15. THE RISE OF PRE-TAPED MATCHES AND VIDEO
TRICKERY.
WITH THE PRESUMED RETIREMENT OF THE UNDERTAKER
AT WRESTLEMANIA 33, IT LOOKED LIKE 2017 COULD
BE THE YEAR WWE CROWNED ITS NEW FACE OF FEAR.
THAT THE COMPANY WOULD CHOOSE BRAY WYATT TO
TAKE THE DEAD MAN’S PLACE MAKE PERFECT SENSE,
BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THEY WAY THEY TRIED TO
GO ABOUT MAKING THE TRANSITION KILLED ANY
CHANCE OF IT ACTUALLY HAPPENING. THE PROBLEM
IS THAT IN MANUFACTURING WYATT’S RISE, WWE
RELIED FAR TOO HEAVILY ON RIDICULOUS CAMERA
TRICKS AND PRE-TAPED NONSENSE RATHER THAN
ACTUAL POWER AND INTIMIDATION. SUPERNATURAL
GOOFINESS WAS ALWAYS A LOW KEY PART OF WYATT
AND HIS FAMILY’S APPEAL, YET WWE SERIOUSLY
MANAGED TO JUMP THE SHARK WHEN GOING ALL IN
ON THE IDEA. DESPITE FANS LARGELY REJECTING
WYATT’S MAGIC MOMENTS, SPECIFICALLY HIS
MATCHES WITH RANDY ORTON, FROM A TECHNICAL
STANDPOINT, THEY DID THINGS WWE HAD NEVER
DONE BEFORE. HOPEFULLY, THEY’LL EITHER GET
WAY BETTER AT IT REALLY SOON, OR NEVER DO
IT AGAIN.
14. NEW JAPAN TOOK CENTER STAGE.
IT MAY BE A SURPRISE FOR AMERICAN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT
FANS TO LEARN NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING HAS
BEEN AROUND SINCE 1972. ESPECIALLY TO PEOPLE
WHO ONLY WATCH WWE, IT PROBABLY FEELS LIKE
NJPW HAS ACTUALLY ONLY EXISTED FOR A DECADE
OR SO AT MOST, STARTING WHEN BROCK LESNAR
REIGNED AS IWGP CHAMPION, THE ONLY ELEMENT
OF THE JAPANESE ORGANIZATION THEY OFFICIALLY
ACKNOWLEDGE. THAT PERCEPTION MAY START TO
CHANGE, THOUGH, BECAUSE WHILE NJPW HAS INDEED
OPERATED MUCH LONGER THAN FANS MAY NOTICE,
IN 2017, IT’S BIGGER THAN EVER. THE RISE
OF NJPW IS RELATED TO A FEW KEY FACTORS, INCLUDING
A STREAMING SERVICE CALLED NJPW WORLD, A WEEKLY
TV SHOW ON AXS, AND AN EXTREMELY CHARISMATIC
AMERICAN STAR NAMED KENNY OMEGA. IT ALSO DOESN’T
HURT THAT FORMER WWE SUPERSTAR CHRIS JERICHO
VOLUNTARILY LEFT THE STATES FOR A HIGH PROFILE
PROGRAM OVERSEAS. NOWADAYS, THERE ARE EVEN
SOME AMERICAN FANS WHO USED TO BE WWE EXCLUSIVE
WHO THINK NJPW ARE THE TRUE WORLD LEADERS
IN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT, AND THAT SHIFT WILL
LIKELY ONLY CONTINUE.
13. EX WWE STARS SEE MONEY ON THE ROAD.
ASIDE FROM A FEW SHORT YEARS WHEN ERIC BISCHOFF
HAD UNLIMITED ACCESS TO TED TURNER’S BANK
ACCOUNT, EMPLOYMENT WITH WWE HAS ALWAYS BEEN
THE GOAL FOR ANY WRESTLER WHO GOT INTO THE
BUSINESS FOR FINANCIAL REASONS. VINCE MCMAHON
HAS MORE MONEY THAN ANYBODY ELSE IN THE BUSINESS
AND HE HAS NO PROBLEM SHARING SIGNIFICANT
CHUNKS OF HIS FORTUNE WITH WRESTLERS HE DEEMS
WORTHY. HOWEVER, WHAT SOME AUDIENCES MAY NOT
REALIZE IS THAT WWE SUPERSTARS WHO AREN’T
IN THE MAIN EVENT DON’T ALWAYS GET COMPENSATED
FOR THEIR TALENTS FAIRLY. RECENTLY, SOME OF
THEM HAVE BEEN SPEAKING UP ABOUT THE SITUATION,
AND IN 2017, AT LEAST TWO SUPERSTARS CONFIRMED
THEY CAN MAKE MORE MONEY ON THE ROAD THAN
THEY DID WORKING FOR MCMAHON. CODY RHODES
IS ACHIEVING GREATER SUCCESS THAN EVER BEFORE
ON THE INDY SCENE, AND RYBACK, WHO LEFT WWE
OVER MONEY REASONS, SEEMS TO BE ENJOYING HIS
STATUS AS THE BIG GUY IN VARIOUS SMALL PONDS.
