppl will come around and see how legendary triple hs run was he legit might be the perfect heel his promos were always hilarious

[@keithknight6745]

Triple H was a great heel and it was the first time in a long time a heel carried the belt as long.

[@TimDavid-qk9en]

He killed the ratings

[@carlosazocar3722]

Thanks for the video! Very good material

[@gardenboydon]

I feel like a lot of storylines were actually decently written in this era. It was just too much winning by HHH that killed it

[@seanlordo30]

Did you think Katie Vick was “decently written”?

[@gardenboydon]

@@seanlordo30 fair point lol

[@masond7573]

​@@seanlordo30that's a biggg exception lol

[@destinyson23]

It really was bad. I wanted RVD to win, but HHH was basically invincible for no reason for 2 years. So many people were hurt creatively by it.

[@poeticjustice7049]

Basically John Cena for 15 yrs

[@EastHumbled]

Bruh I just said this lol

[@LilCardiNFA]

@@EastHumbled is good 😊 but if she she can come to get her car car 🚘🚘 is is she doing ok 👌 just Allan she. Yoeyyy

[@LilCardiNFA]

@@EastHumbled chtiogygyyyyyyyjj jiirg I

[@tcbbctagain572]

Rvd is a mid carder

[@emmanuelnurse9495]

Thank you for the work you did bringing this to us.

[@GFuanteina]

Yeah I guess this is what I have been missing on Raw when I was kid because we only tuned to Smackdown back then. Thanks for the video!

[@will35x]

Honestly, WWE would've never done this had Austin not retired, Austin would've been champion for most of that period. Also, thank you for making this video, but a simple no would do, no need to torture yourself watching Katie Vick.

[@iykejnr6296]

I was a hhh fan but Austin dominating raw would have been better

[@retronerds6884]

@@husqua5362 exactly Austin was already a legend before he retired had he stayed and got multiple championship reigns the ratings would've been through the roof

[@master-of-mind5881]

On the other hand HHH was the top heel on Raw from 02-05 despite his reign of terror he gave HBK his last ever world title reign. He put Goldberg over making him a two-time WHC. He put Chris Benoit over brilliantly at WM20. He even put Shelton Benjamin over on raw. At the time i hated HHH. I didn’t understand why he was always hogging the spotlight but when you look back he did a lot of good things. He gave back what he took from the business. Remember what Stephanie McMahon once said to Daniel Bryan - “Not everyone can be WWE championship material. Most guys are not an A* but they are a solid B-plus.” So if Booker T didn’t get over, it doesn’t matter because he was a 5 time WHC anyway. If he didn’t put over jericho, RVD, Kane, Steiner etc then it was best for business. With the exception of Steiner, all the other guys went over and became world champion somewhere down the line. HHH once said that Luke Skywalker is the greatest hero in all of pop culture but he’s only great because he fought and defeated the greatest villain which is Darth Vader. He used this analogy when someone compared him to Stone Cold Steve Austin. You see this is how much of a great storyteller HHH truly is. Perhaps the greatest, most accomplished, most influential heel this industry has ever seen.

[@retronerds6884]

@@master-of-mind5881 bro who the hell puts Austin and triple h in the same sentence best business would mean triple h would stay far away from the championship picture seeing as he's a rating killer the best way to describe triple h is how bret hart put it to sun it up triple h is the guy who works with the guy who brings in the money not the other way around he's a great heel I'll give you that

[@johntitor7357]

@@husqua5362 lol do you know that ratings doesn't include any country other than US coz if you are talking about ratings you are neglecting other countries you are only considering one country now let me tell what happened worldwide during the triple H's reign of terror I am from India and those who don't know wrestling still knows about taker and cena and you who came after these guys it's triple H he is a well known wrestler not only in India but in most part of asia while austin is only known to wrestling fans here I admit that triple H did wrong things but he also helped batista who never got defeated by triple H and orton also said in many interviews that hunter helped him triple H putted over guys like roman and seth and helped them and speaking of chris benoit hunter also putted him over at wm 20 well he also lost the title to trips couple of weeks later but I don't have problem with this coz benoit was not a world title material but I agree with what you said about booker t and goldberg but booker also got over after winning kotr and goldberg was already a huge star and still is.

[@someguy803]

When I was a kid I remember hating triple h at this time and got tired of him not getting beat. Now I understand why but I still think it it was a great time in wrestling, he could have still had his reign of terror but it could have been balanced out with a few good losses.

[@mitchjames9350]

A bit more than few.

[@kennethsnodgrass2607]

@@mitchjames9350 Whats the point of having a heel lose every match haha then beating said heel doesn't hold any water.

[@apurv5847]

@@mitchjames9350 Yeah🤣 Atleast the championship should have changed hands much more often and contenders other than HHH. That's why wwe is getting screwed..

[@My6119]

It had a lot of ups and downs, but you have to admit, it had memorable highlights, mainly Benoit and Orton's title reigns, and eventually leading up to Batista's time to shine.

[@AleksandarSimeonov93]

The best thing for me was how HHH gave you that feeling that the championship was something extremely important, valuable, and desired. He acted like he would die without the championship. That's something missing in today's WWE product. Only MJF gives me this vibe.

[@khalidcarter25]

That's why I liked Smackdown better around this time from 2004-2006

[@daschwah]

This is so much freakin’ worse than I remember. You’re a hero for boiling down these years of BS into a manageable watch.

[@viletoxxie]

you act like it wasnt 3000x better than whatever tf they’re showing nowadays lmao

[@abdellah7879]

Real bs is current WWE and AEW

[@johntitor7357]

way better than what they are showing now

[@johntitor7357]

@@viletoxxie exactly

[@ilikeclouds]

@@viletoxxie You act like you're making some kind of point by saying now is worse when its the worst its ever been.

