PILEDRIVER MAGAZINE ARTICLE - THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME
 
Out of all the former PWF stars that have recently inked deals with the IWF, the biggest name to ink that contract so far has been Triple H.  But can the Game survive in the choppy top-line waters of the IWF, or will the loss of his massive influence on a company, which he enjoyed with the PWF, lead to a loss of form?  Join Bob Rutcher as he investigates just what lies on the horizon for the man with the big nose. 
 
Two years ago, Jean-Paul Leveqsue was getting over the fact that the International Wrestling Federation didn’t want him.  Sure, he had a nice two year PWF deal to comfort him, but the IWF’s position on him was pretty clear, especially considering the fact that they gave him an early release to join their perennial rivals.  The verdict was in; IWF management considered Triple H to be a top-line failure.  He’d had his shot and hadn’t proved himself.  Sure this verdict may seem a tad bit unfair, considering that fellow “failures” at World Title level The Big Gee and Chris Jericho (who’s buy rates and matches were no better than the Game’s) were still in the thick of things, but the feeling was that HHH had done all he could in the IWF.
In a sense, they were probably right, but this didn’t make Tripper feel any more comfortable about the situation.  Armed with a creative control contract with the PWF and a desire to prove the doubters wrong, HHH made himself a promise.  He would prove them all wrong in the ring and he would never let himself be manoeuvred into a “job-boy to the serious stars” position again. 
Hunter scanned the anaemic PWF roster at the time of his signing and immediately came to the conclusion that only he could save the main event side of things.  Save for Goldberg, who HHH never rated, there were no big names on the scene who had their glory in front of them.  The likes of Kevin Nash, The Undertaker, Sting and Bret Hart were all towards the end of their careers in terms of genuine usefulness and success and HHH was going to become the biggest star of them all. 
Immediately however there were problems.  Having creative control over his own storylines gave him a lot of backstage heat, and whilst many contend that HHH didn’t unfairly use his control it was clear that if anything regarding Tripper and the bookers went against what another top star wished, it was all going to be Helmsley’s fault.
Take the formation of the clique for instance.  The on-screen alliance of HHH, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Justin Credible and Sean Waltman was actually one of the PWF’s better ideas in a period of poor and uninspiring TV.  As the lead heel stable it actually was responsible for some entertaining segments and did have a positive effect on ratings and arena attendances.  Which should have been good news for everyone right?  Well no. Unlike in the IWF (where the downside guarantee system is in place) the PWF paid everyone on the roster a guaranteed salary.  So a successful storyline had negligible effect on anyone’s money and so rather than applauding a decent storyline, the backstage area was awash with wrestlers bemoaning that HHH was using his influence to book the top storylines around him and his four mates. 
Granted, at times the Clique did veer too much towards being a vanity project for the five involved, but for the majority of the time the group lost when they had to (although admittedly Triple H’s shoulders rarely went down for the three count) and did their best to elevate their opponents.  Deadwood talent such as Konan never looked as hot as they did then when they were against the clique.  Critics will argue that none of the mid-card talents that rubbed shoulders with the clique made much of an impression at the very top of the card, but I would argue that that was more symptomatic of the PWF’s failures as an organisation than of the Clique’s mischievous work.
When push came to shove, Triple H showed himself to be quite a team player, in small doses anyway.  When the time came to put Goldberg over, HHH did a wow of a job.  Sure, he regained the World Title a few months later, but that shouldn’t take away his credit.  And it has to be said that in the early months of 2004, he was wrestling all kinds of people, from all different levels in an attempt to help create some new stars. 
Was this the work of a “changed man” or was Tripper playing the political game to great effect?  The writing was on the wall for the PWF at this point but HHH was, once again, in an unenviable position.  His PWF contract was up in June 2004 and that was the absolute worst time.  Guys like the Undertaker, MMK and Sting had long term deals which meant that even if the worst was to happen, they could sit on their asses and collect their guaranteed deals from Tiny Weiner.  Hunter was staring bleak times in the face.  Indeed even if the proposed buy-out from the IWF became reality, would he be welcome back and even if he was, would it be on the top-line level that he so desired?
