Triple H

Paul Levesque
File:Hhh.jpg
Born	(1969-07-27) July 27, 1969 Nashua, New Hampshire
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Triple H Hunter Hearst Helmsley Jean-Paul Levesque Terra Ryzing
Billed height	6 ft 4 1/2 in (1.94 m)
Billed weight
Billed from	Greenwich, Connecticut
Trained by	Killer Kowalski
Debut	March 1992

Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27 1969) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of his former moniker, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment promotion on its RAW brand, but since January 2007, he has been inactive while rehabilitating from a torn quadriceps muscle.

Early career

Levesque was trained to wrestle by Killer Kowalski. He teamed with fellow Kowalski trainee, Perry Saturn. In 1993, he joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), wrestling as a heel under the ring name Terra Ryzing. Later, Levesque created the persona Jean-Paul Lévesque, a persona in reference to his surname's French origins, and was asked to speak with a French accent as he could not speak French. During this time he began using his finisher The Pedigree. Under this persona, Levesque also briefly teamed with Lord Steven Regal. He left in 1995 for the World Wrestling Federation.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

1995-1997

As a continuation of his gimmick in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Triple H started off his WWF career as the Connecticut Blueblood, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He appeared in taped vignettes talking about how to use proper etiquette up until his wrestling debut which happened on the April 30 1995 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge.

Although he had an impressive streak during the first few months within his debut, his career stalled during 1996, starting off with being mired in a feud with Duke "The Dumpster" Droese following a loss in the Free For All at the 1996 Royal Rumble and being squashed by Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania XII in 81 seconds. Up until that event, he appeared on television each week with a different female valet accompanying him. Sable was his valet at WrestleMania XII, and after his loss to Ultimate Warrior, he took his aggressions out on her. The debuting Marc Mero came to her rescue and this started a feud between the two wrestlers.

Helmsley was best known backstage as one of the members of the Clique, a group of wrestlers including Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and Scott Hall who were known for influencing Vince McMahon and the WWF Creative team. Helmsley was in line to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, but he was buried and demoted from championship contender to jobber to the stars, after the Madison Square Garden Incident, in which the Clique broke character after a match to say goodbye to the departing Nash and Hall. Despite the punishment, Helmsley did have several successes following the MSG Incident. He found a manager in Mr. Perfect and won his first Intercontinental Championship on October 21, 1996, defeating Marc Mero. When Curt Hennig left the WWF, his departure was explained to be a result of Helmsley turning his back on his manager as soon as he won the Intercontinental Championship. He held the belt for nearly four months before losing it to Rocky Maivia on the February 13, 1997 edition of a special Monday Night RAW, called Thursday RAW Thursday. For a very brief time, Helmsley was accompanied by Curtis Hughes, who played the role of his bodyguard. After losing the Intercontinental title, he feuded with Goldust, defeating him at WrestleMania 13. During their feud, Chyna debuted as his new bodyguard, assaulting Goldust's wife and valet Marlena.

Helmsley's push resumed in 1997, when he won the King of the Ring tournament on June 8 1997 defeating Mankind in the finals. Later that year, Shawn Michaels, Helmsley, Chyna and Rick Rude (who left shortly after the group was formed) formed D-Generation X (DX).

File:Rude DX.jpg

Triple H as part of D-Generation X. Left to Right: Rick Rude, Chyna, Shawn Michaels and Triple H

This group became known for pushing the envelope, as Michaels and Helmsley made risqué promos, spawning the catchphrase "Suck It" along with a "crotch chop" hand motion, and sarcastically deriding Bret Hart and Canada. By now, Helmsley fully dropped the "blueblood snob" gimmick and adopted the name of "Triple H".