IF MORE WRESTLERS CONTINUE TO PAD THEIR BANK
ACCOUNTS OUTSIDE OF VINCE’S CONTROL, HE
MIGHT START TO HAVE A PROBLEM IN THE NEAR
FUTURE.
12. LEGENDARY COMEBACKS TEACH US TO NEVER
SAY NEVER AGAIN.
NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES VINCE MCMAHON HARPED
ON THE FACT BACK IN THE 1990S, SOME WRESTLING
FANS STILL DON’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THE
AGE OLD ADAGE THAT ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN
THE WWE UNIVERSE. IT’S NOT NECESSARILY EVOLUTION
FOR THIS TO BE PROVEN ALL OVER AGAIN, YET
2017 WAS IN MANY RESPECTS A YEAR OF COMEBACKS
TAKING THE CENTER STAGE, SO PERHAPS IT BEARS
REPEATING. FIRST OF ALL, MORE THAN 14 YEARS
AFTER HIS LATEST REIGN ON TOP, LEGENDARY WCW
WRESTLER GOLDBERG CLIMBED BACK TO THE TOP
OF THE BUSINESS AS WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPION.
THEN, BARELY A MONTH LATER, THE OLYMPIC HERO
KURT ANGLE MADE HIS LONG AWAITED RETURN AFTER
A DECADE WORKING FOR THE COMPETITION. BOTH
GOLDBERG AND ANGLE WERE WRESTLERS MOST FANS
THOUGHT BURNED ALL THEIR BRIDGES AND COULD
NEVER MAKE A COMEBACK. THE FACT THEY DID IS
FURTHER PROOF VINCE MCMAHON’S FEELINGS ON
PAST EMPLOYEES ARE ALWAYS EVOLVING, LIKE HIS
COMPANY IN GENERAL.
11. THE NWA FOUND A NEW OWNER, TRIPPED LOOKING
FOR NEW FOOTING.
HAVING EXISTED FOR SEVERAL DECADES PRIOR TO
VINCE MCMAHON, SR. AND TOOTS MONDT CREATING
WHAT WOULD BECOME WWE, THE OLDEST WRESTLING
COMPANY IN AMERICA IS STILL THE NWA. OF COURSE,
THE BRAND ISN’T QUITE WHAT IT USED TO BE,
HAVING TAKEN A MASSIVE NOSEDIVE IN THE MID
‘90. THE NWA HAS LARGELY FADED OUT OF RELEVANCE
SINCE SPLITTING WITH TNA IN 2007, BUT THAT
MAY CHANGE SOMETIME SOON DUE TO THE FACT IT
RECENTLY RECEIVED A NEW OWNER WITH SOME PRETTY
SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL RESOURCES. LEAD SINGER
OF SMASHING PUMPKINS AND THUS A MULTIMILLIONAIRE
BILLY CORGAN AGREED TO PURCHASE THE COMPANY
IN MAY, AND THE DECISION WAS MADE FINAL IN
OCTOBER. TRUTH BE TOLD, ALMOST NOTHING HAS
CHANGED FOR THE NWA SINCE CORGAN TOOK OVER,
BUT IT’S STILL VERY EARLY INTO HIS REIGN
AS THE NEW BOSS. THERE HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT
OF POSTURING, WITH NWA CHAMPION TIM STORM
SHOWING UP ON VARIOUS INDEPENDENT PROMOTIONS
AGAINST THE TOP INDY STARS IN THE COUNTRY,
AND IT’S EASY TO IMAGINE MORE IN THE NEAR
FUTURE. WHETHER OR NOT CORGAN ACTUALLY KNOWS
WHAT HE’S DOING, THOUGH, REMAINS A BIT OF
A MYSTERY.