[@EdWedgie]

Just subbed I really like your videos

[@simonhanson795]

In my opinion the true reign of terror was just 2 years. 2002 and 2003. In those years he had the belt and he was just crushing everybody and stoping others from getting anything over him at all. But in 2004-2005 whilst he had the belt they were using it to create new stars. Also the writing was way better. The Benoit and HBK feuds were masterpieces. If Orton had not had behavioural issues backstage Trips likely would have put him over, and the Batista storyline was one of the best long term storylines the promotion has ever done. Only bad part of that time was the Eugene stuff.

[@TheRockinAwesomeOne]

This

[@utkarshmishra6485]

Many left during that time

[@IWTBF]

True but 04/05 is when it was the start of the end for wwe

[@Vietmac1993]

Randy Orton was too young and too immature at the time. When young people become too successful too soon, they tend to have inflated egos. Look at Jon Jones in the UFC. He was the youngest UFC champion ever and a damn talented fighter but he let his success get to his head and got into so much trouble over the years.

[@WarlockX4]

Eugene was awesome. He was the Mokujin of wrestling.

[@sppsports2449]

From HHH's reign of terror to Cena's reign of terror 2 years later, Raw has seen some dark times.

[@pk_1]

Facts.

[@unbiasedperson5702]

cena's reign was not a reign of terror at all.

[@viletoxxie]

still eons better than anything they got today

[@johntitor7357]

cena's reign was not a reign of terror at all

[@sppsports2449]

@@johntitor7357 Says who? I'm sure there are people who think Triple H's title run on Raw was the best thing they ever seen. But most people HATED Cena's run. He was a super baby face that beat everyone and the guy has 16 championships to show for it. That's *more* than Triple H. And he held on to the belt for a comparable amount of time. But you're just going to negate all that and say "it wasn't a reign of terror AT ALL." Why? Because he was a face? Hogan's run with the belt was the biggest reign of terror there was, and he was the biggest face of all time. What makes you believe that Cena's run, where he won every match and got booed relentlessly, was not a reign of terror? You offer 0 evidence or logic, you just made an absolute statement without any supporting information. "The sky is absolutely not blue at all. Good bye." -> That's what you basically just did.

[@calvinmiller3885]

Nice coverage of the reign of terror. I remember Pat Patterson talking about the ratings suffering because of HHH during this time but they were loaded with talent so they didn't suffer too much. Nice touch of the 50 cent music in the background.

[@kayleeblack4303]

What do they expect? Their two biggest stars leave, they put the strap on the biggest heel of the company, then put all of the biggest talent on Smackdown. It was doomed to tank the ratings.

[@usus9us]

50 Cent? Pooh Shiesty that’s my dawg but Pooh you know I’m really shiesty!

[@scorpion6328]

Funny thing is, WWE wishes they can have those ratings that they did back then.

[@mitchjames9350]

@@kayleeblack4303 they put a lot of great WCW talent on Raw to be wasted on Paul Levesque. Triple H wasn’t even a legitimate big draw he just used nepotism to get ahead.

[@CorporateNaukar]

Beautiful storytelling bro!

[@Frankeinstein10]

Gve this man more subs!

[@FaysalIsGoated]

You think Triple H’s Reign Of Terror was bad? I dare you to do a video on Jeff Jarrett’s Reign Of Terror In TNA from 2002-2006. That one is WORSE.

[@SuperkickStudios]

I watched a video on it, I agree that it was worse😭

[@FaysalIsGoated]

@@SuperkickStudios in my opinion Triple H’s Reign Of Terror wasn’t that bad. The only people he really buried were RVD, Kane, Booker T, and Randy Orton. Steiner, Nash, and Goldberg were already established stars in WCW.

[@johntitor7357]

@@FaysalIsGoated I think fans overuse the term "buried" coz buried means after that loss their career went downhill and they never recovered from that loss bray wyatt is a good example of that and Randy orton was definitely not buried he won so many titles and even main evented several WrestleManias after his loss against triple H rvd also became huge in 2006 booker T became king booker was one of the best thing happened to him Kane was on fire during the RA era and even he was treated good till 2010.

[@glenwarne6492]

@@FaysalIsGoated Randy Orton wasn't buried others i agree

[@simeonflake]

I've always felt that TNA/Impact was f--ked from day one when Dixie decided to put her trust in Russo and Jarrett. I know that being a Sting fan was what compelled me to sit through a lot of TNA's shit shows & I bolted as a viewer somewhere around the time before Sting left & haven't looked back. Thank God for AEW is what I say, whenever I need a fix for pro wrestling. That and watching videos on KZbin and Dailymotion of the glory days from the NWA/WCW in the 1980s, and of course the boom period in the 90s and even the 2000s until Ruthless Aggression ended in 2008...

[@rocksjoshua]

The reign of terror may not be liked by the masses, but it was necessary at the time. The world heavyweight title had lost all prestige towards the end of WCW, changed hands nearly every week and the story lines involving the title was god awful. WWE needed to bring it back to relevance and bring back its prestige, only way to do that is hand it to a man and let him dominate the show. Yeah he 'burried' talent, but because of that the world heavyweight championship became one of the most prestigious titles in WWE history.

[@JackalHavok1992]

Triple H was the heel version of John Cena from 2002 to 2005. It was frustrating, but the only positive thing that came from the reign of terror was that it made Batista a future star. The negative outcome from the reign of terror was that lots of WWE wrestlers got buried and years later, John Cena was burying up and coming talent. John Cena's reign of terror was much worse than Triple His reign of terror, Cena had a decade of doom from 2005 to 2016, now it's Charlotte Flair's reign of terror.