1998-1999

After WrestleMania XIV, Michaels was forced into retirement due to a back injury sustained at the 1998 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, and Triple H took over the leadership position in DX, claiming that his now-former associate had "dropped the ball". He introduced the returning X-Pac the night after WrestleMania and joined forces with the New Age Outlaws, the team of "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn and "Road Dogg" Jesse James. Triple H led the "DX Army" throughout 1998, spawning a series of viginettes where the DX army would "invade" the CNN Building and WCW Offices in Atlanta, culminating in the group nearly crashing an episode of Nitro in Virginia.; this was the first time he had performed as a face in the WWF, and he quickly became one of its most popular wrestlers. It was also during this time that Triple H began feuding with the leader of the Nation of Domination and rising WWF heel, The Rock. This rivalry eventually led to a feud over The Rock's Intercontinental Championship. Triple H defeated The Rock in a ladder match at SummerSlam 1998 to capture the title. He did not hold the title long, however, as he was sidelined with a knee injury. When The Rock won the WWF Championship at the Survivor Series 1998, the rivalry between the two continued, but became more of a gang war as DX fought Vince McMahon's Corporation stable, of which Rock was the main star.

Triple H received a shot at the WWF Championship on the January 25, 1999 edition of RAW in an "I Quit" match against The Rock, but was forced to quit or see his aide Chyna chokeslammed by Kane. Chyna attacked Triple H after the match and joined the Corporation, betraying him. At WrestleMania XV Triple H wrestled as a face for what would be the last time in several months when he beat Kane with the aid of Chyna, who was thought to have rejoined DX. Later on in the night, he betrayed his long-time friend and fellow DX member X-Pac by helping heel Shane McMahon retain the European Championship, thus turning heel and taking Chyna with him. This decision earned him the hatred of many fans, and helped push Triple H further in the direction of the WWF Championship. Triple H then joined the Corporation, briefly placing him on the same side as The Rock. Unable to get along, The Rock turned on the Corporation and took Triple H's place as a face, quickly rising to further stardom. After Triple H's heel turn in early 1999, he moved away from his "DX" look, taping his fists for matches, sporting new and shorter wrestling trunks, and a shorter hairstyle. His image and his personality changed as he fought to earn a WWF title shot. After numerous failed attempts at winning the championship, Triple H and Mankind challenged WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin at SummerSlam 1999 in a triple threat match. In a contest which featured Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the special guest referee, Mankind won the match by pinning Austin, becoming a three-time WWF champion. The following night on RAW, Triple H defeated Mankind to win his first WWF Championship

2000-2001

By January 2000, already a three time WWF champion, Triple H had dubbed himself "The Game", implying that he was at the top of the wrestling world, and was dubbed "The Cerebral Assassin" by Jim Ross. (He has claimed that "The Game" tag was initially conceived for Owen Hart.) His feud with Vince McMahon was not well-received, however, and even outraged fans after McMahon won the title from Triple H during an episode of SmackDown!. However, the short-lived feud started the Hunter Hearst Helmsley-Stephanie McMahon storyline that carried the WWF throughout the next seventeen months, and this period was known as the "McMahon/Helmsley Era".

Triple H worked a program with Mick Foley in early 2000, which ended in a Hell in a Cell match at No Way Out 2000 that sent Foley into retirement. By the time Triple H shockingly pinned The Rock at WrestleMania 2000 (becoming the first heel to walk out of WrestleMania as champion), he was one of the hottest characters in the WWF, being able to generate enormous heat for his entrance and promos alone. He lost the title at Backlash to The Rock, but regained it in an Iron Man match at Judgment Day only to lose it back to The Rock at King of the Ring. Hunter then entered into a feud with Chris Jericho which cultimated in a Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded 2000.

A Triple Threat Match against WWF Champion The Rock and Kurt Angle led to a hot program between The Game and The American Hero which centered around Angle's infatuation with Stephanie. Triple H and Kurt Angle began fighting before the match started (and before The Rock made his entrance). Triple H dragged Angle to an announce table and set him up for the pedigree, planning on performing the move through the table. In this instance, however, the table gave way just as Triple H was jumping up. This resulted in a genuine concussion for Angle, and Triple H and Rock had to improvise much of the match while Angle recovered.

A later feud between Triple H and Steve Austin culminated in a Three Stages of Hell match in which Helmsley defeated Austin. In 2001, Triple H also feuded with The Undertaker, who defeated him at WrestleMania X-Seven. He later teamed with his former nemesis Austin to form The Two-Man Power Trip, capturing both the WWF Tag Team Titles and the Intercontinental Championship (twice) by the end of the next Pay-Per-View.

