Triple H Stands Alone

This angle involving Triple H as COO has led to a lot of changes recently. I am not talking kayfabe (storyline) changes. I am talking in terms of pushes. One clear example, Otunga and McGillicutty have split as a tag team and their tag angle with Lawler was dropped just as suddenly as their own alliance. Lawler was taken out by Mark Henry to sell Mark Henry's dominance and the chaos that is happening on Raw. Otunga now has a gimmick working for him and is involved in the major angle. McGillicutty has...yeah.

Jerry Lawler returned to Raw this week to get involved in the major angle in a big way. As a face that many fans love, having him not taking Triple H's side in the vote of confidence was the first sharp nail in the coffin in the segment. After that, Lawler himself was the first to walk out on Triple H. Everyone followed, even cameramen. This made it one of those surreal moments. It felt good. It reminded me of when Nexus first introduced themselves to Raw on their first night of rampage. You can also say CM Punk's infamous promo was surreal, but I did not enjoy it as much as others.

Once again, great storyline development. There definitely has been reason built up for people to be unhappy with the job Triple H is doing, while also leaving room for saying it was not all his fault. More than that, this is something that has the potential to actually draw. What will Triple H do? What will the superstars who walked out do? What will guys like Cena, Punk, and Orton, all of whom were not involved in the segment, do? Whose side are they on? Who is trying to screw Triple H? The obvious answer is still John Laurinaitis. Could the WWE pull a swerve?

Did I mention John Cena? Yes, what will the hero do? The CM Punk plot from a few months ago definitely put over John Cena's character in numerous ways, so I am expecting him to look good from all this too. It does get kind of boring after a while. You can almost predict what the typical thing for Cena to do will be. At the end of it all, the WWE will still sell him as a respectable guy.

And Punk? He has been giving bitter, arrogant promos for weeks now. He has pointed the finger all over the place, including at Triple H. Was he right about some conspiracy? Yes. Will he take a prominent role in this angle? I doubt it.

Who is still the top face of this storyline? Not Randy Orton. It is still Triple H. I believe I compared Triple H and CM Punk's feud to Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho from 2008. CM Punk is currently in the same position in the card as Jericho was back then. Shawn Michaels was the kind of guy who did not need the title to have a purpose out there. COO Triple H is just like that. I think it is easy to see that Triple H will not be challenging Del Rio for the title in the coming weeks. John Cena has already beaten Del Rio for the title last month, so having him win it again so soon from the same guy would be stupid. Yes, I remember what the WWE pulled with Christian and Orton on Smackdown, but I still say it would be stupid to do it with Orton and Del Rio. Cena may have more to gain from the standpoint of putting over his character from siding with Triple H in this angle than still hunting after the title. Leave the title matters to the new Chris Jericho, CM Punk. Then again, with so few weeks until another PPV, and things still a mess after Raw, the WWE can go in any direction with the title match. But my point is, the title match is not the main storyline currently. It is Triple H's storyline that is the main one. Right now, he stands alone. Which other top faces will join him? Any surprises?