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Even though Vince McMahon and Executive Producer Kevin Dunn are still in charge of running the WWE, things have changed in recent years due to the rise of Triple H. It all started when Triple H replaced John Laurinaitis as WWE's Head of Talent Relations.
Since then Triple H changed the hiring process when he hired top indie talents such as Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Asuka, Becky Lynch, Ember Moon and numerous other talents as well as former TNA standouts such as A.J. Styles, Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe.
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In addition, he also helped spear-head the Women's Revolution which saw the first ever Women's Royal Rumble match, the Women's Elimination Chamber match and the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match among the very firsts.
But what would today's WWE be like without the influence of Triple H? Let's dissect the ten things that would be different in the landscape of the WWE would be like without The Game's influence.
#10 NXT would still be a reality show
Before it was the developmental brand that we all love and know today, WWE NXT was a hybrid wrestling/reality show much like its predecessors, WWE Tough Enough and the WWE Diva Search back in the day.
Developmental talents would be paired up with the main roster pros in an attempt to be "the next breakout star." While it produced stars such as Wade Barrett, Ryback, Bray Wyatt, A.J. Lee, Naomi, David Otunga, Kaitlyn, Fandango, Brodus Clay and Titus O'Neil, it also produced forgettable talents such as Michael Tarver, Maxine, Lucky Cannon, Percy Watson, Derrick Bateman (though he did find some success at TNA), Eli Cottonwood, Jamie Keyes and Jacob Novak, among others.
Fortunately, it replaced the former developmental brand as mentioned in the next slide...
#9 FCW Wrestling would still be the WWE's Developmental company
Before it was rebranded as NXT Wrestling, Florida Championship Wrestling, or FCW for short, was in a sense a whole lot like RAW and SmackDown back in the day which bulky main event stars, comedy segments and female talents featured in degrading segments and matches which even included a "Queen of FCW" title where the champion wore a crown similar to the Miss America crown.
By 2012 when Triple H gained more power, he transformed FCW into NXT Wrestling, which got rave reviews for its matches, featuring both male and female talents. But what would FCW be like today had it still existed...
#8 The likes of Hornswoggle and El Torito would still be employed
During the PG Era, the WWE featured even the littlest of talents when Hornswoggle and El Torito were employed by the WWE in an effort to give the shows some comic relief as well as entertain the children.
However, it became apparent that Triple H was not a fan of those talents as he helped phase out Hornswoggle and El Torito despite these two men having huge support from Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn.
#7 More focus on comedy
It was also the era where the comedic types such as Santino Marella, the Great Khali (with his Kiss Cam segments), and to a lesser extent, Zach Ryder and Jillian Hall (with her tone-deaf singing abilities) would use their comic talents to help entertain the audience (or lack thereof).
However, it became apparent that Triple H isn't a fan of childish humour that both Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn love and don't be surprised when the New Day's jokes start to wane once The Game takes over.
#6 Less Indie Talents
During the late 2000s and the early 2010s, John Laurinaitis ran WWE's talent department. Big Johnny was notorious for hiring former bodybuilders and football players for the men and former fitness models for the women as the focus was on look and marketability rather than talents (CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Evan Bourne, Beth Phoenix and Natalya were notable exceptions to the rule).
Had Big Johnny still been WWE's Head of Talent, the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, A.J. Styles, Finn Balor, Neville, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Sasha Banks, Asuka, Bayley and Becky Lynch would not have even been hired by the WWE today due to the fact that they don't fit in the WWE mold.
#5 The Women wrestlers would still be Divas
These days, WWE's female talents have been getting more TV time as well as they have been competing in matches such as the Royal Rumble, Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank ladder matches, steel cage matches and Iron Woman matches.
But without Triple H's influence, the women would have had no gimmicks (basically either the good girl or the mean girl), oversexualized matches and stipulations such as bra-and-panties matches and pillow fights, and most of all, still would've been referred to as "Divas" as well as the horrible Divas Championship belt with a pink butterfly on it.
#4 Shane McMahon would have been The Apparent Heir
At one point, the son of Vince McMahon was being groomed to succeed Vince as the leader of the WWE before he first left the company back in 2009. Since then, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon started to gain more power in the WWE.
Had Shane succeeded Vince, we still would've have seen the same old WWE albeit with an updated mindset.
#3 The Slammys still would have existed
Rumour has it is that Triple H was not a fan of the Slammy Awards concept as the last edition of the Slammys took place in 2015, prior to the "New Era." The feeling was that The Game felt that the Slammys were not only rigged but that it exploited the WWE Superstars based on popularity and not on talent.
It's safe to say that Roman Reigns would've been named Superstar of the Year for many years had the Slammys continued.
#2 No Cruiserweight Division
Triple H was also responsible for bringing back the cruiserweight division which began with the Cruiserweight Classic and culminating with the WWE Network show, 205 Live.
But back in the mid-2000s, the cruiserweight division was treated like a joke which saw Hornswoggle as the final original Cruiserweight Champion and the WWE decided to discontinue the cruiserweight division and replace the belt with the Divas Championship.
#1 A Lackluster main event scene
Since Triple H gained more power, we saw a much-varied main event scene which saw not only the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Big Show, Kane, The Rock, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns but also the likes of A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Ryback, Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura, among others.
But imagine what the main event scene would be like if not for Triple H's influence behind the scenes?
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