Triple H Booking: Why WWE’s Slow Builds Are Hurting Crown Jewel

Crown Jewel is a week away, and I’m trying to figure out why I’m not more excited. I’ve got Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match, and a champion vs. champion main event on the card.

That should be enough. It isn’t, and I think I know why. After watching SmackDown this week, my problem with Triple H booking comes down to one word: pacing.

The talent is stacked. The finishes are the issue, and so is how long WWE makes us wait for them.

The Problem With Triple H Booking: Slow Builds, Soft Payoffs

Let me say it plainly. WWE creative has been so safe under Triple H that I stop caring before the payoff. The build takes so long that by the time a match arrives, you just want it to be over.

I want to be fair. The roster is great, and the in-ring work is excellent. When I say Triple H booking is a problem, I mean the writing around the wrestlers, not the wrestlers themselves.

Look at the women’s title picture, because it’s the clearest example of Triple H booking right now. The same beats keep repeating: a match gets teased, somebody interferes, a cash-in gets teased, somebody pulls Liv Morgan away, and nothing is decided. Every show gets a little action, but nobody gets an ending.

Cody vs. Randy and the Memory Test

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton are two of the best in the business, and I have nothing against either. My issue is that their story has been going on since WrestleMania, almost a year ago.

On SmackDown, Cody cut a promo, then reminded us what Randy did to his face at WrestleMania. I thought, oh yeah, that was so long ago. If your promo has to recap the story because the audience forgot it, the build is too slow.

That’s the cost of Triple H booking a long, multi-show feud. Johnny made a fair point on the show. The feud is rotating between Raw, SmackDown, and the premium live events, so each show gets a piece, and the title isn’t involved anymore, so recaps are necessary. But that’s the problem. A top feud shouldn’t need a refresher.

I broke down the match itself in our Cody vs. Randy Crown Jewel preview. The point here is the pacing. These two last wrestled in September, and the next match is a Last Man Standing match in Riyadh. The build was long, and the break between matches was long, too.

Sami Zayn, Trick Williams and the No-DQ Finish

Sami Zayn is cutting the best promos of his career. His second reign as champion has been the best version of Sami we’ve seen, and I want it to continue. I said on the show that his promos have been on fire since the Trick Williams promo a couple of weeks ago.

So why does the finish bother me? Because it’s the same Triple H booking habit again: a soft, safe ending. On SmackDown, Sami vs. Trick started as a normal match that ended in a DQ. Nick Aldis cleared ringside, then restarted the match as no DQ. Sami low-blowed Trick, hit him with the belt, and won.

Johnny asked the right question: if everyone is banned from ringside, why does the match need to be no DQ? The answer is that the writers wanted Sami to win in a dastardly way. I’d have had Sami pull the turnbuckle pad off, distract the referee and low-blow Trick the old-fashioned way. That makes him a cheater, not just a smart guy using the rules.

Johnny’s counterpoint is that Trick is so over that fans are mad Sami won, which works for a heel. That’s fair, and it’s why I don’t think Trick needs the title right now.

What Triple H Booking Gets Right

Here’s the other side. The best thing on SmackDown wasn’t a title match. It was Danhausen’s segment, which turned into Gunther powerbombing Danhausen through a table, throwing pumpkins at the Minnie Hausens and then getting hit with a double stomp by Finn Balor off a ladder through the announce table.

That was chaotic, violent and fun, and it happened because WWE let talented people go all out for ten minutes. If that energy was in every feud, I’d stop complaining about Triple H booking.

Also, Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria in a no-DQ match on Raw was the best match of that show, and Bayley winning was a surprise. The roster is delivering. The booking needs to keep up.

Crown Jewel: What Is Actually on the Line?

Here’s the Crown Jewel card as we have it: Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn for the Crown Jewel Men’s Championship, Liv Morgan vs. Chelsea Green for the Crown Jewel Women’s Championship, Cody vs. Randy in a Last Man Standing match, and Bron Breakker and Austin Theory defending the tag titles against Penta and Je’Von Evans.

My complaint about those belts is that they aren’t defended after the event, so the matches never feel real. The tag titles are the only real titles on the show.

My picks: I have Sami over Roman, and Johnny has Roman because he sees him as the strong champion you keep going. Johnny thinks Cody wins, though he wouldn’t be surprised by a no-winner finish, which I hate. You have to have a finish. He also sees a title change coming in the tag match.

For the bigger Riyadh story, read our Crown Jewel Riyadh safety coverage and our Saudi Arabia airport report.

The Reality: WWE does not have a talent problem. It has a patience problem. If Crown Jewel delivers real finishes, I’ll be the first to say I was wrong.

Triple H Booking: Frequently Asked Questions