[@sskr1992]

Nothing was bad about Cena's reign. He had amazing matches and feuds and it was never boring. Absolute 🐐.

[@schmidt8148]

Triple H 's reign of terror didnt even generate half of the merchandise sold John Cena's reign of terror did Its about whats good for the company, not what the fans want when Vince's in control

[@codesm96]

@@sskr1992 Never heard someone so wrong. Cena's the only guy who buried more stars than Triple H with irreparable damage. Their careers never recovered and he pushed guys to getting released by making complaints.

[@Blackwolfninja89]

The original king for burying talent will always go to Hulk Hogan.

[@JackalHavok1992]

@@Blackwolfninja89 True. Because of Hulk Hogan, WWE has a culture of burying talent that started back in the 1980's.

[@heyyitsKoda]

People talk so much shit on this time period and forget how many great things came out of it. HBK vs HHH was an amazing feud. Evolution has a whole was a huge deal and is still remembered as one of the best factions.Triple H did bury people but he also put over Benoit, Randy, Shelton, Batista, and John Cena around this time. If Triple H always lost those victories wouldn’t have mattered as much. I’m not saying it’s perfect but I’m tired of acting like Triple H wasn’t a good wrestler or character.

[@johntitor7357]

yep triple H is one of the GOAT and was a great wrestler and one of the best heels of all time he is a legend.

[@bonnie3447]

It was one of my favourite times but I do understand how it dragged at times but evolution vs hbk and company was good television. Not to mention the break up of evolution.

[@gamataru9337]

@@SuperkickStudios acknowledge me

[@num1Jaysta]

Orton? Triple H basically beat him in every match they had.

[@extremeking425]

he wasn’t you bozo bytch, f hhh, and put over shelton? lol

[@theonewhowokeup9987]

"For Triple H he was continuing his crusade against WCW guys." That is the perfect way to put it he's making up for the time missed in the terrible Invasion storyline. Like look at me I'm good against WCW guys too. 😐😒 I exclusively watched Smackdown. I heard Vince didn't understand why Raw the flagship show was getting destroyed by Smackdown. He got Pat to scope things out on Raw and talked to personel about what's going on. When Pat was ready to spill the tea to Vince, Stephanie and Hunter was in the room. Pat gave no fucks about it and went in.

[@dantejohnson9149]

Music choice for this video was so good

[@Anti-Villain-Wolf]

As a kid I HATED how often HHH won, but it worked because you need someone like that who everyone wants to loose. He is one of the best heels ever, and even worked as a face in the right circumstance like DX. I haven't watched WWE since about 09, because the writing and shows have done severely down hill

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

This works to a point. Triple H milked the shit out of it and buried nearly everyone for 3 whole years.

[@ccsdawg3927]

@@MiketheNerdRanger literally and he shouldn’t have

[@jmurphy8288]

Sounds like the current guy Roman reigns

[@SP-xx9zu]

​@@jmurphy8288 Only Triple H was several times better than him.

[@cashmontoks]

It didn’t work because it hurt the company. It drove viewers away until cena brought in a new generation of fans in 2006

[@themikx2939]

I remember not having cable from 2002-2004 and being so jealous that I was missing Raw every week. But now I look back and thank God that I didn’t have to sit through Raw during the height of Reign of Terror turns out I was the lucky one after all 😂

[@The808Ohana]

If not evident in other videos, this one is a clear example of how much thought and effort goes into a topic like this. You have a way with words and more than that, a vastly creative mind. It's easy to see you do this because you care. I appreciate it all, learning something new and seeing a uniquely different perspective from watching it when it happened. Excellent work 👏 👍 👌

[@SuperkickStudios]

Wow! Thank you so much I appreciate the kind words😭

[@The808Ohana]

@@SuperkickStudios you're welcome, can't wait to see what the future holds and the matches/wrestlers you delve into next

[@wjhall7754]

Good video!

[@jacobdinofan3070]

Sounds like roman reigns right now SMH

[@Youngy54]

Oh man, you had me worried in the intro saying how looking back Triple H was really good. I know you look back at the ruthless aggression era through rose-tinted glasses in a lot of the same way I do, but I’m glad you came around at the end that the reign of terror was just absolutely atrocious in every way. There’s no defending it at all, damaging for business and so many guys had to be put into recovery mode after to get over the treatment they had during their respective Triple H feuds. Great stuff again, dude.

[@dafttassia1960]

What's even worse is that just before this Austin and The Rock were the top guys and on smackdown you had Brock and the dmackdown 6

[@dakliq420]

The only time Triple H really should've lost was Booker T. Other than that,people really over exaggerate this run. I appreciate a top heel being a long term champion.

[@goatreaper4363]

Nah I'd say it added to the heel heat he had. People would pay to see hhh lose it.

[@Youngy54]

@@goatreaper4363 I mean overall business was down and some of those RAW-only PPVs of the time drew some of the lower buy rates. It got the point where it went beyond ‘I’m gonna pay to see this guy lose,’ because everybody learnt that guy was never going to fucking lose. And if he did, he was just going to win it back at the next one so why invest?