10. TNA…NO, GFW…NO, IMPACT…OH, WHAT’S
IN A NAME?.
SINCE JEFF AND JERRY JARRETT THREW THEIR HATS
INTO THE MAINSTREAM PRO WRESTLING BUSINESS
BY FOUNDING NWA: TNA BACK IN 2002, THE COMPANY
HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST MISMANAGED AND MOCKED
IN THE INDUSTRY. WHILE TNA ISN’T ENTIRELY
WITHOUT ITS MERITS, ALMOST EVERY YEAR SEES
IT MAKE AT LEAST ONE OR TWO OUTRAGEOUSLY EMBARRASSING
MISTAKES, IF NOT WAY, WAY MORE. 2017 MAY HAVE
BEEN ONE OF THE WORST EVER FOR TNA, AS IT
WAS THE YEAR THE COMPANY COULDN’T EVEN DECIDE
ON ITS OWN GODDAMN NAME. UP UNTIL MARCH, THEY
WERE STILL TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING,
A NAME THEY HAD BEEN USING IN SOME FORM SINCE
THE JARRETTS FOUNDED IT. IN MARCH, THEY DECIDED
TO REBRAND AS IMPACT WRESTLING, FOR ALL OF
THREE MONTHS, AT WHICH POINT THEY SWITCHED
IT UP TO GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING. ER, SCRATCH
THAT, BECAUSE ANOTHER THREE MONTHS LATER,
THEY WERE BACK TO IMPACT. IS THIS TRULY EVOLUTION,
OR JUST SHUFFLING THE DECK ON THE TITANIC?
QUITE FRANKLY, IT’S PROBABLY JUST THE LATTER,
OR WORSE, STRAIGHT UP DEVOLUTION. STILL A
NOTEWORTHY CHANGE, THOUGH.
9. THE HARDYZ RULED INDY TAG TEAM WRESTLING.
SUCH IS THE EVER CHANGING NATURE OF PRO WRESTLING
THAT EARLY IN 2017, SOMETHING HUGE WAS HAPPENING
ON THE INDEPENDENT SCENE, ONLY FOR IT TO BECOME
ALMOST ENTIRELY IRRELEVANT DUE TO BIGGER NEWS
IN WWE. BOTH STORIES CENTER ENTIRELY AROUND
THE HARDY BOYZ, WHO ARE YET ANOTHER SET OF
LEGENDS IN THE MIDST OF AN INCREDIBLE AND
UNEXPECTED WWE COMEBACK. JUST BEFORE THEY
MADE THEIR RETURN, THINGS MIGHT HAVE EVEN
BEEN BETTER FOR MATT AND JEFF ON THE INDEPENDENT
SCENE—AT ONE POINT, THEY HELD SEVEN SEPARATE
TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP. OF COURSE, THE REAL
STORY ISN’T JUST THE HARDYZ INVOLVEMENT,
BUT RATHER THE FACT THIS WAS A SIGN VIRTUALLY
ALL INDY PROMOTIONS IN THE WORLD WERE HAPPY
TO WORK TOGETHER AND PROMOTE ONE ANOTHER IN
A VERY VISIBLE WAY. EACH TIME THE HARDYZ SHOWED
UP AND WON A NEW BELT, FANS OF THE LAST PROMOTION
THEY WORKED FOR LEARNED OF A NEW ONE THEY
COULD ALSO CHECK OUT, BRINGING NEW AUDIENCES
ALL AROUND THE INDEPENDENT WORLD.