The most difficult moment of Triple H's career occurred during the May 21 2001 broadcast of RAW when he suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury. In the night's main event, he and Steve Austin were defending the Tag Team titles against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. At one point, Jericho had Austin trapped in his Walls of Jericho submission hold. Triple H ran-in to break it up, but just as he did, he suffered a tear in his left quadriceps muscle, causing it to come completely off the bone. Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match, something that his fans and fellow wrestlers saw as an admirable display of dedication to the business. He even allowed Jericho to put him in the Walls of Jericho, a move that places considerable stress on the quadriceps. The tear required an operation, which was performed by famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, in Birmingham. This injury brought an abrupt end to the McMahon/Helmsley Era, as the rigorous rehabilitation process kept Triple H out of action for over seven months, completely missing the Invasion storyline of WCW/ECW.

2002-2003

Triple H returned to RAW as a face on January 7 2002 at Madison Square Garden, receiving a tremendous ovation. He soon won that year's Royal Rumble, and thus received a WWF Undisputed Championship match in the main event at WrestleMania X8. At WrestleMania X8, Triple H beat Chris Jericho for the WWF Undisputed Championship. After holding the title for a month, Helmsley lost it to Hulk Hogan at Backlash 2002. Triple H then became exclusive to the SmackDown! roster due to the WWF Draft Lottery and continued to feud with Chris Jericho, culminating in a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day.

In the interim, between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, the McMahon/Helmsley era was brought to an official on-screen conclusion. By the time he returned, Triple H's "marriage" to Stephanie was on the rocks, so Stephanie faked a pregnancy in order to get him back on her side. When he learned that it was fake, he dumped her publicly on RAW when they were supposed to renew their wedding vows. Stephanie aligned with Chris Jericho afterward, but was forced to leave action after losing a triple threat on RAW the night after WrestleMania. The "divorce" was finalized at Vengeance.

Meanwhile, Triple H's old DX companion Shawn Michaels had made his return to WWE and joined the nWo, and Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash planned to bring Triple H over to RAW in order to put him into the group. However, Vince McMahon disbanded the nWo following several backstage complications and brought in Eric Bischoff as RAW's new general manager. One of Bischoff's first intentions was to follow up on the nWo's plan and woo Triple H over to the RAW roster. Triple H did indeed jump over to RAW, reuniting with Shawn Michaels, but on July 22 2002 he turned heel once again by turning on Michaels, hitting a surprise Pedigree on him during what was supposed to be a DX reunion. The following week, Triple H smashed Michaels' face brutally into a car window to prove that Michaels was "weak". These events led to the beginning of a long, heated rivalry between the former partners, and an eventual "Unsanctioned Street Fight" at SummerSlam 2002, in which Michaels came out of retirement and won. Afterwards, however, Triple H attacked him with a sledgehammer, and Michaels was carried out of the ring.

Prior to September 2 2002, WWE recognized only one Champion for both RAW and SmackDown! However, after SummerSlam, champion Brock Lesnar signed a (storyline) deal to become exclusive to SmackDown!, leaving RAW without a champion. RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff then awarded the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H in the form of the old WCW Championship belt. Triple H made successful title defenses against Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, Kane & others, but eventually lost the belt to Shawn Michaels in the first ever Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002. He regained the title from Michaels a month later in a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon 2002.

In January 2003, Triple H formed Evolution with Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista. Its purpose was to include the "greatest wrestlers" of the past (Flair), present (Triple H), and future (Orton and Batista). In one of Triple H's Title defenses, two other members of Evolution succeeded in helping Triple H not only retain the title, but also remove Kane's mask (the match was stipulated as Mask vs. Championship). The group was dominant on RAW from 2003-2004, the height of their dominance occurring after Armageddon 2003 when every member of Evolution won a title. Triple H beat Goldberg to win the World Heavyweight Championship, Randy Orton beat Rob Van Dam to win the Intercontinental Championship, and Ric Flair and Batista beat The Dudley Boyz to win the World Tag Team Championship. Triple H held the belt for most of 2003, feuding with and ultimately defeating former WCW talent including former WCW World Heavyweight Champions Scott Steiner, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Goldberg in main events.

