It would appear that Triple H is about to make his WWE return, more than six months after his WrestleMania 33 loss against Seth Rollins. And while the good news is that he’ll be making his return this weekend, the bad news, at least for television viewers, is that it will take place at a house show in South America, with the move likely a contingency plan following the fallout from a viral meningitis outbreak that sidelined multiple WWE talents in recent weeks.
According to WWE’s official website, Triple H’s WWE return will take place on Sunday in Santiago, Chile, where the company is currently in the middle of a South American tour. This was confirmed on Saturday afternoon in a Twitter post, and while the 14-time world champion and current WWE executive didn’t go into details regarding the circumstances of his return, WrestleZone noted that this was most likely a result of AJ Styles and Kevin Owens being removed from the Santiago show for varying reasons.
As Triple H is mainly associated with the Monday Night Raw brand, it’s interesting to note that he will be filling in on a SmackDown Live house show. As previously reported by the Inquisitr , SmackDown mainstay Owens was pulled from this weekend’s WWE Live shows due to personal reasons . Meanwhile, WWE announced that Styles will be filling in for Bray Wyatt on tomorrow’s Raw -branded TLC pay-per-view, despite the fact that he also wrestles on SmackDown . With Wyatt and his real-life brother, Bo Dallas, still out with viral meningitis, Styles will be facing Finn Balor in a match between two former members of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s popular Bullet Club faction.
My boots are packed and I’m coming for a fight. #WWESantiago , I’m headed your way. Chile, get ready…it’s #GameTime .
— Triple H (@TripleH) October 21, 2017
BREAKING NEWS: @TripleH to compete at @WWE Live Event in Santiago, Chile! https://t.co/Fl282o4tuX
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2017
With all of the above last-minute changes in mind, as well as Raw general manager Kurt Angle’s surprise in-ring return at TLC filling in for an ill Roman Reigns, fans may be wondering whether Triple H’s WWE return will also extend to televised programming, meaning Raw and/or SmackDown . Could such a return happen so soon, given that “The Game” usually returns to WWE television in the months immediately leading up to WrestleMania ?
There’s a good chance HHH’s appearance Sunday at the Santiago, Chile house show won’t immediately lead to TV appearances – apart from his likely status as an emergency substitute, the results of WWE Live house shows typically don’t affect televised storylines. However, WWE rumors from last month suggested that Triple H might be returning to replace brother-in-law Shane McMahon as SmackDown Live commissioner, or possibly turning babyface and feuding with Kevin Owens on the behalf of the McMahon family, whom Owens had antagonized ahead of his match against Shane at Hell in a Cell .
[Featured Image by WWE]