[@mishaaskar3323]

I can contest that by simply saying...you forgot JBL buried more talent and held a record for longest time he kept the belt... And yet he's barely remembered. Triple H wasn't just burying people, he was building up how literally sought after that belt was that his own character had to resort to the basest of lows to keep it...in short, he was making an Alpha Heel that people really wanted to see take the hit and lose and THAT put ASSES in seats for people to tune in and watch for WHO EVER came up to take it from him and what I loved was he BOUNCED the belt a couple of times so you always felt that if someone did get the belt, they still needed to watch out for the cerebral assassin and his sneaky ways of getting it back, even if it involved having a small 4-horsemen-esque hit squad cripple you before a match to win it back. It made the belt THE OBJECT of everyone's focus and this power hungry belt chaser Triple H made it such a threat to even utter going after it that the people who did became WHITE HOT OVER cause they posed as the guy to break the cycle. RVD, KANE, BOOKER T, big names that got bigger once they chased that belt...the asses they put in the seats for those pay-per-views....HELL EUGENE vs TRIPLE H was just so over people wanted him to win they all tuned in. Had anyone read that in paper, they'd say Eugene had no chance but because of the build up and them making Eugene credible enough to chase Triple H, you actually backed EUGENE...You were invested. So if you ask me...as a man who is part of the industry. Triple H did good business for the company and put asses in seats, eyes on RAW and eyes on the Championship belt that wasn't even representing the WWE with it's own name. While JBL bored the shit outta us.

[@bradleybarnett3376]

Don't get me wrong HHH is one of the greatest WWE superstars of all times, but he stayed burying other superstars.

[@charliefromstarkvillemissi1852]

He’s only great because of the legacy he created for himself. How many fans were there to see HIM? Zero? Less than zero?

[@madmensrogersterling6220]

@@charliefromstarkvillemissi1852 Being there to see him lose is still going to see him. Your comment is absolute proof that Triple H was a mastermind at the psychology of wrestling. It’s like you’re a checkers player and he’s a chess player

[@DannyMillz432]

‘Back in Blood’ beat playin in the background! 🤣 NICE!😎

[@a_fuckin_spacemarine7514]

HHH was my fav as a kid, his entrance just always pumped me up. For realz, I wanted to be HHH....... He's still probably my fav

[@aztn19]

Back then & even now, I never hated the “Reign of Terror” because HHH is one of my favorite wrestlers. Trips was a fantastic bad guy to hate, played that role to perfection. That’s what made his losses more exciting to watch, especially to Benoit & Bautista. The two exceptions were of course Goldberg & Booker T. Goldberg’s win came too late to matter and Booker T’s loss was easily the lowest point of the RoT.

[@vampirascoffin870]

Total complete hhh mark you are a complete moron , HHH fucked up the company and made no stars only one guy he made and undertaker did a better job making orton a star than hhh ever did

[@AzureRoxe]

The issue isn't "people think Trips is bad", the issue is "during his Reign, he legit buried almost everyone". Many of the storylines were tailor-made for the babyface to beat him and not only did Triple H win all the times, he won in dominant or fully decisive fashion.

[@parallax8207]

100 % agree

[@roadkillz78]

Agreed with the other commenters here; this was the era that birthed the term of Trip's Golden Shovel.

[@kennethsnodgrass2607]

Not sure why all this acclaim for Booker- trips needed to build a series of wins to increase the belts prestige and booker was pretty ordinary - good candidate to increase value of the belt for a top tier face (Michaels, Batista etc)

[@codyreid574]

imo The Reign of Terror was needed, with the departure of Austin & Rock, WWE needed a top star while they create a new star. Lesnar headed to SmackDown, Taker & Angle were in SmackDown. Raw needed an experienced top guy, so Triple H was there. Except for the burial of Booker T, other burial were acceptable like Orton was not ready. When uprising star Batista was ready, Triple H readily put him over. Afrer Triple H dominate WHC & Raw for 4 years, Batista became the top star WWE needes after defeating Triple H

[@damaniresida9887]

I think if undertaker didn't leave for smackdown, than triple h wouldn't have much power backstage cause undertaker was the lockeroom leader. And with undertaker there he couldn't do anything, cause undertaker would've stand up to him

[@shoptalk7415]

completely agree!! booker t was the only real black mark...

[@sandycaptaincool420]

It's true, I can only imagine if Shawn Michaels never made a comeback, how far raw would come, for me it started to die in 2007, and taker vs michaels was nail in the coffin, old school is dead, it's twitter wrestling now.

[@chino050406]

Exactly

[@alexm3046]

@@shoptalk7415 lmfao

[@WanderingRurouni92]

Awesome video! I can tell you how bad it was...I had forgotten the entire time period due to the trauma it had on my psyche. It sucked that hard.

[@chadbrisco4042]

I'd just watch smackdown during this era. You had Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle and The Big Show holding the top title while Triple H just kept ahold of the championship. You had midcarders like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, rapper John Cena, JBL and Rey Mysterio all get elevated to the main event scene whereas on raw, outside of Triple H, there was maybe Goldberg but even that ran it's course. The problem with raw is it had too young of guys who were not ready. Orton and Batista were the future of the company, not the present. Honestly, if smackdown can make main event stars out of Cena, JBL, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio, raw could've made main event stars out of William Regal, Kane, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Christian, Rob Van Dam and Rikishi.

[@miguellllm]

You got to addmit that because of the powerfull booking Triple H had, it was much more special and significant everytime someone defeated him

[@Juggalo972]

It's on the equal grounds of having any huge star being beaten after a long run, let alone without a championship a singles victory over Triple H meant something. It inserted a talent into that spot. As a booker, especially a talent who can work long durations, have sustainable in-ring work, it's definitely someone you want booking and putting stock into. I was a worker for 12 years and there are backstage politics that are needed, disliked and liked for booking. I think that even with Triple H's influence on booking, it also made us keep an eye on the talent that he always worked with even after this era that went onto great things. Hell even Cena was told by Triple H when he asked how well he worked, and his response being "Honestly, you suck"; and Cena replying, "Okay....how can I get better?' That's also a standard you want with a good worker.

[@hijodejames]

Yup. And you gotta consider the WHC was still a new belt at the time so they had to give their top guy a lengthy run with it to boost its prestige.

