MR. TITO: The Need for Triple H, The Rock, and TKO to be Transparent with WWE Fans
Today, a video of the Rock, legendary wrestler, one of the most popular actors, and TKO Board member, is going viral. To anyone else, it wouldn’t be controversial because it’s just the Rock wearing a pair of slacks and a buttoned up shirt. However, to someone like the Rock who at 53 used to carry a ton of ripped muscle, it’s a noticeable change and makes you question what has happened.
Same thing happened to Dave Bautista (or “Batista” in the WWE). After filming several Marvel based films, he slimmed down significantly. Batista is 56 years old and was carrying a ton of muscle. Not anymore.
And then we have Chief Content Officer of WWE and TKO, Triple H. A few weeks ago, the internet was stirred up when photos of Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and their 3 daughters surfaced from a recent Greece vacation from a boat. Thankfully, the internet mostly held off on commenting about the 3 daughters (2 of which are underaged), but the feedback was heavy on both Triple H and Stephanie in their bathing suits.
For Stephanie, it was mostly praise… Phrases such as “aged like fine wine” were used, as she’s a mother of 3 and aged 48 herself. And I agree… She’s a beautiful lady, but I think she’s become even more beautiful as she’s matured intellectually. After all, I still remember what she said after 9/11 and her creative ideas from late 2000 through late 2013 were terrible. The more mature person, combined with looking incredible from affording to eat right and have personal trainers, makes Stephanie appear more attractive to me and I would suspect many others as well.
However, the internet was far more critical of how Triple H looked. He’s much smaller than the 2010s version of Triple H who wrestled part-time, but way smaller than the Triple H we remember from the 2000s who was absolutely jacked with muscles piling onto muscles.
For Triple H, though, he had heart failure during September 2021 that caused significant surgery to pretty much save his life and had a defibrillator installed to regulate his heartbeat. In those Greece vacation pictures, you can clearly see an outline of that defibrillator on top of his left pectoral muscle. The incident and health complications were so significant that Triple H had to retire from the ring.
Within the past 10-15 years, the Rock, Batista, and Triple H have each wrestled multiple times inside a WWE ring. Yet, did the WWE’s Wellness Policy to all 3 individuals? After all, all in-ring performers should be treated equally, right??
While the WWE Wellness Policy is no longer made available publicly, as it used to be on the WWE’s Corporate site, WWE wrote the following on their WWE.com website:
The Talent Wellness Program, fully funded by WWE, calls for regular cardiovascular testing and monitoring, ImPACT testing for brain function, annual physicals, medical referrals and blood screening of WWE Talent, as well as random drug testing. WWE’s Talent Wellness Policy strictly prohibits the use of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs, masking agents, the abuse of prescription medications, and the use, possession and/or distribution of illegal drugs. WWE offers current and former talent who may have substance abuse problems complete drug rehabilitation at no cost to them. WWE is the only entertainment company that provides this type of assistance and ongoing support to its former performers.
And in the past, the WWE Wellness Policy used to have a 30 day suspension for the first violation, 60 days for the second, and then termination from contract for the third. The WWE Wellness Policy would also make public for any suspensions. Remember when Roman Reigns was suspended for 30 days back during July 2016?
Now, since the advent of the Wellness Policy since early 2006 (following Eddie Guerrero’s death in late 2005) and gained teeth when Chris Benoit had steroids in his system while he committed the murders and his suicide during June 2007, there has been a debate on whether the WWE Wellness Policy has been applied to part-time WWE performers. For example, there’s a famous case of Brock Lesnar getting busted for the detection of performance enhancers when performing for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) but the WWE Wellness Policy never caught him.
Believe it or not, WWE did have drug testing before the 2006 WWE Wellness Policy even began. When the steroid distribution allegations began, the WWE began ramping up testing during 1992 and that carried into the mid 1990s as wrestlers like Scott Hall and Kevin Nash have documented via various interviews. Of course, those tests seemed to be more aggressive over people doing other drugs such as pot or cocaine which led to widescale prescription drug abuse. That led to the deaths of many wrestlers who took pills and chased it down with alcohol.
However, through 1998 and throughout 1999, it seemed as though WWE’s testing policies were relaxing. For example, the Rock had surgery during late 1998 to reduce the side of his chest because of a side effect from steroids causes breast development. Hence why the Rock wrestles in a shirt and track suit when performing against Mick Foley during early 1999. Then as 1999 rolled along, Triple H became noticeably larger in size and was catapulted to the main event by the Summer of 1999. For Triple H, he became even larger upon his 2002 comeback from his torn quad muscle (which may have torn because of you know what).
