It shouldn't be any surprise that WWE's recent Triple H's Thy Kingdom Come DVD is probably their most lavish and in-depth production ever, given the subject matter, which thus makes it required viewing even if you're not the biggest fan of his work. So let's get to my comments and reactions to the subject matter covered:
It's easy to spot who his biggest allies and closest friends are within the company, most of whom are well known so I won't list them all here. However, the fact that The Undertaker makes a very rare appearance outside of the gimmick he has gone to great lengths to protect to add his insightful commentary on Triple H's career speaks volumes. The Big Show is also a bosom buddy of Hunter's stemming from the time they shared training in the WCW Power Plant together, which probably explains why he's the only babyface being put over strong in the current WWE Authority angle.
It's surprising that there's so much footage available of his training with Killer Kowalski and early matches on the North East independent scene that could be used on the release.
It says a lot about how natural he was in the ring that he managed to con his way into a job with WCW after only a year's experience based on a bogus résumé that claimed he had been working for five times as long in a variety of territories. Few recognised he was so green, but those that did like William Regal and Terry Taylor helped him out because they could see he was going to turn into something special.
Triple H also managed to outfox Eric Bischoff by turning down a two year deal and only signing for one instead, which allowed him to sign with the WWF almost as soon as his physique and long hair caught the eye of the power-holders in New York.
It makes sense why The Kliq were so fast to take him under their wing when he was given the stamp of approval from Diamond Dallas Page to his mate Kevin Nash and the fact that he was clean living meant he could drive for them while they had their fun. I guess the stories of him carrying Scott Hall's and Nash's bags for them must be false then...
One gets the sense that Hunter's burial after the Curtain Call incident was more Vince McMahon wanting to test him by seeing how he coped with having to "learn to eat shit and like the taste of it" and also to placate the rest of the locker room over such a flagrant breach of kayfabe, rather than being genuinely mad or shocked about it, as he sort of gave his prior approval to the stunt. Triple H clearly passed the exam with flying colours.
It was refreshing to see Hunter and Shawn Michaels rightly put over Chyna as a key part of his early act, which was 100% their brainchild (like the D-Generation X gimmick later was too), as using a chick, albeit one who was so jacked up, as a bodyguard took ages to get Vince onboard with. However, the real-life relationship between the two was completely ignored, probably because the fact that they were still an item when he started sleeping with Stephanie McMahon doesn't fit the overcome all obstacles fairytale romance for his marriage that they were trying to push.
It was also nice to see Triple H praise Mick Foley for helping put him on the map and give his character a tougher edge with their feud in the summer of 1997, but also strange that their more famous matches in early 2000 weren't mentioned at all, which I guess reflects Hunter's disdain at the talking point that he still needed Mick's help to get over at that point in his career.
Hunter rightly notes how people at the time were highly sceptical that he could carry the push of being the new DX leader once Shawn went down with his career threatening back injury. Of course, he stuck it to them by the stable being even hotter under his helm than it was with HBK, partly thanks to the hilarious WCW invasion angle. The claims of Brian James (aka The Road Dogg) that they had "complete creative control" and Sean Waltman (aka X-Pac) that Vince Russo always ran things past them first is a unique insight into how things used to be when the product wasn't so micromanaged, if we can trust them of course.
They make no bones about it that Triple H breaking up DX when he did to become a main event singles heel was a selfish act that he pushed for. Of course, the logical theory espoused by Hunter that "there's no hotter time to turn when you're that hot" didn't really ring true here, as it took many, many months for him to get over at the same level as a heel as he had been as a renegade babyface, but that gets completely brushed over. However, the odd nature of his first WWF World title victory was noted, i.e., how Stone Cold Steve Austin was supposed to drop the title to him in a singles match at SummerSlam, Mankind being added to the mix at the last minute when Austin picked up a knee injury and for some reason Stone Cold then asked to drop the title to Mick in the Triple Threat instead, who then did the favours for Hunter on the very next edition of Monday Night Raw. One could certainly draw the conclusion with how they discuss the scenario that Austin refused to do the job to Hunter as he didn't see Triple H on his level yet.
