Former WWE Writer Explains Why Triple H Buries Top Wrestlers

Posted by Daniel Pena on June 3, 2012 at 3:43 PM

Former WWE creative writer Seth Mates, who WWE Champion CM Punk follows on Twitter, weighed in on the perception that Triple H uses political maneuvering to “bury” top-level talent—degrading a wrestler’s standing to fans and peers. He was asked on Twitter, “Why does Triple H always bury the guy whose on fire?”

“Positioning,” Mates responded. “And not always, just the vast majority of the time.”

He added further, “If ratings dip, guess whhho’s back next week to save the day? Loves to be the “savior”. #positioning.”

During an interview earlier this year with Pro Wrestling Torch Livecast (available here), Mates reacted to the negative sentiment within some WWE circles that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was “stealing someone else’s spot.” He feels the resentment actually stems from jealousy that Johnson found success outside of the walls of WWE, with Triple H being the driving force behind the negativity.

“I know that a lot of the stuff that [John] Cena has said about Rock and his feelings towards Rock sound like something that would be coming directly from, you know Mr. Helmsley and his view,” Mates stated.

“I always sensed some insecurities as related to Rock and to [Steve] Austin and how, again, in my mind and perception, he never was at that level. And so he wanted to position himself as, well, I’m as good, if not better. Which I don’t know that he has done that.”

About The Author: Daniel Pena

Daniel has been a fan of the wacky world of wrestling for over twenty years and worked in the IWC for eight. When Daniel isn’t working on WNZ, he’s managing his own wrestling site, setting new goals and living life to the fullest.

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justin

this writer doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about
kosher

I wish sites would just quit asking for comments or posting comments from past workers of WWE. I don’t think I have ever read a positive comment from any ex-employee, unless they have a revolving door stance with WWE and could come back
Peter Ballack

@Justin: That’s 5 thumbs down buddy. Looks like you are in fact the writer who ‘doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about’.
supguys

You can say whatever you want, Seth Mates is smart, very smart. And everything he said in that interview was right.
notmuch.supwitchu?

He actually does seem legit. Been seeing this happen a lot lately.
Mohit

Whether u like him or u hate him, u cannot deny the fact that Triple H draws, so what if he buries others, people still and will always cheer for him, why am I even telling the IWC this, u all suck anyway, now u will say i am a member of the IWC too, i am not. I juts check once very 5 months to see, what you Neanderthals, gelatinous tapeworms and parasites, say about the real world, all of u are Stevie Wonders, who are in your mom’s basement and all you do is bitch and moan about what is happening in the real world
drummerjc5

thats what happened to cm punk. all of a sudden cm punk becomes the hottest wrestler in the world and then triple h is back on tv trying to leach of the punk’s success. not only that but once triple h got back on tv, it became less about cm punk and triple h became the focus of the show and cm punk took a considerable step back. im not sure punk has made it back to the level that he was at when he was feuding with cena. since then punk, instead of being the focus of the show, has played second fiddle to rock vs cena, hhh vs undertaker, cena vs kane, cena vs laurenaitis , and now cena vs big show.
Cris

Don’t get me wrong, HHH was a massive part of the Attitude Era (& more recent Era’s), having great feuds with Stone Cold & The Rock but Seth Mates is in fact correct. Hunter was and still is not as big as the two previously mentioned wrestlers.

I’m not putting HHH down or bashing him. It’s just the truth.
Sockz

HHH’s success can be accredited to 2 things, in this order: Marrying the boss’ daughter, and being shoved down the throats of fans until they didn’t know better. He’s the reason why WWE forces what they want on fans. An experiment that actually worked. However, guys like CM Punk, RVD, Christian, and Danielson, are the control. They got over with the crowd without management’s behest.
drummerjc5

sockz: you’re not giving hhh enough credit though. the guy was a great wrestler and still is. i agree with you about punk, bryan, etc. every time i try to tell people that wwe isn’t or can’t make new stars today, people always bring up punk and bryan, but like you said, those guys got themselves over without ANY help from anybody in charge in wwe. they got themselves over so much that wwe had no choice but to push them
harold

wwe sucks tna tna tna
Alejandro

I’m not suprised that Triple H still buries people. He’s done it throughout his whole WWE career. He’s a great wrestler but you don’t want to mess with him backstage. He’ll end your career if he doesn’t like you or if you mess with him backstage.
glitch

explains why brock couldnt even make 3 tv appearances before triple h showed up.
Brent989

I hate top stars burring talent and have a feeling that yes it happens but all u thumbs upping and claiming to know that the writer is speaking the wrestling gospel your either tna marks or have your head up your ass. I mean think about it for one fucking second before u type. How many ex employees talk about their ex employer in any line of work in a positive light. Oh and yes I know Hhh is egotostical but so is 90 percent of the business. I enjoy both wwe and tna but I feel the tna marks have been all over this. And yes I know im a dbag for having an opinion.but opinions are like assholes and everyone has one and that was mine
Brent989

@glitch im pertty sure that the reason they brought hhh into the Brock storyline at that time is because Brock has limited dates but what do I know im an idiot right.
WWE Fan

Everybody thought, rock vs cena would steal the show, but on that night Triple H Proved that he is, was and will always be better than the rock, because he stole the show when he faced undertaker for a third time. Whether you like it or u hate, Triple H does not bury anybody on top, he tests them to make they are ready because its a fact he knows when someone is ready or not. RVD wasn’t ready in 2002, Booker T was not in 2003, Randy in 2004. All these guys lost their momentum when they faced him, the only guys that did not are on top now. Punk, Cena, Batista, Randy in 2007, HHH wanted to undo what he did in 2004, by putting randy over and he did because now he knew randy was ready. People need to realize that.
Jbreed

Triple H buried guys when he was the number 1 guy in the company basically so he could stay the number 1 guy. Nowadays he does it I’m sure on orders of Vince McMahon to help John Cena stay the number 1 guy in the company.
Tex

@WWE Fan you should be bitch slapped for writing HHH is better than Rock just because you feel he was in a better match at WM. HHH never could out draw Rock, was never better than Rock on the mic and was and never will be bigger than Rock mainstream. #facts