2004-2005

Triple H lost his title to Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XX and was unable to reclaim the belt from Benoit afterwards in subsequent rematches, including an exact rematch of the WrestleMania main event between Triple H, Benoit, and Shawn Michaels at Backlash. He would then go on to end his feud with Shawn Michaels in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 2004. After another failed attempt to regain the title he would focus on Eugene beating him at SummerSlam. Triple H then regained the title from former associate Randy Orton at Unforgiven. Following a controversial triple threat World title defense against Chris Benoit and Edge on the November 29 2004 episode of RAW, the World Heavyweight Championship became vacant for the first time.

At New Year's Revolution Triple H won the Elimination Chamber to begin his 10th world title reign. At WrestleMania 21, Triple H lost the championship to Batista, and subsequently lost two rematches at consecutive RAW pay-per-views (Backlash 2005 and Vengeance 2005). Following this, Triple H took some time off from wrestling, learning about the corporate side of WWE in preparation for a future full-time executive position as well as to film the future WWE films project Jornada del Muerte.

Triple H returned to RAW on October 3, 2005 as part of WWE Homecoming to a tremendous ovation, even though at the time he took his absence, he was a heel. He teamed up with Ric Flair (who had turned face during Triple H's absence) against Chris Masters and Carlito. Triple H and Flair won, but Triple H then turned on Flair with his sledgehammer. Triple H then began a feud with Flair. They met in a Steel cage match at Taboo Tuesday for Flair's Intercontinental Championship, a match that Flair won. However, Triple H defeated Flair in a non-title Last Man Standing match at Survivor Series and ended their feud.

2006-2007

File:Dx-sig-pose.jpg

DX showing off their signature pose

Although Triple H failed to win the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble to earn a title shot, another championship opportunity arose for Triple H in the Road to WrestleMania Tournament. He won it, granting him a match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22.

At WrestleMania 22, Triple H and John Cena fought in the main event for the WWE Championship, where Triple H lost via submission. Later that month at Backlash 2006, Triple H was involved in another WWE Championship match, fighting Edge and John Cena in a Triple Threat match, where he lost again. In an act of frustration, a bloodied Triple H used his sledgehammer to attack both Edge and John Cena and then performed a number of DX crotch chops.Triple H would unsuccessfully attempt to win the WWE title from Cena on numerous occasions, and blaming his shortcomings on Vince McMahon, eventually leading to a feud between the McMahons and Triple H.

Shawn Michaels returned on the June 12 2006 edition of RAW and soon reunited with Triple H to reform their previous wrestling stable, D-Generation X. DX defeated the Spirit Squad at Vengeance 2006 in a 5-on-2 handicap match. DX continued their feud with Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and the Spirit Squad for several weeks. They then defeated the Spirit Squad again at Saturday Night's Main Event in a 5-on-2 Elimination match. They then again defeated the McMahons at SummerSlam 2006, withstanding the attack of several handpicked WWE superstars by Vince McMahon. At Unforgiven 2006, D-Generation X overcame the odds once again, defeating The McMahons and ECW World Champion The Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match (the seventh Hell in a Cell match for Triple H and the third for Shawn Michaels). DX embarrassed Vince by shoving his face in Big Show's backside during the match, and DX won when Triple H broke a sledgehammer over the shoulders of Vince McMahon.

At Cyber Sunday 2006 during their feud with Edge and Randy Orton, the fans selected special guest referee Eric Bischoff, who allowed the illegal use of a weapon to give Rated-RKO the ill-gotten win. At Survivor Series 2006, DX got their revenge when their team defeated Edge and Randy Orton's team in a Classic Elimination Match with a clean sweep.

At New Year's Revolution 2007, DX and Rated-RKO fought to a no-contest and during the match Triple H suffered a legit torn right quadriceps (similar to the one he suffered in 2001 but in the other leg), with the match being declared a no-contest because he was unable to continue. A successful surgery was performed on January 9, 2007 and Dr. James Andrews estimated that Triple H would need four to six months of rehabilitation before he can make his in-ring return. Coincidentally, the 2007 tear to his quadriceps occurred five years to the date he made his return on RAW following rehabilitation to his 2001 quadriceps tear. In an interview on WWE.com, Triple H stated that he expects to be back in the ring around SummerSlam 2007.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Pedigree (Double underhook facebuster)
  • 180° spinning spinebuster
  • Facebreaker knee smash, as a back body drop counter
  • High knee strike
  • Jumping knee drop
  • Falling neckbreaker slam
  • Figure four leglock
  • Indian deathlock
  • Sleeper hold
• Signature foreign objects
  • Sledgehammer

