Now that Triple H is the Head of WWE Creative, let’s explore five changes we’d like to see with Triple H in charge.
This week, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE, after decades of running the company. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are now Co-Chief Executive Officers, while Stephanie is the sole Chairwoman of WWE now.
McMahon’s retirement comes one month after he stepped down as CEO and Chairman of the Board, due to the allegations of misconduct against multiple female employees.
McMahon is alleged to have paid over $12 million in Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) over 16 years.
WWE executive Paul Levesque (Triple H) has assumed “all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative,” the company announced on July 25.
With Triple H officially running creative, let’s explore five things we’d like to see changed in WWE.
The Women’s Division
At Money In The Bank, we saw Liv Morgan become the SmackDown Women’s Champion. Though there are many thoughts to be had on the quickness of her cash in which you can read here. However, this is a historic title win. Since Liv won the title from Ronda Rousey, it marked the first exchange of the SmackDown Women’s Championship that didn’t include any of the Four Horsewomen since Natalya won it from Naomi in 2017.
With that noted, it seems like we are beginning to transition away from the crutches of the Four Horsewomen. To be fair, three out of the four are currently out of action. So, it is more likely that they are forced to rely on the younger generation. Regardless, it’s a win for the future of women’s wrestling.
Three out of the four horsewomen are currently not active in the company. Sasha Banks is suspended. Charlotte is still taking time off. And Bayley has not yet returning from her injury. So, the WWE has been forced to center the up-and-coming stars of the division. Liv Morgan finally had her moment at Money In The Bank and Bianca Belair got her redemption at WrestleMania 38. As the division moves forward, there are many women ready and waiting to become the present of the division.
The following WWE Superstars represent the future of the WWE Women’s Division and deserve the opportunity to fulfill their destiny: Rhea Ripley, Queen Zelina, Doudrop, Raquel Rodriquez, Xia Li, Alba Fyre, Cora Jade, Elektra Lopez, Indi Hartwell, Io Shirai, Ivy Nile, Tiffany Stratton, Sarray, Roxanne Perez and many others.
I would love to see more women’s matches added to Premium Live Events outside of the usual championship matches. On a show like Raw, with so much talent, the division would benefit from a more fleshed-out mid-card.
I believe in Triple H’s booking ability as he’s proven during his time in NXT that he can create stars in that division like Shayna Baszler, Rhea Ripley, Asuka, Ember Moon, Paige, Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks, and many others.
Tag Team Wrestling
One of the things that have fallen to the wayside in recent years is the art of tag team wrestling within WWE. With The Usos holding both championships, there are no teams that are viewed as actual contenders to the title.
Tag teams get split up within weeks within WWE. That goes for both the women’s and men’s tag team divisions. In NXT, we saw Cora Jade and Roxanne split up after only teaming together for about a month. None of the teams in the Women’s Tag Team Championship match that took place at WrestleMania 38 are currently together. The match featured the teams of Sasha Banks & Naomi, Carmella & Queen Zelina, Liv Morgan & Rhea Ripley, and Natalya & Shayna Baszler.
FTR have said that they left WWE because of the lack of effort put into the tag team division. By rejuvenating the tag team division, WWE may be able to grab some major tag teams. Obviously, this would help the company overall. There are also many tag teams in NXT that show incredible potential and may help to advance the status of the main roster tag team division like The Creed Brothers, The Dyad, Legado Del Fantasma, Pretty Deadly, and others.
Superstar Branding: Names & Theme Songs
One of the main changes we’ve witnessed within WWE recently is the change in how the superstars are being branded. Superstars are being presented with new names and theme songs. Many of these changes happen without explanation or good reason at all.
Part of a superstar’s success is reliant on their identity and branding. For example, superstars like Edge, John Cena, Randy Orton, The Hardyz, Chris Jericho, and many others have incredibly memorable theme songs that make them easily recognizable.
People like Edge, Ciampa, Alexa Bliss, Riddle, Gunther, Wes Lee, Alba Fyre, Lacey Evans, Shayna Baszler, Liv Morgan, Theory, and many others have debuted new entrance music across all of WWE’s television. In the Royal Rumble, we saw how detrimental this could be when fans weren’t able to recognize superstars by their entrance music.
A majority of these changes appear to be unnecessary. As a former wrestler, Triple H would be able to understand the importance of maintaining solid branding throughout your career. There would be a lot more synergy as superstars wouldn’t face full-on character changes when they move up to the main roster.
No More Unnecessary Name Changes
In 2022 alone, there have been 19 name changes. Some of the people who faced name changes had created a name for themselves outside of the WWE. Many believe this was likely the reason for the name change. The need to own everything is incredibly unnecessary as the legacy of the superstars should be prioritized.
Below, you will see the name changes that took place this year along with their previous name:
- Kacy Catanzaro became Katana Chance
- Kay Lee Ray became Alba Fyre
- Raul Mendoza became Cruz Del Toro
- Austin Theory became Theory
- Raquel Gonzalez became Raquel Rodriguez
- Marcel Barthel became Ludwig Kaiser
- Pretty Deadly: Lewis Howley became Elton Prince & Sam Stoker became Kit Wilson
- Elias became Ezekiel
- King Woods became Xavier Woods
- Kayla Inlay became Kiana James
- Pete Dunne became Butch
- Saurav became Sanga
- WALTER became Gunther
- Seth Rollins became Seth “Freakin” Rollins
- LA Knight became Max Dupri
- Tommaso Ciampa became Ciampa
- Robert Stone became Mr. Stone
- Channing Lauren became Channing Lorenzo
- Simone Johnson became Ava Raine
Fewer Rematches
A report by Fightful Select (subscription required) stated that with Triple H a person working in and near creative expected “recall of what we have and haven’t done repeatedly. There were so many things that Vince insisted on doing that I’m pretty sure he didn’t remember doing over and over again, even when people would tell him.”
One of the many reasons that WWE’s programming has begun to become “stale” is because of the use of rematches in storylines. This does nothing for the superstars or stories except trading wins and losses.
We have seen Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns way too many times. I don’t believe that this is because Vince forgot that they did the match, but because of the lack of original ideas. I also think that it’s possible that the writers in WWE have had original ideas but because of the authoritarian leadership of Vince, they were ignored or turned down.
Stars like Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley, The Street Profits, Charlotte, and others have had their abilities limited due to the number of rematches they’ve been booked in. Most matches on regular TV programming are already short, and the intrigue of most matches is gone after doing them the week before. Many times we have also seen creative burn big matches by booking them too early or too many times in general.
Fewer Premium Live Events
With WWE’s current schedule, there are 12 premium live event shows each year. The schedule of the premium live events only allows for about a month’s time to book a feud through the pay-per-view.
In AEW, there are normally around three months in between pay-per-views. I’m not saying that it should be exactly that length, but spreading out the shows could make them all feel more important. For example, just leaving the big five pay-per-views: Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Money In The Bank, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series would benefit programming so much.
A schedule adjustment could lead to an increase in the quality of TV programming. A change in schedule would make the matches become more meaningful. Time and time again we have seen WWE put meaningless matches on pay-per-views because they need to fill space. Most times the matches are just used as filler for the card. However, more storylines will gain true substance and will deserve to be on the card.