In the end the IWF buy-out did go through, but only at a reduced level.  The IWF snapped up the intellectual rights to the PWF, which meant the name, video library and the trademarks, but none of the wrestlers contracts.
At this point the rumour mill went into overdrive.  The entire roster of if’s and but’s were debated in minute detail, and Triple H’s future was at the top of everyone’s list. 
HHH himself discussed his future on Off The Record in late March, just weeks after the buy-out.  At that stage he had yet to meet IWF officials, and hadn’t even set any date for such a meeting.  “At the moment I’m taking my time.  It’s a difficult situation to say the least, but I’m not going to rush any decisions.”  Many didn’t see this as an admission of wanting “time out” at all, most saw it as confirmation that HHH was not at the top of the IWF’s wish list and would have to play the waiting game to see if there was going to be anything available to him. 
The situation seemed to worsen when comments attributed to Matthew Mercy started to do the rounds.  Mercy had been in America tying up the loose ends for his film deal when he did a quick interview.  “I don’t know whether we would want someone like [Triple H] in our locker room.  He caused problems when he was here before and from what I’ve heard, he’s been even worse elsewhere.”  For a top-liner to come out and say something like this, the omens aren’t good for the person involved.  Seeing the likes of John Cena, Jeff Jarrett and Bill DeMott grab deals couldn’t have been nice either.   But hope soon became apparent.  IWF officials announced through their web-site, that talks were planned with Triple H (and Goldberg and MMK for that matter) and so it seemed like the invitation was there.  Dean Roberts then extended an olive branch on a prowrestlingimpact.com interview.  Asked if he would like to see Triple H in the IWF Dean replied “for sure.  He’s an immense talent and I’m sure he could work within our structured environment very well.  He would possibly have to check in some ego at the door first though.”  Whilst Mercy may often speak the first opinion that comes into head, the fact that Dean was saying such things had to be good news for HHH.  For Dean to say this, then there must have been some serious intent as regards bringing HHH in, and the soft warning revealed that management were banking on HHH leaving his creative control problems behind for the sake of good business. 
On the morning of the Into The Darkness pay-per-view the two parties shook hands on a two-year deal, stipulations, and the following day the papers were signed and Triple H officially became a member of the IWF roster.  Two days later he made his first IWF appearance for two years and immediately challenged Xavier to a match at Heat Wave.  HHH was all over IWF TV and in many respects his match was being pushed as the main selling point of the show.  Indeed when it came to it, his match went on last at the big show and it ended with his hand being raised in the air by special guest referee Shawn Michaels.  That HHH and HBK have formed an alliance should be viewed as a positive.  Whilst some continue to labour a Clique related point, there is no doubt that this was a sound business move.  It clarified HHH’s position as a heel and has set up some potentially intriguing storylines. 
Rumours abound that a third member will be added to the alliance, with the latest name being associated with the position being that of Dean Roberts.  Whilst this seems unlikely given Dean’s current status, it is clear that management have huge faith in the abilities of HHH.  In fact everything seems plain sailing at this point in time.  HHH is “behaving” backstage and seems to be getting on well with most workers. 
The hot story at the moment is that Tripper’s proposed World Title clash with Chris Kanyon, tentatively scheduled for Xtreme Overload, will now not occur until further down the line.  Perhaps it was never a serious suggestion, or perhaps IWF management are testing the patience and attitude of HHH in order to ensure that he really is a changed man.  So far he seems to be impressing the people that matter both in the ring and out of it. 
Everyone, however, is eagerly awaiting the return of Matthew Mercy once his film run is over.  It’s clear that there is little love lost between the two and whilst Mercy hasn’t got an official creative control clause in his contract, it’s clear that if one man in the IWF is in position to refuse to “do the right thing” with Tripper, then it’s Mercy. 
Who knows, perhaps HHH’s good behaviour will continue and by the time Mercy returns he will see that perhaps the rumours about HHH in the PWF weren’t all true.  Maybe however, Mercy’s mind is already made up and there is no way that we will ever see what could be an exceptional Mercy/Tripper feud.  What is clear is that Triple H has settled in nicely and is making all the right noises.  Now as long as that continues, the arrangement between HHH and the IWF could turn out to be a long and prosperous one indeed.