by Alfonso Castillo
Showdown.net/OnlineOnslaught.com

[CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE...]

The Breakdown

It’s hard to believe that before winning the title at WrestleMania, it had been nearly two years since Triple H wore WWF Championship gold. From late 1999 until mid-2000 Triple H was an absolutely dominant champion. He dropped the title a few times along the way, but few champions seemed more at home during their reigns than Triple H.

Even after he dropped the strap, Helmsley still dominated as the most consistent performer in the industry. It was rare for Helmsley to not step up during his big matches and deliver four-star performances. It seemed his next title reign was always just a few weeks away.

But after tearing his quad in the now-infamous tag team match with Steve Austin again Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit last spring, Helmsley sat on the sidelines for eight months. In the meantime, other established main eventers and newer stars stepped up to fill the void.  But lest anyone think Helmsley was all but forgotten, his return to Federation programming last January in Madison Square Garden drew one of the most passionate crowd reactions in history.

From there Triple H – the biggest babyface in the WWF – went on to win the Royal Rumble and earn a championship match at WrestleMania. It seemed despite the long hiatus, Triple H had not missed a beat. 

Two months later I sat in the Skydome and watched one fan after the other pour out of the building before his match – the main event for the world title – even came into the ring. As noted above, the fans who stuck around sat on their hands during most of the match and paid little attention to Helmsley’s celebration following his victory – the supposed pinnacle of his entire career.

Was it a one-night freak occurrence? Were fans simply emotionally drained following the charisma-overload of the Rock-Hogan match? There’s no single answer. Yes, the pops have picked up for Triple H in the weeks that followed WrestleMania, but few could argue he is not even close to the number one babyface he was pegged as in January.

It’s not unexpected that the Rock and Steve Austin – the WWF two most established acts over the last five years – have quickly reclaimed their spots as the Fed’s top stars. But what nobody expected is that Helmsley – and everyone else for that matter – has had to take a backseat to the most unlikely of babyfaces in the 21^st Century WWF, Hulk Hogan. What’s more, if you’re in the ring against Hogan, not only will you receive less cheers, you will be booed out of the building.

Without turning this into a column about the enigma that is Hogan, it must be noted that the repercussions  of Hogan’s recent love affair with WWF fans on Triple H’s title reign are tremendous. At the top of the company now is a 49-year old Hogan, who in his best day was not a good worker and who nowadays is hardly mobile. The WWF has been trying to couch Hogan’s shortcomings by booking him in tag team matches, including as Triple H’s partner in a recent New Jersey house show.

But even trying to hide Hogan’s shortcoming, it’s apparent that the quality of WWF main events has suffered. That’s also in part because the WWF’s other newest main eventers are Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Hall is a passable worker at times, but no where near the caliber of the WWF’s main event tier for the last several years. Nash is just atrocious in the ring.

It doesn’t end there. With the rosters being split, the WWF has counted on Kane – another big man with limited ring skills – to help carry the main event load. Bradshaw has been elevated. Brock Lesnar is being billed as Goldberg 2002. Undertaker was Ric Flair’s #1 draft choice.

What year is it? It’s like we went to sleep and woke up in 1987. The WWF’s recent push of the gigantic monsters with barely any wrestling skills is quite alarming. While Triple H, Austin, the Rock and Kurt Angle can hardly be called cruiserweights, it has been their in-ring aptitude, not their size, that has driven the WWF’s main events for the last several years. The WWF’s workrate at the top of the card in recent years has been unparalleled, and perhaps nobody has exemplified workrate more than Triple H.

So does the recent move away from workrate and towards size and showmanship leave Triple H out in the cold? Not quite. But the resolution may not be any better. Rather than trying to win back fans based solely on gut-wrenching, exhausting, and technically sound wrestling matches, Triple H seems to have adopted an “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em” mentality.

Since returning from his injuries, Helmsley looks like he’s packed on another 30 pounds of muscle. And he looks like he’s getting bigger and bigger each week. And, therefore, slower and slower. Let’s face it, there was more to the fans’ apathetic reaction to the WrestleMania title match than just being emotionally drained. The match just wasn’t that great, nor have any of Triple H’s been matches since his return. There is no question Helmsley has lost a step. Whether it’s because he is yet to fully feel from the quad injury or because he’s carrying around so much excess weight is not totally clear. It’s probably some combination of both, as Helmsley has sought to compensate for his rust with a more impressive physique. But the results have not been good.

But even if this was the same Triple H as two years, we still shouldn’t feel sorry for him because his reign is off to a lukewarm start. He’s banging the boss’ daughter and has Vince McMahon's ear like few others have in the past. Now reunited with the Clique and serving as their real-life leader, he can be more powerful than ever and will remain among the top players for the foreseeable future. He’s got so much pull he could probably get his girlfriend a title shot.

Wait, that happened already.

Championship Grade: A

The Outlook

The post-WrestleMania world title reign tends to last longer than most title reigns, so Helmsley should hold on to the strap for the foreseeable future. The question is -- Where does he go from here? Helmsley’s had major feuds with just about every established WWF main event star. And feuds with the newer stars – Hogan and the nWo – aren’t going to make for very good matches.

The immediate plan seems to be a short program with Hogan. Their upcoming match certainly has the feel of being a big event, but like the Rock, Helmsley is going to have to put in overtime to pull something decent out of Hogan. The days of 4 ½ star main events are definitely over.

