The Triple H era begins with hope

The week leading up to SummerSlam on Saturday night felt particularly sheltered. Most of the behind-the-scenes stories following Vince McMahon’s “retirement” and Triple H’s takeover of the creative department related to the plans for the company’s second-biggest show, which were already finalized. That we wouldn’t see the impact of HHH until after that shows when he could start over. Maybe that just lowered expectations, maybe it was just to make things that HHH will change on the show that much harder, maybe a mix of both. Whatever it was, you can already see the seeds of where a Paul Levesque could creatively take the company.

The first step HHH aimed for was juicing the women’s division, which is no surprise considering the women’s revolution at NXT and then the main roster is basically what his legacy as a booker will begin with, and rightly so. Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Bayley are household names for starring in HHH’s NXT. Bianca Belair is the same. Women’s matches have triggered PPVs or PLEs before, but this felt a little different.

As always, Belair and Lynch tore down the house, but what came after signaled a marked departure from what had come before. After the match, Bayley returned from injury, but she was joined by Dakota Kai – who had fired the previous WWE leadership just a few months ago – and Io Shirai (who got a name change to Iyo Sky, but I’m going for it). doesn’t mind). The former had been sacked by the old regime but was heavily pushed by Triple H in her NXT days and was therefore brought back, and Io/Iyo was another HHH favourite, one that was set to be part of the first Mae Young Classics before the injury. There were rumors she was going through with her deal and returning to Japan, partly because she didn’t see much future in either the new NXT or the main roster. Clearly, that has changed. Also, the rumor was that this faction was set up a long time ago and fell on Vince’s deaf ears, so HHH immediately introducing something the cast members themselves wanted is certainly a signal to the entire dressing room that he’ll be listening and being flexible one will be calling card.

Another aspect that HHH seemingly couldn’t wait to stomp all over the place was Becky Lynch as a heel as she turned away from it with her handshake/hug with Belair after Belair’s win and then backed away them up as the aforementioned returning trio came to the ring. Lynch was never a heel, fans will never turn her down, and it was folly to even try. Tweener yes, Becky can always straddle that line. But as a paragraph? nope

Now the Raw side of the Division gets some new faces who really rock it in Sky and Kai (ha! Check that out!) as well as a returning Heavy in Bayley. Bayley can take on the lead heel role that Lynch was never quite suited for, and we can see some other combinations alongside Lynch-Belair with a pinch of Asuka throughout. There’s also tag team potential here with Kai-Sky and Becky and Belair, which gets terribly interesting when HHH brings Sasha back (it’s going to happen and my AEW dreams are over). Clearly, HHH is going to take this all a little more seriously.

In just a week on the job, HHH hadn’t shyed away from making people give a shit about things he clearly thought were stupid. On Smackdown, Roman mocked Reigns Theory by telling him, “Daddy’s not here anymore.” He had Drew McIntyre edit a promo during SummerSlam about how boring Brock and Roman had become. He even clowned Theory in the main event, but we’ll get to that. Last but not least, Trips has his finger on the pulse of what fans have been complaining about.

Perhaps the most refreshing thing about SummerSlam is that it felt like feuds and programs were over. One of the most tiring things about Vince’s WWE is that no PPV or PLE ever felt like it had any closure. This That’s why there were so many stupid non-finishes because we knew each other would get the same match at the next PPV/PLE. There certainly hasn’t been what is should be one signature show a feeling of being so important. One wondered why they bothered to coordinate everything when the plot would never change. Most of this map was really just a Mania runback.

But Lynch’s face turns her to the same side as Belair instead of across from her. Bobby Lashley basically crushing Theory feels like an ending. McIntyre is poised to be Roman’s next foil. They made it clear that we will no longer see the usos and street profits. The only that looks like how it could go on is seth rollins and riddle but they didn’t even have a match on the show. Maybe Ronda Rousey gets another hit on Liv Morgan, or maybe she gets “suspended” and leaves us alone for a while.

Adding to that comment don’t be afraid to speak like real people or point out the changes that everyone knows about anyway, instead of pretending there’s nothing to see here and the whole thing had a new feel . That we can now tune into PLEs and watch feuds come to an end while others begin, instead of taking another step into nowhere. You can’t help but find this refreshing.

WWE will never be a work rate company and is still built on memorable moments. That’s why Brock tips the ring with a goddamn tractor, which everyone will pull out of it. It’s the kind of silliness and bombast that Vince couldn’t bring himself to write or had the sense of humor for, at least not anymore, but that’s what WWE was meant to be. Everyone talks about it. It also covered the fact that the rest of the game between Lesnar and Reigns was another one that didn’t quite live up to its bill, although given everyone’s weariness from that rivalry it probably couldn’t have been. There were countless callbacks to their SummerSlam 2018 match, perhaps their last good one, where they got into the big spots right from the bell and didn’t stop. That 2018 match also teased a cash in from Braun Stroman, who was crushed mid-match by Lesnar, as was Theory this time. But at least that feud is over, Reigns can turn to something else that will hopefully pry him out of his stale state, and Lesnar can return to his farm in Manitoba where he collects dollar bills.

We will now learn more about the fact that HHH can spend the next five weeks completely designing the path to a PLE instead of parachuting in the week leading up to such an event. But what we saw on Saturday suggests that a Improvement, as easy a task as that could have been. But just because it was easy doesn’t mean it wasn’t very welcome.