2024’s SummerSlam was one of the best premium live events in the Paul Levesque era. With somewhat of a hard reset on pretty much every champion not named Cody Rhodes, the next stretch of the WWE calendar is set to bring us brand new stories and long-awaited programs. And as good as the show was, it unfortunately showcased Triple H’s biggest problem as a booker.

He waits too long to pull the trigger. Whether it’s just for the hell of it, or saving to put an obvious result on a “major” PLE, Triple H just sometimes drags out these moments.

And the glaring example from Saturday night had to be the crowning of Bron Breakker as Intercontinental Champion.

Just Pull the Trigger, Hunter

In his first clash against Sami Zayn at Money in the Bank, Breakker and Zayn fought for 13 minutes in a fast-paced match. The result was a bit of a shocker. The seemingly unstoppable Breakker was pinned clean after a singular Helluva Kick.

The loss felt awkward and out-of-place for the character, and the ensuing build to the SummerSlam rematch felt a bit random at times. Breakker sort of just got a rematch because…he felt like it? 

I may be underselling it a bit, as he did win a number one contender’s match against Ilja Dragunov via referee stoppage. Triple H did all he could to build Breakker as an unstoppable monster on weekly television, so a second matchup against the man who beat him seemed to only have two possible outcomes. 

Either another drawn-out match where Breakker perseveres and learns from his first match mistakes. Or a flat-out beatdown squash match. Goldberg style.

The result? An underwhelming 5-minute match.

Virality Isn’t Always Money

Why couldn’t this have happened at Money in the Bank? Because SummerSlam is a bigger show at a bigger stadium. It’s the result everyone wanted but it feels a bit lifeless in comparison since we’ve already seen Breakker get beat by Zayn.

We’ve seen Triple H’s problem at Big 4 shows in years prior. Jimmy Uso turning on Jey at last year’s SummerSlam a month after pinning Roman Reigns. The Kevin Owens and Logan Paul rivalry ending with a triple threat match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 40. The nonsensical disaster that was Cody Rhodes initially giving up his WrestleMania main event to the Rock.

We understand that the E in WWE is for entertainment. But for entertainment to make the most sense, it really has to make some semblance of sense in general. That’s Triple H’s problem.

Make things make sense the first time, don’t try to delay the inevitable for a sense of virality. It usually falls flat.

***

Read more combat sports articles here.

Subcribe to the Fantom YouTube!

Want to join the team? Check out our job openings here!