GRUT VS. DANIELS… Starring Matthew Michaels & PK~!

Features, VS.

Welcome back to another edition of GRUT vs. Daniels…even if it is still just Matthew & PK. Just like last week, we are going to pull a topic out of the news bin, and bicker like 2 old women about it. This week’s topic was heavily influenced by a blog written by Wade Keller at PWTorch.com.

The Topic At Hand: Triple H should/should not be commended for staying in the New Year’s Revolution Tag Team Title match after his injury.

/PK/

HHH did what he thought was best for the match after he got hurt, however there are so many things wrong with how he did it that he should not be commended for finishing the match while being one-legged. First and foremost, he put the other 3 wrestlers in the ring in danger. By continuing while having to protect himself, he could have gotten any of them hurt, especially Edge.

/Matthew Michaels/

Perhaps someone could have gotten hurt, but you’re forgetting one thing: HE already WAS hurt, and could have easily rolled out of the ring and let Michaels take over and rush the match to a finish. But he gutted it out, showed balls of steel, and became yet another example of why I still watch pro wrestling every week: these guys love what they do, don’t quit and know that what really matters is busting your ass to put on a hell of a performance.

/PK/

That is exactly what he should have done. Let’s not forget who else was in the ring. You have Shawn Michaels, Edge and Randy Orton…Three of the top in-ring performers in all of WWE. If HHH didn’t trust these three to still perform a satisfactory finish on their own, what does that say about the roster that backs up the biggest man on the show? And, let’s even go to the fact that they could’ve twisted the entire thing around. Why have DX go over these 2, especially when HHH knew he hurt himself badly. Why not take this opportunity to cement some legacy to Rated RKO?

/Matthew Michaels/

You have Shawn Michaels, Edge and Randy Orton… Three of the top in-ring performers in all of WWE. If they felt their safety was in danger, they could have finished the match without Hunter. Randy WENT FOR the RKO on HHH. Edge CLIMBED HIMSELF onto the announce table to set up the Pedigree spot. They trusted HHH, yes, but they also made a decision using their best judgment. Who am I to question how they felt as the match went on?

As for cementing a legacy for RRKO, hindsight is 20/20. You never know how serious an injury is, and let’s say it wasn’t as bad as it turned out… and HHH was only going to be out 2-3 weeks. If the long-term game plan needed (in the eyes of the bookers) DX to come out of this match on top, you don’t jeopardize that if you can finish the match according to plan. In fact I’m willing to argue that it’s easier to write around an injury moving forward than to determine in the heat of the battle what is or isn’t “best for the company.”

HHH may have put his own health on the line by continuing on — assuming that through all the adrenaline he was in fact aware of the extent of his injury. But Edge, Orton and Michaels are responsible for themselves just as much.

/PK/

You know, I was an athlete in HS & College, I’ve torn each one of my ACL’s…and, as soon as I felt it the 2nd time, I knew what it was, even with the adrenaline rushing through me. HHH knew the second he did it that it was his quad. He knew the severity of the injury right away, and being the wrestling genius he is, HHH should have had a back up plan if something had gone wrong. And apparently, that back up plan was to keep himself over. HHH showed selflessness, but not for the good of the match, so for the good of his character.

/Matthew Michaels/

He did what he thought was for the good of the show… because that’s the mentality he, and most old-school wrestlers and especially those who grew up a fan of the art — the show must go on. Fault the business for that, but it’s the way it works, and he did what any good worker should and would do. Just like Edge and Randy Orton did, I trust that he knew what he was doing, and if THEY were fine with the match continuing, I’m not comfortable arguing otherwise. I love professional wrestling because these guys put their heart and energy into this. It’s a “fake sport,” but the workers — well the ones that make it to the big time — are the ones that do it out of love as much as to make money. I can’t fault him for going on, when HIS health was what was most on the line. In retrospect, should he have rolled out of the ring and let HBK, Randy, Edge and the ref come up with a new finish? Yes. But I’m simply not cynical enough to believe that Hunter tore a tendon, and the first thing on his mind was “how can I preserve my character and keep my heat?” And to those of you who’ve floated the idea that this is all a work, I say puhlease. Not even HHH would subject us to Khali as a possible Wrestlemania main eventer.

Well, you decide who’s right in this case. All you have to do to chime in by leaving a comment below. Also, keep it here to Pulse Wrestling for all the latest Triple H information!

I like Comics, Wrestling, Super Mario Bros & Dead Space. Oh ya, and Scott Pilgrim.