8. WRESTLERS FINALLY STARTED TO BE STARS.
IN CONTRAST TO THE CONSTANT FIGHTING AND VIOLENCE
THAT APPEARS ON ITS PROGRAMMING, WWE HAS LONG
SUPPORTED AND CHAMPIONED WHAT THEY CALL THE
BE A STAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST BULLYING. HOWEVER,
IN A CLASSIC CASE OF DO AS I SAY AND NOT AS
I DO, THE COMPANY ALSO HEAVILY FOSTERED A
BACKSTAGE ATMOSPHERE OF INTIMIDATION, PRANKING,
AND HOSTILITY, MOST OF WHICH CENTERED AROUND
THE ACTIONS OF FORMER WWE CHAMPION JOHN BRADSHAW
LAYFIELD. SOME OF THE MEN JBL BULLIED INCLUDE
MARK HENRY, EDGE, THE HARDY BOYZ, AND MORE
RECENTLY, MAURO RANALLO. IT WAS THAT LAST
NAME THAT SPARKED THE OUTRAGE, WHEN RANALLO
CLAIMED HE WAS TAKING A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM
WWE AND MOST PEOPLE ASSUMED JBL’S BEHAVIOR
WAS THE REASON. WHILE THE SPECIFICS WEREN’T
QUITE SO CLEAR, EITHER WAY, THE WWE UNIVERSE
RESPONDED EN MASSE WITH CHANTS OF “FIRE
BRADSHAW,” CLEARLY STATING THE OPINION THESE
SORT OF BACKSTAGE ANTICS ARE NOT OKAY. GRANTED,
WWE DIDN’T REACT IN THE SLIGHTEST, BUT WE
BET THE AUDIENCE WILL FORCE THEM TO IF ANYONE
EVER COMPLAINS ABOUT BULLYING AGAIN.
7. WWE ARRIVED IN INDIA.
FOR ALL THEIR TALK ABOUT BEING WORLD LEADERS
IN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT, WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
RARELY HOLDS SHOWS OUTSIDE OF ITS BASE COUNTRY,
THE GOOD OLD U S OF A. SURE, THEY TOUR AROUND
THE WORLD CONSTANTLY, SPENDING A WEEK IN THE
UK EVERY COUPLE MONTHS AND MAYBE A DAY OR
TWO IN GERMANY PER YEAR, BUT HUGE PORTIONS
OF THE WORLD ARE WITHOUT ANY CHANCE OF SEEING
WWE LIVE. IN FAIRNESS, VINCE MCMAHON ISN’T
HAPPY ABOUT THIS, AND IS DOING WHATEVER IT
TAKES TO MAKE WWE A TRULY GLOBAL PRESENCE.
IN 2017, THE FOCUS OF HIS EXPANSION WAS THE
COUNTRY OF INDIA. THIS WAS THE FIRST YEAR
NATIVE INDIANS COULD ACCESS THE WWE NETWORK,
AND TO PROMOTE THE HISTORIC LAUNCH, WRESTLERS
LIKE TRIPLE H AND THE NEW DAY HAVE GONE ON
PUBLICITY TOURS MEETING FANS AND SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS.
IT WAS ALL A BUILD TO THE FIRST EVER WWE SHOW
IN INDIA, FEATURING A MAIN EVENT BETWEEN TRIPLE
H AND JINDER MAHAL. WHILE INDIA IS MERELY
ONE COUNTRY, IT’S POPULATION OF OVER 1 BILLION
COULD DEFINITELY HAVE AN IMPACT ON VINCE MCMAHON’S
WALLET IN THE NEAR FUTURE, AND THUS THE ENTIRE
WRESTLING BUSINESS.
6. FOREIGN STARS TOOK THE SPOTLIGHT.
IN DIRECT RELATION TO THE FACT WWE EXPANDED
EASTWARD TOWARDS INDIA, THEY ALSO MADE A HISTORIC
MOVE WITH THE WWE WORLD TITLE BY CROWNING
THE FIRST EVER INDIAN CHAMPION. THE DOWNSIDE,
OF COURSE, IS THAT SAID CHAMPION WAS JINDER
MAHAL, A CAREER JOBBER WHO HAD NO RIGHT BEING
IN THE MAIN EVENT. EVEN SO, THERE’S SOMETHING
NOBLE ABOUT WWE FINALLY TAKING A CHANCE ON
A DARK-SKINNED NON-AMERICAN AS THE FACE OF
THEIR COMPANY. NOT ONLY WAS JINDER ALLOWED
TO REPRESENT ALL THINGS WWE, BUT ALSO, ONE
OF HIS TOP RIVALS WAS A JAPANESE MAN IN SHINSUKE
NAKAMURA. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, WWE HAS
ALWAYS BEEN AN AMERICAN COMPANY THROUGH AND
THROUGH, WITH FOREIGNERS TREATED AS BIG BAD
MONSTERS STRONG AMERICAN HEROES NEED TO DESTROY.
THAT FEELING WAS STILL SLIGHTLY PRESENT WITH
JINDER, BUT AT LEAST A FOREIGNER GOT A TRUE
CHANCE TO LOOK STRONG. THAT SAID, THE ROLES
BEEN REVERSED AND NAKAMURA REIGNED AS CHAMPION
WHILE JINDER CHALLENGED HIM, FANS MIGHT HAVE
APPRECIATED IT A WHOLE LOT MORE.
