Tommy Dreamer has revealed that WWE cancelled a planned feud between himself and Triple H in 2002. Tommy Dreamer vs Triple H was meant to take place over “2 or 3” pay per views, with the ECW legend playing the babyface to the menacing heel Triple H.
Tommy Dreamer reveals that WWE nixed plans for the Triple H vs Tommy Dreamer feud for the World Heavyweight Championship due to “Behind the Scenes B.S”. He was instead replaced with the returning Shawn Michaels, who would return to face Triple H at Summerslam 2002 in one of the best matches of that year. Dreamer was an ECW Champion in his prime but never sniffed the main event scene in the WWE.
He was known primarily for his penchant for violence – with his participation in “hardcore” matches in ECW becoming his trademark in the wrestling world. Nobody could more chair shots or table bumps than “the innovator of violence”, which made him a star in ECW but not so much in the WWE. By the team he made it to the company, the world was changing and wrestling ability was more valued than the amount of pain you could withstand.
Triple H being a fan of the Ric Flair’s and Harley Race’s meant that he valued wrestling ability over all else, which could have been one reason why the feud between the pair was nixed…
Tommy Dreamer vs Triple H
Tommy Dreamer revealed on the IMPACT Press Pass Podcast that a Tommy Dreamer vs Triple H feud was set for 2002, but was cancelled by WWE due to a variety of reason. Dreamer revealed that he was to play his typical ECW babyface character, and that “The financial gains would have been phenomenal” by working with a main event talent like Triple H.
“For me, there were two that would have been great. I was supposed to have a two-to-three program with Triple H and main event with him for the title. Never happened. Behind the scenes B.S. That would have been great for my career, plus to be honest. Triple H is one of my last ever dream matches because I still do think he is one of the best heels of all time.
I was a pretty good babyface, but I always thought of like ‘babyface Tommy Dreamer from ECW’ versus ‘heel Triple H’ or then when I was there and we were doing the ECW stuff or even when I had my own company, House of Hardcore, and he had NXT and he kept on signing talents that I was using,”
“I always thought there was something to that. So for me, plus the financial gains of those matches would have been phenomenal, but hey, it didn’t happen and they brought Shawn Michaels back with that horrible haircut and those horrible brown tights to replace me.” – SOURCE
Tommy Dreamer never had a main event run in WWE, with his only credible singles run coming during his ECW Championship victory in 2009. He has since left to work for TNA and run his own promotion (House of Hardcore), but got into hot water with his comments about Ric Flair on the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell”.
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