It may get pretty tricky to book the winner of this match. Believe it or not, Triple H is one of the few WWF main event wrestlers who I wouldn’t object to doing a job for Hogan. The WWF has gone to incredible lengths to protect Helmsley from jobs in recent years, so he can afford one here and there, even if it one of such significant ramifications. Helmsley’s political pull almost ensures a Hogan loss won’t hurt his worth too much. But I’ll predict Helmsley leaves the match as the champion, and perhaps as a full-fledged heel.

The most logical of rivalries for Triple H would be Steve Austin. These two had a war that never really seemed to be settled. Helmsley scored the upset victory in the two-out-of-three falls match in Feb. 2001 just before Austin won the title. Then the two teamed for a while. Then when Helmsley was on the DL, Austin badmouthed him seemingly to set up a big match upon Helmsley’s return. The original plan was for the match to headline WrestleMania, but the signing of Hogan changed those plans.

That’s a feud that needs to be done, But what WWF writers need to evaluate is whether they want to go along with Helmsley’s babyface run much longer. It clearly hasn’t worked very well thus far. And surrounded by mega-faces Rock, Austin and Hogan – none of whom seem pegged for a heel turn in the near future -- Helmsley cannot compete for charisma. In “his time” Helmsley was a legendary heel. He may be best served to rediscover his roots in the near future. And with the entire Clique reunited under the WWF banner, the timing may never be better.

Championship Options

Never in the history of this column has there been such a seeming discrepancy between who should be next in line for the title and who probably is next in line. The WWF main event dynamic has changed a lot in recent weeks and months. Jericho, Angle and Edge are firmly entrenched in the mid card while Hogan, Nash and Hall appear almost exclusively in main events.

Theoretically, the brand extension will give those mid carders a chance to shine since each roster will be only half as big as the combined roster. But I’ll believe it when I see it.

The most obvious name to come up as Helmsley’s successor to the title is Hogan. His popularity right now is unrivaled. Rather than help establish the Rock as the industry’s top star at WrestleMania, their match only served to knock the Rock down several pegs. His feud with Triple H promises to do the same to the champion.

It’s hard not to get giddy when you watch Hogan. For fans in their 20s and 30s, it just stirs up all sorts of memories about growing up watching the Hulkster defend freedom against evil communist enemies. But in the end, giving Hogan the title would probably be a mistake. He simply doesn’t need it. He’s more over than any time since the mid 1980s and giving him the title would probably not make much of a difference. I would not be totally opposed to a short reign, just because the actual title victory would probably be a very memorable and emotional moment, but a reign lasting any length of time will only expose Hogan’s shortcomings and tarnish the title. Having young wrestlers do jobs to Hogan as the champion could do some major damage on their careers.

The Rock always seems a viable choice to hold the title, but maybe less so now than any time in recent history. It’s becoming more and more apparent that Rock’s days as a full-time wrestler are numbered as he moves closer to a full-time acting career in Hollywood. The WWF would do well to stay in the Rock’s good graces and pretty much let him come and go as he wishes. But it should avoid a commitment like giving him the world title when it’s not clear whether he’ll be available for house shows past the next few weeks.

Jericho’s career-making title reign is yet to happen. He seemed on course to legitimately taking his place next to the WWF’s elite, but was hurt by the nepotism of WWF power brokers. Rather than push him as a strong champion heading into WrestleMania, Stephanie McMahon was made the central figure in his feud with Triple H. But because his boss was her father and his opponent was her boyfriend, he had to grin and bear it. Now he’s back to the midcard and will seemingly be staying there for a while. He deserves the vote of confidence that WWF management still has not given him, but he won’t be getting it – or the world title – any time soon.

Then there’s the go-to guy, Steve Austin. Over the last few weeks he’s made headlines for his refusal to go along with WWF storylines. Many fans felt to an extent, “Who can blame him?” He’s been the WWF’s biggest moneymaker and most consistent worker in the last five years. He is largely responsible for turning the WWF around and making it must-see TV in the late 1990s. Yet come WrestleMania, he was an afterthought to bookers. Austin was stuck in a mid-card match at the biggest show of the year against an unreliable and mediocre worker in Scott Hall. That’s hardly the way to treat your cash cow. Now it seems the WWF has bent over backwards to appease Austin, and rightfully so. My guess is the WWF will do the above-mentioned Helmsley-Austin feud in the near future and Austin will have the belt once more by the year’s end.

Others – The Undertaker: A good locker room captain, veteran presence and occasional main eventer, but not in the position anymore to carry the WWF as champion... Kurt Angle – Like Jericho, his career has stagnated with the arrival of Hall, Nash and Hogan. But once clearer heads prevail, he may be in line for the title once again... Chris Benoit – The writing team seems to have big things in mind for him by giving him such a high placement in the Smackdown! draft. I’ll believe it when I see it... Hall and Nash – Sadly, either of these two probably have a greater likelihood of winning the title than almost anyone else on this list.

But who can argue with the WWF’s current pick? At the top of the of the World Wrestling Federation right now is a man who lives, eats and breathes wrestling. Despite the political connections Helmsley has made in recent years, there is no denying that he earned his spot in the WWF by impressing once skeptical fans that he is, in fact, “that damn good.” Unfortunately, in recent months, he’s only looked that damn OK.

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Alfonso Castillo, 24, is has been a wrestling fan since he was six-years old.
He has been writing the "Fonzo's Title Wave" column since 1999. The host of
the Showdown radio audio program on www.Showdown.net currently lives in
Queens, NY and works as a reporter for a New York metropolitan area newspaper.

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