Chief Operating Officer Triple H was Michael Cole's featured weekly online interview for the first time since he and his wife Stephaniel McMahon ousted by virtue of Team Cena's win at Survivor Series.
The events of that match as well as Seth Rollins' actions in returning The Authority to power and the ramifications of those events for Team Cena members Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan were all addressed in the eleven and a half minute video above.
Some key points, and the promo summary Hunter cut in between saying that things were "Sting"ing Michael Cole and that John Cena "turned" as often as he could:
- He and Stephanie hear all rumors and talk at WWE Headquarters and in the WWE Universe.
- But it's ludicrous to say they had any knowledge of Rollins plan to attack Edge to get Cena to return them to power. After all, they haven't had anything to do with Raw or Smackdown in months!
- What happened was best for business because the show was a mess without The Authority in charge.
- Dolph Ziggler wasn't screwed out of Intercontinental title, because Bad News Barrett also didn't know that it would be a two-out-of-three falls match when they started, and because all titles used to be contested under those rules back in the day.
- The three men who were fired on Monday fired themselves when they joined Team Cena.
Those guys knew the risks. And Cena was not a part of that success. Dolph Ziggler was that success. Ryback was that success. They were the guys in their at the end.
Sure, Sting, for whatever reason - who knows? - got involved. Had his one moment, his 15 seconds of glory in his life. But those guys were there heroes, if you want to look at it that way. And they won, and their heads were off the chopping block and everything was magical and happy. And the guy who talked them into joining this mutiny in the first place, the guy that begged them to go to bat with him - turned on them and put their heads back on the chopping block. Turned on them after they had won, and were free and clear, knowing what they had risked and knowing, or at least should have known, that they were gonna get fired. And willing gave them up.
That's a guy I want to go to bat with. That's a guy I want to be in a foxhole with, right? John Cena, what a stand-up guy.
Hustle. Loyalty. Respect. Unless it doesn't benefit me anymore, in which case I'll turn on you like a rabid dog.
- Firing three popular, talented workers is not best for business, but they had to send a message that mutiny would be punished.
- Seth Rollins saved the WWE by sacrficing himself for the greater good, and is being rewarded by The Authority with the opportunity to speak his mind on Smackdown and to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match at Royal Rumble.