5. WWE NETWORK SPECIALS CONTINUE TO SHINE.
A COUPLE YEARS INTO THE EXISTENCE OF THE WWE
NETWORK, IT STILL FEELS LIKE VINCE MCMAHON
AND COMPANY HAVE ONLY JUST BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND
ITS POTENTIAL. SURE, THEY COULD JUST PUT UP
RAW, SMACKDOWN, AND PAY-PER-VIEWS, AND 90%
OF FANS WOULD BE HAPPY. HOWEVER, THEY COULD
ALSO CREATE NEW AND EXCITING PROGRAMMING LIKE
NXT, THE MAE YOUNG CLASSIC, OR THE UNITED
KINGDOM CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT, AND THE FACT
TWO OF THOSE ARE FROM 2017 SHOULD BE A SIGN
THEY’RE STARTING TO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION.
AN UNFORTUNATE REALITY IS THAT THESE SPECIALS
DON’T ALWAYS GET THE SAME NUMBERS AS, SAY,
WRESTLEMANIA, BUT THEY’RE NONETHELESS GETTING
FANS TALKING AND INTERESTED IN NEW AND UNIQUE
STYLES OF WRESTLING. THESE SPECIALS ARE ALSO
CREATING READYMADE STARS, WITH WHOEVER WINS
THE TOURNAMENTS IN QUESTION ABLE TO MAKE THEIR
OFFICIAL WWE DEBUTS WITH A GREAT DEAL OF RESPECT
FROM THE AUDIENCE ALREADY WON. HOPEFULLY,
WWE WILL CONTINUE PRODUCING SIMILARLY UNIQUE
SPECIALS IN THE FUTURE.
4. A NEW CHAMPIONSHIP THAT DOES AND DOESN’T
MATTER.
IT SEEMS TO BE THE OPINION OF MANY WRESTLING
FANS THESE DAYS THAT WWE HAS FAR MORE CHAMPIONSHIP
BELTS AVAILABLE TO ITS SUPERSTARS THAN NECESSARY.
BOTH RAW AND SMACKDOWN HAVE AT LEAST FOUR
BELTS, PLUS THREE FOR NXT, ONE FOR 205 LIVE,
AND NOW THERE’S A 13TH SPECIAL CHUNK OF
GOLD TO CELEBRATE ANARCHY IN THE UK. OKAY,
YEAH, IT KINDA LOOKS LIKE THE IDEA MIGHT BE
REACHING CRITICAL MASS, BUT ON THE PLUS SIDE,
THE NEW TITLE HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR SOME
PRETTY SPECIAL MATCHES. IN AND OF ITSELF,
THE UNITED KINGDOM CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
PRODUCED AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF GREAT MATCHES,
ESPECIALLY THE FINALE ROUND BETWEEN TYLER
BATE AND PETE DUNNE. THEN, LESS THAN FIVE
MONTHS LATER, THE TWO ONE-UPPED THEMSELVES
WITH AN INCREDIBLE REMATCH WHERE DUNNE TOOK
THE TITLE AWAY FROM BATE. BOTH OF THESE WRESTLERS
ARE IN THEIR EARLY 20S, AND MOST OTHERS IN
THE UK TOURNAMENT ARE ALSO QUITE YOUNG, IN
A SENSE MAKING THE UK CHAMPIONSHIP A MICROCOSM
FOR EVOLUTION IN THE WRESTLING INDUSTRY. THE
ONLY ISSUE IS WHETHER OR NOT WWE WILL CAPITALIZE
ON IT.
3. THE WOMEN’S REVOLUTION CONTINUES TO GET
TELEVISED.
