>how much success would he genuinelly have had if not for his
>association with Michaels & Nash, then going on to marry the
>boss's daughter. I do wonder if he would have had the same
>levels of success flying solo.

First of all, it's a big 'what if'.
Politics is part of the business. End of discussion.
Guys get opportunities, but what they do with them is another story.
Example? Remember that big DX reunion? That was supposed to be a Rockers reunion. Marty couldn't get his shit together, so that lasted all of two matches.

The bottom line is Paul delivered. He could have been Shawn's best friend, married Steph, and still been the company hack. He wasn't. If DX doesn't happen like it does after Shawn goes down, WWF is in worse shape. It still had Austin/Rock/Foley, sure, but DX was still huge for them.

Wrestling is politics, but the only real critique to be given is whether or not you made the most of those opportunities. It's aburd to argue that Paul didn't do just that. This idea that having opportunity works against you is even more absurd.

Diesel likely goes the road of other early 90's big men without the Shawn rub, by the way. Hell, the entire NWO likely doesn't happen without the Shawn rub.

>(I'm a Bret stan but even I can't agree that HHH had no
>classic matches - that's just an incorrect statement. What
>bugs me even more is that he's now back on excellent terms
>with WWE, why say something so ill-timed about your likely new
>boss. Bret's legacy is so important to him and HHH can just
>shut it down whenever he likes. It's not an intelligent thing
>to have done.)