[@miguellllm]

@@hijodejames totally agree

[@master-of-mind5881]

On the other hand HHH was the top heel on Raw from 02-05 despite his reign of terror he gave HBK his last ever world title reign. He put Goldberg over making him a two-time WHC. He put Chris Benoit over brilliantly at WM20. He even put Shelton Benjamin over on raw. At the time i hated HHH. I didn’t understand why he was always hogging the spotlight but when you look back he did a lot of good things. He gave back what he took from the business. Remember what Stephanie McMahon once said to Daniel Bryan - “Not everyone can be WWE championship material. Most guys are not an A* but they are a solid B-plus.” So if Booker T didn’t get over, it doesn’t matter because he was a 5 time WHC anyway. If he didn’t put over jericho, RVD, Kane, Steiner etc then it was best for business. With the exception of Steiner, all the other guys went over and became world champion somewhere down the line. HHH once said that Luke Skywalker is the greatest hero in all of pop culture but he’s only great because he fought and defeated the greatest villain which is Darth Vader. He used this analogy when someone compared him to Stone Cold Steve Austin. You see this is how much of a great storyteller HHH truly is. Perhaps the greatest, most accomplished, most influential heel this industry has ever seen.

[@hijodejames]

@@master-of-mind5881 100% agree. I get so much flak for saying that the only people worthy of beating Hunter for the title were the ones he put over (Shawn, Goldberg, Benoit, Orton, and Batista). Booker T arguably should’ve gone over but that’s a discussion for another day. RVD, Kane, Steiner, and Nash on the other hand, just weren’t world champion material. The only issues I had with Hunter’s reign was how dull the matches and storylines were booked, not the fact that he kept winning.

[@kaineshigaraki5253]

the fact that Booker lost isn't even the last thing. the cherry on top was how long it took hhh to crawl over and pain him [×]

[@ReDDotFamous]

(Hope u read all) Thought u were just an AEW mark by name and assumption but I’ve been binging ur videos for a week now I’m glad I’m watching ur voiceovers are no pun intended ELITE lol keep working man god bless (Ps I’m a real wrestling fan just dont like bias sides I love all wrestling impact njpw and AEW even the bads bc at the end of the day it’s all about the $$$)

[@jamaicamartin9708]

I love that you’re using the back I’m blood beat 😭

[@ciprianghenghea7779]

That period lost millions of viewers and business clearly tanked. But it should be noted they were tanking since mid 2000 including with Rock and Austin on the show

[@topdawg2916]

Exactly the ratings started to tank when Russo left

[@part-timebrock1126]

Austin turned heel. I guess that's where it started

[@topdawg2916]

@@part-timebrock1126 austin turned heel in 2001 the ratings started going down in 2000

[@part-timebrock1126]

@@topdawg2916 not really. Ratings were as good as 1999 in 2000s. Just check out the Monday Night wars on Wikipedia

[@topdawg2916]

@@part-timebrock1126 nope the averages in ratings went down from 99

[@ed765super]

I will say. Triple H's 2002 return is one of the best returns in WWE history. And the Batista storyline was well done.

[@ChrisM07]

Batista was one of his close friends though HHH usually didn't have a problem putting his buddies over.

[@Hectrrod]

Nice recap of those early RA Era on Raw.

[@NatrajChaturvedi]

To be fair, at the time, he looked like a top guy. He had an extremely good physique especially around 2002 and it seemed natural for him to be that dominating. Watching it back again is really tiring sure.

[@keithcsabak2121]

As a fan for 10+ years at the time this was happening, it was so painful to tune into raw week in and week out and be subjected to the brand completely giving up on the product.

[@noellegendary3120]

The fact that Triple H made Shawn Michaels look like a mid carder during his title reign is mind blowing.

[@lexkanyima2195]

It was disrespectful

[@jacobtrimble4329]

Shawn didn't really want to win alot of world titles.

[@dylana.9057]

The game , the cerebral assassin. Literally the Greatest heel of all time , destroyed everyone and made smarks cry 😂😂

[@SharkVshore]

@@dylana.9057 “it’s all about the game “ 😂

[@noellegendary3120]

@@SharkVshore And how you play it

[@El_DennisTheMenaceShow]

this was still better than WWE today with their roman reigns and his bloodline story

[@bitterthenu7278]

Still better than Romans current run

[@Foul_Ghoul]

It’s like my brain rewrites HHH vs Goldberg at Summerslam, no matter how many times I’m told “HHH won the Elimination with a sledgehammer” It’s rewrote as “Goldberg dominated that match” in my head

[@123dan165]

Looool Brain rewriting LAMO.

[@ButtScootBJJ]

Triple H couldn’t wait for Austin and Rock to go away so he could be THE GUY. And the best part about that is, no matter how much he tried to shove himself down everyone’s throats, he was never “the one”. He was a backup dancer to the real artists.

[@superdavelane4]

Cornette said it best. He was the guy who worked with the legends. Austin, Rock, Taker, HBK.

[@dannycardona211]

Tru

[@parallax8207]

Triple H is a legend

[@ButtScootBJJ]

@@parallax8207 - A legend of booking himself to be a top guy and not really being one.

[@JawaPenguin16]

@@parallax8207 Without his "Reign of Terror" , Triple H's best work was putting Batista over in Evolution and DX. Other than that, his legacy is smoke and mirrors.

[@bellyOfaTiger]

I didn't have cable growing up at this time, so I could only watch Smackdown on the CW. Just watching RAW's highlights frustrated the hell out of me. I could only imagine the frustration watching RAW every week.

