Maven thinks Triple H needs to stop treating every angry WWE fan like an enemy, as he accused the Game of taking fan criticism too personally.
After listening to Triple H discuss fan criticism and tell viewers to “enjoy the ride,” the former WWE star pushed back on his YouTube channel, arguing that criticism isn’t always coming from people looking to tear the company down. Sometimes, they’re complaining because they desperately want WWE to be better. Maven doesn’t think Triple H is deliberately trying to tell fans their opinions don’t matter. He believes there’s something else behind those comments.
“One thing Hunter says in this interview, and he’s said it in past interviews, is almost dismissing the fan criticism, telling you, the fans, to enjoy the ride. And I don’t think he’s necessarily being dismissive of your experience. What I think he’s hoping is that you appreciate not only the guys in the ring, but the hard work he’s doing behind the scenes.”
Maven can understand why Triple H might feel protective of that work. He’s running WWE creative, making decisions that millions of people immediately dissect online and dealing with an audience where virtually every booking decision is going to piss somebody off. There’s no controlling that.
“But he catches himself. He knows that people have opinions. He knows guys like me are going to open my mouth and fans like you are going to watch us and watch others and have opinions yourselves. And that’s just harder to control than he probably thought when he went into this.”
That’s where Maven thinks Triple H occasionally gets it wrong. Not every person criticizing a storyline wants WWE to fail. Not every complaint about a wrestler’s booking is some personal attack against Paul Levesque. Maven believes Triple H sometimes lumps all of that together as hate when there’s a pretty important difference.
“Now, on the flip side of that coin, I think sometimes Hunter views all criticism as hate. Wrestling fans are sometimes critical because they just want wrestling to be better. All criticism isn’t hatred. If I felt that, I’d have quit this three years ago.”
Coming from somebody with a YouTube comment section, Maven probably knows a little something about separating criticism from people who just want to yell at you. His advice to Triple H was to do the same. Instead of taking every complaint personally, Maven believes WWE’s Chief Content Officer should look at the bigger reason people are still arguing about his decisions in the first place: They care.
“And I think sometimes Hunter takes the criticism a little bit personal. And it might be targeted to him personally because people know him as Triple H, but he shouldn’t take it as such. And I would encourage him to take the criticism as a good thing. You only criticize what you want to see made better. The fact that fans are the least bit critical of wrestling, that means they’re in. They want to see it get better. And Triple H, it’s your job to make their wishes come true.”
That’s ultimately Maven’s message. Fans getting angry about WWE isn’t necessarily the problem. The day they stop caring enough to complain might be considerably worse.
Do you agree with Maven that Triple H takes WWE criticism too personally, or do wrestling fans sometimes take their complaints too far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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