The discussion of how the storyline marriage between Hunter and Steph eventually blossomed into a real-life betrothal was really fascinating. Apparently both their mothers were first to spot the tell tale signs of romance from their onscreen sexual chemistry ("you're not that good of an actor" - Hunter's mom Pat Levesque). One almost gets the feeling that Vince McMahon was the master puppeteer who orchestrated events to get the end result he wanted. So you have this weird dynamic of Vince agreeing at first to them dating because he wanted them together, only to rescind that permission when everyone started burying to him Hunter's attempts to sneak his way into the family and their mammoth fortune by sleeping with his daughter (something he was already fully aware of and gave his blessing to), which obviously only served to drive them further into each other's arms. There's even clips of Pat Patterson and Michael Hayes doing karaoke at their wedding bash.
It's interesting that they openly acknowledge the backstage rivalry between The Rock and Triple H where both were competing against each other for the top spot in the promotion, though without going in the way of much details. Both praise the in ring chemistry they had together, but Rock seems to be choosing his words carefully when discussing the tension that existed between the two of them.
Notably, Triple H's feuds with the likes of Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and Booker T are skipped over. The latter trio and Edge aren't among the talking heads on the DVD. Coincidence, I think not. It's interesting that Hunter will bury them in heel promos on television, but can't be bothered voicing his real opinions about them in the proper setting of a shoot interview.
Even John Cena only pops up a few times to offer a some very banal soundbites about Hunter as their WrestleMania 22 main event gets short shrift too.
If you'd think the obvious similarities between Evolution and The Four Horsemen would be mentioned, then you'd be wrong.
Both Hunter and Shawn admit that their DX reunion in 2006 couldn't live up to the standards of the original version due to the company moving towards a PG product and having both grown up a lot in the years that had passed (in particular, HBK was now a born again Christian), so they focused more on juvenile comedy and poking fun at themselves. Vince disagreed and preferred the more recent DX skits. What can I say? The man really loves his bathroom humour.
It was refreshing to hear Triple H frankly concede that his disappointing WrestleMania 25 main event match against Randy Orton didn't live up to the hype partly due to being handcuffed by the stipulation that if he was disqualified or counted out he would lose the WWE title and partly due to being unable to follow Shawn vs. Undertaker, one of the greatest bouts in company history. However, Orton was happy with the match and his performance, which may explain why he has never quite reached his full potential.
Triple H's Hollywood aspirations were "not to embarrass himself" and "I'd like to make movies where I don't look like crap". It's a good thing making a profit for the WWE movie division wasn't on the list! Even with such a low bar being set, I'm not sure he met his goals.
His End Of An Era Hell In A Cell match against Undertaker with Shawn Michaels as special guest referee at WrestleMania 28 was put over as a special moment for all three men, even though it was blatantly false advertising given that they all had prominent roles in last year's Mania and will do so again next year and likely the year after too.
Triple H was clearly being positioned as the person who will run the company when Vince McMahon eventually decides to step down, which is markedly different from the past where Stephanie was treated as his equal or the eventual successor. Shane McMahon is obviously completely out of the picture.
His work on establishing NXT and the new WWE performance centre is put over as a big positive for the future, which hopefully it is, but the place is currently a mess, as the man he chose to be head trainer, Bill DeMott, is believed to be a bully who only keeps his job by being a corporate kiss-ass, rather than having any great eye for talent or a flair for training skilled workers.
You inevitably get some people treating Hunter as the greatest wrestler to ever lace a pair of boots, which you hope even he recognises is laying on the praise a bit too thick.
It's weird seeing Jim Ross praise Triple H as a "Hall Of Fame human being" so soon after he was shitcanned by WWE.
Vince McMahon may be more in love with Hunter than even Stephanie is, he absolutely gushes about how Triple H is "one of the most wonderful things that ever happened to me and to the business" which is the lasting impression of the presentation.