WWE Rumors: Was WCW interested in Triple H when his contract expired in 1999?

What's the story?

Bruce Prichard on his YouTube channel Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, responded to rumors that WCW was interested in signing Triple H when his contract expired in 1999.

In case you didn't know....

WCW was the chief rival of WWE during the 1990s until they closed their doors in 2001. For 83 weeks, WCW Monday Nitro defeated WWE Raw in the ratings. But eventually, WWE was able to turn the tide and start pushing new stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind and Triple H. That dynamic in the talent roster pushed the company forward.

But till then, there was always stars who were jumping ship all the time. When Kevin Nash and Scott Hall jumped over to WCW, they turned Hulk Hogan heel and created the New World Order (NWO). The NWO would go down in history as one of the greatest wrestling stables of all time alongside DX and the Four Horsemen.

Shawn Michaels was interested in joining WCW at one point as he felt his career was going nowhere and wanted to join his buddies in WCW. Vince McMahon convinced him otherwise.

The heart of the matter

In 1999, Kevin Nash was the lead booker for WCW. At the same time, Triple H contract was expiring. Rumors were circulating that WWE was concerned that Triple H may jump ship so he can join his Kliq buddies in WCW. Here's how Bruce Prichard responded.

I don't think so...you know, JR was doing the negotiations at that time, they never really seemed to be a whole lot of concern with Hunter...even Shawn..and Shawn was locked up for a while...Once we had turned the tide...it was that guys wanted to be there...they were making more money in WWE/WWF than they were in WCW at that time.

It was just more of a ...you know...you got a year left on the contract...you wanted to get guys tied up for a long term..and that's where Vince went from the 2 year deals to the 5 year deals.

Bruce Prichard went on to say that Vince was interested in investing in talent for the long haul and essentially, it changed the thought process of how deals were structured.

What's next?

It's fascinating to think that Triple H might have jumped ship to WCW in 1999. While it was not confirmed whether he himself ever thought that, WWE history might have just been a little different.