WHEN EVOLUTION DOESN’T COME QUICKLY ENOUGH,
THOSE WHO DEMAND IT BAND TOGETHER AND FORCIBLY
REVOLT. WWE HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING THIS FOR
THE PAST FEW YEARS NOW WITH THE SO-CALLED
WOMEN’S WRESTLING REVOLUTION, AND THE LADIES
OF SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT STILL AREN’T HAPPY
WITH THEIR PLACE IN THE BUSINESS. THE GOOD
NEWS IS THAT IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER,
THANKS TO THE HARD WORK OF FEMALE WRESTLERS
ALL OVER THE WORLD. LEADING THE CHARGE ARE
WWE STANDOUTS LIKE CHARLOTTE FLAIR, ASUKA,
AND ALEXA BLISS, WHO MAY HAVE BEEN THE MOST
IMPROVED FEMALE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR. EVERY
SINGLE WOMAN TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE MAE YOUNG
CLASSIC ALSO DESERVES A LITTLE CREDIT, AS
THE SHORT LIVED SERIES WAS TRULY HISTORIC
IN HOW MUCH FOCUS WWE WAS GIVING TO THE FEMALE
SIDE OF THE INDUSTRY. THE BEST PART IS IT
WILL ONLY GET BETTER FROM HERE, AS TOURNAMENT
STANDOUTS LIKE SHAYNA BASZLER, PIPER NIVEN,
TONI STORM, AND OBVIOUSLY WINNER KAIRI SANE,
ALL SHOULD HAVE EARNED THEMSELVES FULL TIME
EMPLOYMENT FOR THEIR PERFORMANCES.
2. THE RETURN OF WAR GAMES.
FROM THE DAY WCW WENT OUT OF BUSINESS IN 2001,
FANS HAVE BEEN CLAMORING FOR WWE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF THEIR FORMER RIVAL’S GREATEST IDEAS SUDDENLY
BECOMING THEIR LEGAL PROPERTY. ON THE IMMEDIATE
LEVEL, THIS MEANT A BUNCH OF WCW WRESTLERS
SHOWING UP AND INVADING THE COMPANY TO LESS
THAN SPECTACULAR RESULTS. AS TIME WENT BY,
THOUGH, FANS FORGOT ABOUT THAT INITIAL DISAPPOINTMENT
AND JUST WISHED WWE WOULD CAPITALIZE ON THE
POSITIVES, LIKE THE FACT THEY OWNED THE TRADEMARK
BEHIND WCW’S GREATEST GIMMICK MATCH, WAR
GAMES. FINALLY, AFTER 16 YEARS OF WAITING,
WWE BROUGHT THE ICONIC TWO RING CAGE BACK
FOR AN EPIC BATTLE IN NXT. THE RESULTS WERE
JUST AS GOOD AS EVERYONE HOPED, WITH THE BATTLE
BETWEEN SANITY, THE UNDISPUTED ERA, AND THE
TEAM OF RODERICK STRONG AND THE AUTHORS OF
PAIN MORE THAN DELIVERING WAR GAMES’S CLASSIC
LEVEL OF EXTREME VIOLENCE. ALL THAT’S LEFT
IS FOR THE ICONIC STRUCTURE TO MAKE ITS WAY
TO WWE PROPER, WHICH MAY JUST HAPPEN IN 2018.
1. TRIPLE H CONTROLS MORE AND MORE OF THE
GAME.
RUMOR HAS IT TRIPLE H HAS BEEN GUNNING FOR
VINCE MCMAHON’S JOB SINCE BACK WHEN HE WAS
A LOWLY CONNECTICUT BLUEBLOOD CURTSEYING TO
HIS OPPONENTS BEFORE THEIR MATCHES. BY THE
TIME HE MARRIED VINCE’S DAUGHTER STEPHANIE,
IT WAS PRETTY MUCH INEVITABLE THE GAME WOULD
GET HIS WISH. FOR THE MOST PART, THIS MEANS
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WWE POWER STRUCTURE THROUGHOUT
2017 WAS HARDLY SURPRISING OR UNEXPECTED,
YET IT NONETHELESS DEFINITELY CONSTITUTES
AS EVOLUTION. AS HAS BEEN THE TREND OF LATE,
TRIPLE H CONTINUED TO EXPAND HIS POWER IN
BITS AND PIECES, TAKING AWAY RESPONSIBILITIES
FROM VINCE AS THE WWE PATRIARCH SLOWLY PREPARES
TO FADE FROM THE SPOTLIGHT. GRANTED, WE’RE
STILL A FAR CRY FROM A WWE RULED BY TRIPLE
H, AS MCMAHON STILL ABSOLUTELY HAS THE FINAL
WORD. EVEN SO, TRIPLE H HAS GOTTEN SO HIGH
UP THE CORPORATE LADDER THAT EVERY INCH OF
PROGRESS IS A METAPHORICAL MILE OF CONTROL.
AT THIS RATE, TRIPLE H’S INAUGURATION AS
THE NEW LEADER OF WWE MAY COME SOONER THAN
ANYONE THINKS.