As time went on, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon’s relationship flourished and by 2003, Triple H married Stephanie to officially join the McMahon family.
Scott Steiner recounts a story from his 2002-2004 WWE run where the WWE office was harassing him to take a drug test, probably suspecting you-know-what. As Scott tells it, he advised that he’d only take a drug test if Triple H took one with him. The WWE never harassed Scott about taking a drug test again, at least according to Scott.
Pretty obvious that Triple H could have been exempted from the pre-2005 drug testing and later the Wellness Policy due to his status with the WWE by marrying Stephanie. He was attending WWE production meetings already before marrying Stephanie and likely became a regular staple. Triple H may have become some sort of manager or officer of the corporate WWE to obtain a regular office salary and benefits (or he qualified for Stephanie’s by marrying her).
Definitely seems like the older WWE Wellness Policy had some exceptions to their rules… Part-timers, legends, and anyone incorporated into WWE’s management structure may have been exempt.
However, with the move to TKO, does the WWE Wellness Policy even exist?
From what I can gather, all WWE policies were reviewed for consideration of incorporating into Endeavor/TKO’s policies. You may think that WWE switching over to a testing schedule like UFC could be a good thing, but then you’ll have to consider that UFC is considered a sport and is therefore regulated by state athletic commissions while WWE has been zoned off as entertainment and is not regulated by those same state athletic commissions. This is what Vince McMahon fought so hard to obtain during the 1980s to allow for his grand expansion. If WWE was classified as “entertainment”, then they’d wouldn’t have to abide by drug testing and other health/safety standards that many state athletic commissions request. Hence why Vince McMahon shoved that “sports entertainment” phrase down our throats and why the newer TKO regime won’t stop doing that either.
Thus, during 2024 when a much larger Rock decided to perform at Wrestlemania 40, he may have been totally exempt from any drug testing based on (a) being a part-timer, (b) being a part of management, or (c) TKO may not have incorporated extensive testing like they do for UFC. Rock was performing for the “entertainment” division of TKO, not the “sport”.
So we kind of have an idea that some stuff is still going on… And that’s a problem because with Vince McMahon, his LACK of transparency for how he operated created his downfall. Vince kept many, many, many secrets and buried many things under the rug. Obviously with Vince, he or his alleged trafficking caused up to $20 million of NDA settlements that he as acting President/CEO/Board Chairman or his wife Linda McMahon as acting President/CEO hid from the rest of the company, certified accountants, and shareholders.
Most wrestling fans had disagreements with Vince McMahon creatively, but they remained loyal to him through June 2022 when the stuff began to hit the fan. Then, when Vince was exposed to have grossly used his power to use and abuse women, the TRUST that Vince McMahon still had eroded quickly with wrestling fans. Vince went from the guy who created the WWE Universe to a complete scumbag for how he abused and allegedly trafficked women in the office and even backstage at WWE events (1 female wrestler during the mid-2000s received up to $7 million settlement for performing oral sex on Vince for promise of a creative push of her character). While we knew Vince McMahon cheated on Linda McMahon many, many times through Vince’s own interviews, we didn’t know the extent of Vince’s full behind-closed-doors actions at his office. The things he allegedly did to Janel Grant and then passing her off to John Laurinaitis, a willing & disgusting accomplice, crushed the image of Vince.
And I also think Vince takes a hit for selling off to TKO, too. While I think that the Endeavor/TKO system provided the WWE a better infrastructure, they’ve also began price gouging WWE fans at events, causing fans to spend more money with Netflix & ESPN subscriptions, and have put sponsors on everything.
Anytime you cry about TKO, remember, it was Vince McMahon who used his WWE shares to FORCE himself back onto the WWE Board of Directors during early 2023. Then, it was at his direction of WWE Board Chairman that the WWE put itself up for sale. Anyone pissing and moaning about Triple H somehow being responsible for TKO’s actions needs to remember who sold the WWE. Wasn’t Triple H, as it was Vince McMahon and since then, Triple H answers to Nick Khan, a Vince McMahon hire, and the TKO Board which Endeavor controls heavily.
Vince McMahon is in the predicament that he’s in because he eroded the TRUST of the wrestling fans… They found out that he was a complete scumbag behind the scenes and that hits most wrestling fans hard because they love their mothers, wives, and daughters. Vince did whatever he wanted to Janel Grant and then passed her on to John Laurinaitis. Who does that? Just a bad dude and it was that LACK OF TRANSPARENCY that finished Vince McMahon off.