• Managers
  • Chyna
  • Ric Flair
  • Mr. Hughes
  • Mr. Perfect
  • Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
  • Vince McMahon
  • Shawn Michaels
  • Lord Steven Regal
  • "Ravishing" Rick Rude
  • Sable

• Signature Taunts
  • "Suck it" taunt.
  • Showing of his muscles, put together with Shawn Michaels
  • Showing the DX "X"
  • Throwing the arms back and puffing out the chest
  • Crotch Chop

• Nicknames
  • The Connecticut Blueblood
  • The Game
  • The Cerebral Assassin
  • The King of Kings

• Theme music
  • Ode to Joy
  • Break it Down by The DX Band
  • My Time by The DX Band
  • The Game by Motörhead
  • Line in the Sand by Motörhead
  • King of Kings by Motörhead

Championships and accomplishments

• Independent Wrestling Federation
  • IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • IWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Perry Saturn
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Feud of the Year award in 2000 – vs. Kurt Angle
  • PWI ranked him # 1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 list in 2000
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 2003
  • PWI ranked him # 139 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
  • PWI Most Hated Westler of the Year award in 2004
  • PWI Feud of the Year award in 2004 – vs. Chris Benoit
  • PWI Match of the Year award in 2004 – vs. Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XX, March 14 2004)
  • PWI Most Hated Westler of the Year award in 2005
• World Wrestling Entertainment | World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF Championship (5 times)¹
  • WWF European Championship (2 times)
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (5 times)
  • WWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Stone Cold Steve Austin
  • World Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
  • King of the Ring (1997)
  • Royal Rumble (2002)
  • Grand Slam Championship (second)
  • Triple Crown Championship (seventh)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Feud of the Year award in 2000 – vs. Mick Foley
  • Performer of the Year award in 2000
  • Feud of the Year award in 2004 – vs. Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels
  • Feud of the Year award in 2005 – vs. Batista
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)

¹Final reign was as WWF Undisputed Champion

Outside of wrestling

In 2003, Levesque married Stephanie McMahon. He and Stephanie welcomed their baby girl, Aurora Rose Levesque, into the world on July 24, 2006. His brother-in-law is Shane McMahon. He is an uncle to Shane's two sons, Declan and Kenyon. His in-laws are Vince and Linda McMahon.

Outside of wrestling, Levesque has appeared in several television shows and commercials, as well as appearing in the movie Blade: Trinity, as a vampire enforcer named Jarko Grimwood. Levesque was featured in the August 14 2005 episode of MTV's Punk'd in which he was led to believe that he had ruined a wedding by hitting the bride in the face with a door and damaging her nose until Ashton Kutcher and Stacy Keibler showed up. His television appearances also include guest appearances as Triple H on MADtv and Saturday Night Live, as a professional wrestler character named "The Disciplinarian" on an episode of The Drew Carey Show, as a character on an episode of The Bernie Mac Show and winning the WWF Edition of The Weakest Link in which he and Stephanie McMahon were the final two contestants. Levesque has also been a guest announcer for the Mr. Olympia since 2004. Outside of television, he has appeared in every video game in the WWE SmackDown! / WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW series, including extensive voice acting work.

His commercial appearances include ads in May 2006 for Miller Lite where he debates "Man Laws" with the likes of Burt Reynolds, Eddie Griffin and Jerome Bettis. That same month, he also appeared in a commercial for USA Network with Anthony Michael Hall, which cross-promoted RAW and Hall's show, The Dead Zone the main comedic factor being fellow wrestler John Cena leaving a sunburn enhanced handprint on Triple H's back. He has appeared in commercials for bodybuilding supplements such as Stacker 2's and YJ Stinger. Levesque also briefly appeared in a Wendy's commercial holding up a Triple Classic Burger calling it the "Triple H Burger".

In late 2004, Levesque released a book entitled Making the Game: Triple H's Approach to a Better Body. Mostly devoted to bodybuilding advice, the book also includes some autobiographical information, memoirs, and opinions.

In a November 14, 2006 interview with rapper The Game, it was revealed that Levesque is involved in a lawsuit with him over the rights to the name, "The Game".

External links

• WWE Profile
• Triple H at IMDb

• News story