What did you make of HHH/McMahon/Stephanie?

[Crayo]

I expected it to be much worse. I thought it was quite good how Stephanie went from unseen babyface to heel simply because of crowd reactions, she did very well there. Vince coming out and supporting her and yet again playing a heelish role was awesome. I liked how Steph played the one who keeps the peace in the confrontation, and HHH played the badass role pretty well, but I really think the gimmick he has given to someone young and fresh would do them the world of good. HHH doesn't need this.

I'm still wondering where they're going with this. I guess HHH will wrestle Axel at Payback to help buy rates. Maybe he loses there as well - dirty of course - to ignite another "retirement" angle or something stupid like that.

What do you think?

 

[Stopspot]

I don't think that Steph or Vince will be outright heels, rather heels by proxy. They are justified in what they are doing since they are doing it out of care and worry for a family member.

I can see HHH getting involved at Payback, maybe not wrestle but lets say that the suggested scenario with Punk no showing and Axel taking his place happens. I could see HHH hitting the ring after the match is over and attacking Axel. Which could set up a singles match at MITB to put Axel over (with a dirty finish of course, maybe Paul hitting HHH in the head with an object when no one is looking to tie it in with the concussion story).

 

[Crayo]

Of course they won't be outright heels lol, they're far too over for that, and they're sporadic. Just last night they were forced into that role (Steph calling them all selfish for example).

 

[Stopspot]

Yeah, it's the situational heel role instead of the down right heel role. They just filled out the heel role in comparison to Triple H.

Funny thing is this could be booked so that Triple H was the heel, going against the wishes of his well meaning father in law and loving wife. But WWE is doing good with this as it is but we of course have to wait and see how this pans out.

 

[seabs]

Vince is turning heel with Cena and reforming the NWO.

 

[Senhor Perfect]

Vince is turning heel with Cena and reforming the NWO.

^ The only way I'd ever mark for Cena

 

[Lockard 23]

As mentioned, Vince and Steph won't be playing intentional heels. They're kind of like Vince during the MITB 2011 story line with Punk - greeted by the fans but also pissing them off because he realized he needed to do something that was important for the company (making sure Punk didn't leave with the WWE Title like he threatened to.) In this case, it's out of fear for Triple H's well being.

I don't mind seeing them on TV again because their rare appearances make it all the more special when they do show up. This was certainly a logical reason to bring them on last night. Where I think this is building towards is that next week, the match won't happen and that HHH/Axel will be booked at Payback instead (gives more meaning to the PPV name, which never hurts.) It may even be booked as a non-sanctioned fight instead of a wrestling match, similar to Undertaker/DDP at KOTR 2001. Regardless, HHH's concussion acts up again, only this time, Axel continues to beat him down even while he's fainting, making the situation look that much worse for him. This time, they literally wheel HHH out on a stretcher or something, as opposed to him walking out on his own like on Raw two weeks back, albeit off-screen.

Then Axel could still replace Punk later in the night when he wrestles (and defeats) Chris Jericho.

That way, Axel's big thing to boast about the next night on Raw will be that he took out HHH AND pinned Chris Jericho, allowing him to boast about the fact that no other WWE superstar has ever had a PPV debut like that before. This could lead to a Jericho rematch at MITB while they do a slow build to a full fledged HHH/Axel feud later on when HHH returns for revenge... Not to mention a probable feud with Punk in between.

In that case, Axel will sure out plenty enough important to do for the rest of the year.

 

[Leo C]

I thought it was good. They played their roles well, were over (obv) and the story makes sense. Yeah, HHH doesn't need it, but I really don't know if there was anyone suitable for the job, as it would require family members over and still somewhat relevant in WWE. Also I'm a Triple H mark.