What if Triple H didn't marry Stephanie?

In 1997, Triple H had enough pull in the company to suggest the WWE "screw" Bret Hart at Survivor Series. He - along with HBK - had enough pull in the company to convince VKM to switch Raw to a more adult-themed program. In 1998, he was the second biggest face on the show behind

Triple H's success is a combination of things... his friendship with HBK and timing.

In 1997, Triple H had enough pull in the company to suggest the WWE "screw" Bret Hart at Survivor Series. He - along with HBK - had enough pull in the company to convince VKM to switch Raw to a more adult-themed program. In 1998, he was the second biggest face on the show behind only Steve Austin. In 1999, he was the biggest heel on the show and won his first WWE Title. All of this was before he started dating Stephanie McMahon. Face it, he had the pull and status well before his relationship with Stephanie.

Now, even if he hadn't married Stephanie, he was still going to the focal point of Raw from 2000-09, and he would still likely be approaching Ric Flair's World Title record. The only proof you need of that is to look at the main event scene during Triple H's heyday.

In 2000, Austin and 'Taker were both injured... Foley retired... and The Big Show failed to get over. That left the main event scene to Trips and The Rock , and that time period accounted for three of his WWE Title wins...

Now fast forward to late 2002. At this point, The Rock was pretty much part-time and Austin was soon to be retired. That left a main event scene of Trips, Jericho, Angle, 'Taker, Lesnar and Big Show. And to add even less depth to that title scene, the WWE added another World Title. So apparently, the WWE decided that the best way to hide their lack of depth in the main event scene was to add a second main event title. Anyone really want to question why Triple H played such a big role during this time period?

During the next few years, the WWE tried to bandaid a lack of depth with nostalgia acts, feel good stories and "are you kidding me" champions ... Hogan and HBK won their only World Titles of the decade... Goldberg and Steiner were brought in as challengers... Benoit, Guerrero and Booker T were given World Title runs. Even JBL was given a chance with the title on SmackDown.

However, Hogan, Goldberg, Steiner and Lesnar had short shelf-lives in the company while HBK's health made it difficult to trust him with the title for an extended period of time. Couple in Guerrero's untimely death in 2005, Benoit's lack of charisma and JBL's status as a transitional champ, and it's no wonder why the WWE continued to stick with Triple H as their top guy. There really wasn't a better choice.

In 2005, after Goldberg, Steiner and Lesnar had left ... just before Guerrero died... the WWE finally started to develop new stars. Cena and Bautista won their first WWE/World Titles. Edge was closing in on his first WWE Title win. Orton was re-emerging as a top guy. Look what has happened to Triple H's status as the top guy since then. He has won two WWE Titles, holding one for 20 minutes and the second for two months.

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