[@XxDatBoyFly1xX]

Booker T should’ve won their Wrestlemania XIX title match. Don’t @ me

[@maskedathiest]

1996 till 2011 was my time for the wwe. once edge was out, i had lost all interest. it had been a couple of years where i struggled to get excited. 1999 - 2008 though.....wow did i have a ton of fun. between the ppv and the video games....to raw every monday (never watched smackdown). i have such good memories....and HHH is responsible for at least 20% of those memories. i was always so mad at HHH for winning. what that man gave of himself for us all.......love it or hate it, he helped keep people in the seats.

[@MissSimone02]

That was TRULY the golden era for WWE. The best matches, best promos, best talent overall on their roster. Those twenty years were fucking AMAZING. Look at what we're left with today, a bunch of bullshit. Nothing is as remotely entertaining as it was between 1996-2011.

[@desfefe]

@@MissSimone02 The Bryan storyline was pretty good IMO. I think Roman Reigns is basically the only superstar on the roaster at the moment, and that is also wwe's fault for bringing back dinosaurs rather than trying to build up new talent.

[@MissSimone02]

@@desfefe I've heard the Bryan storyline is good, but Vince stumbled upon that instead of actually pushing people who are superstars up the ranks. It's good to have veterans in the company putting over new talent. The problem is that Vince just doesn't give a fuck. I don't really like Roman, they push him the way they pushed Cena except somehow worse. The current roster has potential but Vince won't push it, that's the main problem.

[@desfefe]

@@MissSimone02 Nah I mean Reigns was basically that at the time, in Cena's words "A Bootleg John Cena". Soon as they made him Heel, he became actually a proper talent and grew in the role. It is fine now. Fans know he is the best talent at the moment as well so that is probably why he is still Universal Champion. I genuinely believe Vince wanted to make Bryan become a jobber, just for his own Comedy sake (he has some weird sense of humour thinking about it). But seeing how all the fans were on board they had no choice but to give us Bryan, so I guess it was an accident almost. I also think that the attitude era, as was lauded as the best era of wrestling in wwe, the reason why it was allowed to happen was also because wrestlers were free to do whatever they wanted and to push storylines as they should have. Come the ruthless agression era then a lot more restrictions are put on the product. PG then is the downfall as wrestlers basically had to read a script word to word now. But ah well... Recently I have been trying to rewatch the attitude era and of course the WWE network has censored or outright cut some segments and episodes. Guess I will need to try to find all those dvds now if possible.

[@JCxWARZ1]

I was gone after punk, that did it for me

[@sparringsessionswithkonnor4366]

I was a huge Evolution fan as kid. I wish they had booked Goldberg stronger, but I really like Benoit’s run too, which was really the pivot after they failed to get Goldberg hot. HHH made Benoit look strong, then made Orton sympathetic (hard to do) and then put over Batista to end the Evolution storyline. Raw was built around him, but he enhanced so many guys that year, while also having great matches with Sean. Idk why people are so salty. I guess the booking had been pretty bad before that.

[@IWTBF]

See I hated Evolution.

[@SP-xx9zu]

You're right. People today just dumb and don't know what they talking about. This was amazing period and hhh was incredible. I used hate him so much, today I understand how good he was

[@Heathboy420]

I dont like goldberg. Never have. This era is fine though. Not as good as when stone cold and rock were in it but thats to be expected.

[@JoeSnider-ed3jk]

​@@SP-xx9zuman me too. I HATED HHH when I was a kid. Rewarching some of that shit made me realize he was actually entertaining as hell. People just wanted a people's champion. Like how Cena and batista were after HHH and jbl's reign. It was like a reset for the fans for a while lol

[@MasterPeaches]

I want to thank you for putting yourself through the torture of watching every horrendous HHH segment and match during this time. I knew HHH's time at the top was bad and he wasn't THE GUY but damn this really left a sour ass taste in my mouth. This rinse and repeat cycle has been going on with Roman Reign's reign as well. Sami, Drew, Cody, and KO all had chances to be put over and NOPE. This is why I watch AEW, where proper booking usually occurs.

[@kingj521]

This was the beginning of the End for my love for wrestling. I put up with this till melee stole all of my attention. I may have checked in from time to time to see what was going on.

[@IgnoresTrolls]

When you decide to build your brand around a heel champion for a lengthy run you need to have an idea of who the star you're building to beat him is, especially when there was no shortage of options. Building a brand around a guy as good as HHH is not a bad idea at all. But when putting the belt on him in the summer of 2002, it should have been obvious his run ends at WM 19. Your faces on Raw at the start of the run were RVD, Kane, HBK, Ric Flair and Jeff Hardy. Booker and Jericho were heel, Steiner signs in the winter. RVD was still pretty hot in 2002 and could have been given the belt immediately, but I think running with heel HHH is genuinely a better option. Keep RVD as far from HHH as possible at the start of that run. Because he should be the guy to win and pairing them up so early took away the best choice. Use the time to build him up more Booker is a pretty good second choice. HBK didn't want a full time schedule, so shouldn't be champion. Have HHH beat Jeff Hardy and Ric Flair before the HBK feud. I'd probably opt against having the short HBK title run, but it's not the worst call. If I didn't know how bad it was gonna turn out I'd have probably done a Steiner feud too, it made sense on paper (though not if he was injured) so let's say Kane (but no bloody Katie Vick story) at the Rumble and Steiner at the Feb PPV and the run ends with an RVD win at mania 19. You could use HHH to transition the belt from RVD to Goldberg later in the year. And again to go into WM20 as champ. But taking out the low points of that 2002-2003 period where he held it the entire time except the brief HBK and Goldberg runs. And breaking it up with a 4 month RVD run makes that whole run more palatable. You could get a really good run of matches out of champ RVD too, Nash can feud with HHH in the semi main (do not let it become the main though) RVD Vs HBK and HHH RVD Vs HBK RVD Vs Jericho RVD Vs Booker T Elimination Chamber

[@Arbal3st]

This is the topic I want OSW to do a full retrospective arc on. There's so many major beats in this whole story, so much that could be talked about from PPV to PPV, and now that he's retired and his shepherding of NXT is what many fans remember him for now, this part of his career is just as important to talk about.

