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Triple H has been reigning as the top heel in WWE for some time now. Ever since he took the bigger role backstage, he has been steering the product into such a direction which finally started to show signs of flourishing after WrestleMania.Before all this, Hunters two decade long career saw a great rollercoaster ride which earned him a plethora of praise and criticism on the same level.Between that legendary career, there are some facts which the fans often forget about him or arent aware about. As he is spearheading another top storyline in the company as we speak, here is a time out to know more about Hunter
#10 He was not good enough for WCW
A long list of former WCW wrestler has made it big in WWE but it not every day that a WCW reject does the same.
In the early years of his career, Hunter started off in WCW where he had a French gimmick which was similar to what Damien Sandow has now. He was named Terra Ryzing initially but later was changed to Jean-Paul Lévesque.
The problem Triple H had in WCW was that they didn’t have enough faith in him to push him as a singles competitor. The writers put him in a team with William Regal but Hunter wanted to wrestle on his own which drove him to WWE.
#9 Triple H is an abbreviation of Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Everyone knows him by the name Triple H, but what most of them doesn’t know is what the three H’s stand for. Born as Paul Levesque, Hunter made his WWF debut as "Connecticut Blueblood" Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
He had a cartoony gimmick in which he used to dress up in some well-polished suits and come out with different valets. He even faced Ultimate Warrior (which will be addressed soon) with this gimmick.
Hunter had to stick to his long name till his DX day where it was modified as Triple H which became more popular than the original one which was hard to remember in the first place.
#8 100 second match against Ultimate Warrior
Hunter has had some great matches in his career. he faced off against legends like Shawn Michaels, Undertakers, Rock and Steve Austin while also having it go with the younger breed like John Cena and Randy Orton.
But one match in particular that Hunter wouldn’t want to remember will be the one he had with Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 12.
It would sound like a good thing for an upcoming talent to get a rub with someone like the Warrior then, but the problem was that the match was shorter than the entrance of the superstars.
The match ended in just 100 seconds and Hunter later went on to brag about how unprofessional Warrior was in defense of the fall he took.
#7 He attended Wrestling school with Chyna and Perry Saturn
The Relationship that Hunter had with Chyna might not be a big secret. However, Hunter and Chyna knew eachother even before they were professional wrestlers.
Hunter along with Chyna and Perry Saturn attended the wrestling school of Killer Kowalski before making their respective debuts. After this encounter Hunter and Chyna was seen together when DX was formed but one can easily assume they’d known eachother well by that time.
Then Stephanie McMahon happened between the duo and their relationship ended abruptly as Chyna found out that Triple H was sneaking around the back.
#6 Triple H was the first World Heavyweight champion
The World Heavyweight championship might’ve lost its sting now, but back when there was the brand split, it was such a big deal.
At that time WWE had only the WWF title which was with Brock Lesnar who became exclusive for SmackDown leaving Raw with no major title. Raw general manager thus decided to bring in the belt that he used earlier in NWA and WCW.
Bischoff simply awarded the title to Hunter in 2002 making him the first ever World Heavyweight champion. He then went onto have five reigns with the title then and had some pretty awesome matches for it a well.
#5 He married a drugged Stephanie in a drive way
Before their actual real marriage, Hunter and Stephanie were involved in a storyline which saw Hunter marry Stephanie forcefully.
He was feuding with Vince McMahon at that time and Vince wanted to get his daughter married to Test (imagine how that would’ve ended up). Triple H however had other plans and he kidnapped Stephanie while Test and others were waiting in the ring for her.
He drugged her and married her in a driveway to place one directly in the face of Vince. The angle led to the famous McMahon- Helmsley era which turned out to be a big hit with the fans.
#4 And later divorced her because she faked pregnancy
The onscreen relationship between Stephanie and Hunter was well alive as WWE entered the Invasion angle, which Hunter missed due to injury.
Once Hunter returned, they started to enter a rough patch. Stephanie faked her pregnancy to have her returning husband by her side. But Linda McMahon being a perfect mother-in-law, even gave Hunter video proofs to let him know Stephanie is faking it.
This cause Hunter to explode on live television and he threw away the wedding ring which officially ended the McMahon-Helmsley faction. The two later bonded in real life and is still pretty much in love with eachother though the fans won’t forget what happened in their kayfabe lives.
#3 Sable was once his manager
Sable is one of the most sought out Divas in WWE history. She has given us some memorable moments during her time but being the manager of Triple H wasn’t clearly one of them.
As mentioned earlier Hunter’s initial gimmick with WWE saw him bring out various valets. Sable was quite arguably the most notable one. She stuck with him more than the other names and was also on his side when he fell for Ultimate Warrior.
After the match, he assaulted Sable to take out his anger which led her then husband Marc Mero to come to her rescue and start a feud with Hunter. After the feud ended, Hunter then faced off against Brock Lesnar almost two decade later, who is the current husband of Sable.
#2 The Game nickname was originally planned for Owen Hart
As much as his trademark entrance and moves are famous, Hunter’s nicknames are also very much over with the fans.
He took up the nickname “The Game” in 2000 implying that he was the whole game. But most of the fans aren’t aware of the story behind the name.
The nickname was actually planned for Owen Hart and Triple H didn’t have anything in the line for him. But unfortunately for Owen, he plummeted into death while trying to pull off an entrance on pay-per-view which left the entire WWE in shock.
After Hart’s death, Hunter took the name as a token of tribute to his former foe and turned it into the big draw that it is today.
#1 He was one of the reasons behind Steve Austins rise
“You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”
It’s not a secret that this was the speech which kick started the rise of Austin in WWE. He delivered it after defeating Jake Roberts in the 1996 King of the Ring tournament.
And the reason why we got to see the famous 3:16 Austin speech was Triple H. the WWE had plans to make Hunter the king of the ring winner in 1996 and Austin was never a choice.
But what happened was, Hunter along with Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall broke kayfabe on a house show at Madison square garden which ended up in Hunter being punished.
Triple H and Shawn Michaels hugged it out with Nash and Hall in front of a live audience since it was the last match of Nash and Hall before their departure to WCW.
McMahon didn’t like the superstars breaking Kayfabe and punished Hunter by making Austin win the KOTR tournament, which turned out to be a great thing for business after all.