Contrast that to Triple H, who has essentially been performing Vince McMahon’s role since June 2022:
– No known sexual harassment, abuse, or alleged trafficking of WWE female employees.
– Loving husband, and in fact has empowered Stephanie McMahon to become involved with the WWE again.
– Most developed talent loves Triple H and feel comfortable working for him.
– WWE management enjoys Triple H as their boss, as he empowers them to make decisions instead of micro-managing them like Vince.
– Many wrestlers are succeeding at the top, instead of the promotion relying on just a handful of wrestlers (Vince, for example, being too dependent on Roman and Brock during the late 2010s and just John Cena before that).
And I respect Triple H… While nobody should go through heart failure, it took him out of wrestler mode and allowed him to empower others. HHH was too competitive as a wrestler and not always giving inside the ring. With that competitiveness came his ridiculous muscle mass, which may (or may not) have been included by performance enhancers which may (or may not) have been exempt by WWE’s Wellness Policy.
Moving forward, if we, as wrestling fans, want to fully TRUST what Triple H has to offer, he has to be 100% transparent with us. If the wrestlers of the past took steroids, HGH, or other illegal drugs, then it would be wise to openly admit it. Otherwise, these secrets can build up momentum and allow a jealous publication (*cough* Observer *cough*) or a tabloid to exploit them. WWE, via Endeavor and TKO, has been presenting itself as a squeaky clean operation but a exposure story about Triple H using performance enhancers could be detrimental to the WWE and the fans’ trust of Triple H and his operations.
I also think that Triple H could have placed a target on his back for participating in various White House initiatives, such as the Fitness Test. Anything involving Donald Trump is polarizing, so thus anyone having an issue with Triple H standing beside Trump for a photo op or press conference might start digging into Triple H’s past. It could be a media outlet, or it could be anyone with a social media account.
Ironically, Triple H could use his opportunity with the Fitness Test and the White House to admit wrongdoings of his past. He could use the stage to admit that things were different back in the day and that he was wrong for taking what he allegedly took. And he has a defibrillator to prove it.
The Rock is going to have to answer many questions about his sudden change in size… But that comes on the heels of him reportedly being difficult on the sets of movies by appearing hours late to a shoot, having his own demands, and doing things like urinating in bottles on set. With wrestling fans, we’re still wondering what his deal has been with the WWE. Wrestling fans don’t trust his involvement based on him being heavily involved with Wrestlemania 40 and then barely appearing afterward. And then nothing for Wrestlemania 41.
You’ve got to be honest… Keeping secrets is why many top baseball players are NOT in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Keeping secrets destroyed Lance Armstrong’s empire, which actually donated millions to cancer research and should be more applauded for that. Keeping secrets destroyed Vince McMahon, who had a dark personal life and made things very toxic at the WWE office.
For guys like The Rock and Triple H, building and maintaining trust within your company and to your paying consumers should be a top priority. You should lead by example, too, because otherwise, that’s going to expose and your houses of cards will come crashing down.
While many of us lack medical degrees, the eyeball test hardly ever fails when it comes to people with bulging and cut muscles popping out of their bodies. NFL has the toughest people on the planet, yet none of them are cut and ripped like Triple H or the Rock were. Because the NFL has extensive testing, zero exceptions.
If you want the paying customers to keep trusting your operations in order to fork over high prices that TKO wants to charge, then make us at least believe in the management of the product. Any lies, secrets, or any controversies will cause this WWE empire to fall. “Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana). Early 1990s WWE had all kinds of controversies that eroded wrestling fans’ trust and that always causes a decline as wrestling fans get older. WCW died through 2001 because they lost the trust of their fans with bad creative decisions, as Eric Bischoff was no longer credible as a leader and others who followed him weren’t trustworthy.
Be transparent on what y’all are putting in your bodies.
After all, taking or distributing steroids IS illegal with it being a Schedule 3 drug.
– First offense – possession: Up to 1 year in prison and fine of at least $1,000
– Second offense – possession: Minimum of 15 days and up to 2 years in jail, fine of at least $2,500
– Distributing – first offense: Up to 5 years in prison and fine up to $250,000
– Distributing HGH carries similar offensives of up to 5 years in prison and fines up to $250,000
How can we trust YOU when you’re currently breaking the law, or broke it during the past?
Be transparent and that will build or maintain trust.
Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