[@meherenow793]

on a scale of good to bad, it was the furthest end of bad; ripple h simply thought he was something (someone) that he wasn't.

[@markrobinson9394]

What Triple H did to Randy Orton in 2004-05 was inexcusable. Randy was supposed to be the next big heel to dominate RAW for the next ten years. But instead, they hot shotted a face turn when the fans were not ready for it, in order to placate Triple H’s position as the top heel on the brand. Even worse, they changed Randy’s character into a smiling, high-fiving babyface, which went completely against the character that made him popular in the first place. Finally, they had Randy job to Triple H for the title 3 times on PPV, including a clean loss at the 2005 Royal Rumble. This pushed Randy down the card and it took him 3 years to recover, only thanks to Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and John Cena’s selflessness.

[@Eshan-]

This might be my favorite video from you, this was so fun to watch

[@SuperkickStudios]

you a real one🐐☝🏻

[@austinjay7856]

I lived through this era and it was genuinely horrible. Smackdown was so much more fun to watch. It was as bad as Cena's PG era reign and Rollins as authority golden boy. Each created a downward spiral for WWE.

[@lesnakejames505]

Cena never had a PG era reign lmao Guys like Batista Taker Triple H Edge Orton HBK were all main event stars and almost all beat Cena clean

[@austinjay7856]

@@lesnakejames505 The dude held the title 9 times during 2008 to 2014, that is the PG Era. He's been the FOTC irregardless of other top talent like Triple H, Edge etc. Those weren't the marquee top guy like Cena. Also Taker never beat Cena clean during the PG Era.

[@lesnakejames505]

@@austinjay7856 again he held those titles for 2-3 months with some reigns being less then 1 Month Cena was no doubt top guy but to say he had a reign of terror comparable to Triple H not having belt for like 6-8 months in a 3 year span is insane

[@AD-ur1fk]

Raw was so bad that they had to bring back rock and austin to raw to save the ratings in early 03. When Hollywood rock came back to raw nobody gave a damn about triple h and he was the champion lol

[@austinjay7856]

@@lesnakejames505 Triple H held the title 5 times during his reign of terror and also had stints of 3 months reigns. Your point is stupid AF! The reign of terror isn't about the length of the title reign, but a description of Triple H dominating the whole show even when he wasn't champion. Triple H and Cena were constant fixtures of the programming and built as the primary focus during their respectives terrors. They were each positioned as the top stars and were continually shoved down everyone's throats whether you liked it or not. Both were insufferable to watch. Both made wrestling look super fake. PG Cena made it phony and Triple H made people think that he was only on top because he married the bosses daughter. No one viewed Austin or Rock as being fake because they brought an element of realness to wrestling. Cena's first two lengthy reigns did good business and can't really be seen as a reign of terror. Cena got over organically and there was an uptick in ratings, buyrates and attendance. Heck his rap album went platinum. If Cena didn't get mega over in 2005, the industry would've gone down the cutter even more. In no way were Batista or Orton FOTC material. Anyways once PG Cena was forced down everyone's throat like Triple Ego, people started to tune out. PG Cena drove away as many fans as Triple H did.

[@Fantasyremix]

People wanted him to put over Kane, Booker T., RVD, but he outlasted all of them and put over Benoit (to put over Orton), Batista, and Cena in back to back years. Each of which would have meant far less if he'd also been putting over all those over guys.

[@superpipi1330]

That's facts.

[@nappa1413]

Agreed, also all these guys eventually got their time to shiny too kane mitb title, king bookah, and rvd god to be BOTH wwe and ecw champion at the same time(nvm what happened after)

[@DmanDice]

@@nappa1413 That was despite being buried though.

[@nappa1413]

@@DmanDice thats not what being buried means, non of these people were buried

[@miketokles9451]

My favorite wrestler of all time, he could do it all and almost always better than anyone else. HHH is what wrestling is supposed to be.

[@zacharyradford5552]

Is that why Raw viewing ranked around that time and had to be saved by Cena?

[@masudbillah6196]

You are coping hard bruh.

[@miketokles9451]

No one liked Cena for like a year when he first started, he was rapping and people hated it.

[@thabisompisane6600]

Triple H reign was nothing compared to what Jeff Jarrett was doing in the NWA -TNA

[@mishaaskar3323]

Jeff Jarret just buried people the way Hogan did...and with lack luster matches.

[@TadRaunch]

What made me switch off was Booker T being buried. I was rooting so hard for the guy, and HHH had tectonic heat on him at the time. To see Booker T win would've been such an amazing moment. But he didn't, and I stopped watching wrestling for years.

[@cac9926]

I used to always think triple H was actually cool. After all the talk when he was finally in the ring, it seemed like a truly imposing character similar to brock lesnar.

[@jaydendellyson]

Hot take: Roman reigns right now. The reign of terror part - not it being dry and boring.

[@wendelleasports]

Triple H buried me pretty bad! And I was just in the grocery store getting bread and milk! Triple H comes out from nowhere, hits the pedigree for the 3 count, I was told if I kicked out then I'm banned from the store...😑

[@bionicrattlesnake2137]

Cool story

[@wendelleasports]

@@bionicrattlesnake2137thanks! I never recovered since! 😢🥴

[@AD-ur1fk]

Did he pin you 30 seconds later after hitting the pedigree?

