Now even more than The Rock, HHH coasted SO MUCH off that energy he had between '99-01, when he broke free from DX and basically built himself up into one of the most hate-able heels in the business. The Ironman match with The Rock solidified him. In fact, HHH-Rock is probably an all-time wrestling feud.

Now "Ric Flair" wanna be and "I don't give a fuck, I just stuck it in Steph" HHH, I can see the misunderstanding of the lack of hype. He hit his apex in the years mentioned before and then just kind of sat on his laurels.

He had a couple of great matches outside of that period.

He wasn't much of an innovator, but he did well with the spotlight when he was allowed to have it. Just when he became "bigger than the business" is when he started to really suck, IMO