[@wendelleasports]

@@AD-ur1fk Even worse! After the pin he got on the store intercom and cut a promo for almost 30 minutes forcing attention that should've went to the hard working cashiers onto himself! Smh

[@master-of-mind5881]

On the other hand HHH was the top heel on Raw from 02-05 despite his reign of terror he gave HBK his last ever world title reign. He put Goldberg over making him a two-time WHC. He put Chris Benoit over brilliantly at WM20. He even put Shelton Benjamin over on raw. At the time i hated HHH. I didn’t understand why he was always hogging the spotlight but when you look back he did a lot of good things. He gave back what he took from the business. Remember what Stephanie McMahon once said to Daniel Bryan - “Not everyone can be WWE championship material. Most guys are not an A* but they are a solid B-plus.” So if Booker T didn’t get over, it doesn’t matter because he was a 5 time WHC anyway. If he didn’t put over jericho, RVD, Kane, Steiner etc then it was best for business. With the exception of Steiner, all the other guys went over and became world champion somewhere down the line. HHH once said that Luke Skywalker is the greatest hero in all of pop culture but he’s only great because he fought and defeated the greatest villain which is Darth Vader. He used this analogy when someone compared him to Stone Cold Steve Austin. You see this is how much of a great storyteller HHH truly is. Perhaps the greatest, most accomplished, most influential heel this industry has ever seen.

[@marklynch3503]

Triple H reign of terror gave Raw a top tier main event world Champion. Triple H needed to be dominant and successful by beating other wrestlers. Okay the Katie Vick angle was stupid and distasteful, but Triple H had a amazing feud with Shawn Michaels, he formed evolution which propelled Randy Orton and Batista to the main event scene and gave Ric Flair his confidence back. Triple H brought prestige and importance back to the World Heavyweight Championship. Plus when Batista finally beat Triple H at Wrestlemania 21 Batista got over and became a big star.

[@Spoeism]

LoL sucker

[@marklynch3503]

@@Spoeism ???

[@Spoeism]

@@marklynch3503 you fell for the sales pitch What did Patterson find out? What good is the plan if it back fired and didn’t draw?

[@marklynch3503]

@Chuck Buskee If every single face beat Triple H then Triple H would drop down the card and become a mid carder. If Triple H lost every week he would lose all his credibility and importance. With Steve Austin and The Rock gone WWE especially Raw we’re lacking serious star power. Luckily Triple H was there to fill that void. It wasn’t Triple H fault that WWE lost millions of viewers in the early 2000’s, that was due to the end of the Attitude Era and the end of the Steve Austin v Vince McMahon feud. To conclude Triple H needed to win and stay dominant to be a important World Champion and carry Raw if everyone beat Triple H then they would be no one to be the main event attraction. Triple H gave the rub to Chris Benoit, Batista and John Cena in 3 consecutive Wrestlemania and helped massively in putting those guys over and helping cement them as big stars. Plus if Triple H lost every week then beating him wouldn’t be a massive deal when it actually mattered.

[@lexkanyima2195]

@@marklynch3503 but he was a bit overrated, but a good business man.

[@coriTGE]

Triple h was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up & one of the best heels in my opinion. He also did put some guys over people act like he didn’t at all

[@Jamezontoast]

All of the bad things had one common denominator: Vince's creative. From not keeping WCW & ECW alive to failing to let stars shine like Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Scott Steiner, etc .

[@pascalg.-berardi9242]

This is the period I stopped watching wrestling on a regular basis. I was just not having fun anymore. Kane had huge potential when he unmasked and went on a complete rampage until it was wasted with 3 consecutives Shane McMahon PPV matches that sidelined him off anything going on in the main event picture until his mojo was down. Booker T had everything going from him and not giving him the title felt downright insulting. Injured Steiner gave us bad segments and subpar matches. Goldberg's utilisation was a letdown. Triple H obviously didn't want to lose one-on-one againts Chris Benoit and this felt pretty insulting too. RVD was selling a lot of merch and could've had a run too but it's pretty obvious Triple H wasn't gonna put him over.

[@onehand-yusuf7212]

atleast rvd got a chance to be the man in 06

[@najacipedo6898]

@@onehand-yusuf7212 and he screwed up.

[@sharonnejones8389]

He was great as a heel character but is absolute shit as a man.

[@-Alpeter]

Thank God you stopped watching we don't need fake fans.

[@jacobtrimble4329]

Don't agree with the Chris Benoit take, him beating Shawn and HHH and make him tap out at wrestlemania was special and he did it again in a rematch.

[@trashboat2687]

2002-2008 felt like a dark era in WWE to me. Though wrestling was popular, it was a huge era of backstage politics, wrestling shoot interviews, Benoit tragedy, plane ride from hell, steroid scandals, concussion lawsuits, and that's only a few things that were going on. It was still a good era for wrestling though as a fan

[@ace1durago04]

Pg Era fixed a lot of backstage problems Which is why early pg Era 2008-2013 was my favorite

[@nappa1413]

you both have problems and trash taste @@ace1durago04

[@Kawailani11]

Triple H was the back then tribal chief

[@jmkenola]

I remember the reign of terror, it was horrible to only a handful of fans here in my country. I mean I was arguing how crappy it was, but everyone was so enamored with Trips. One even tried to spin the infamous promo with Booker T as status on the card and people like Booker T won't draw interest or something. Then whenever a handful of us mentions how boring Trips' promo was we get flamed. I mean his promos are almost the same, praise himself, then talk about the World Heavyweight Title (his win or loss), say he's the game (win or lose), praise Naich, praise Randy or Dave. Ramble for 10 more hours. Demand something from Eric Bischoff, ramble a bit more. Close. I have no idea if their opinions have changed.