How Paul Levesque became the King of Kings

Bow down to the king of Kings!Paul Levesque or as he is more commonly known, HHH (Hunter Hearst Helmsley) was born on July 27th, 1969 in Nashua, New Hampshire. HHH is one of the most famous wrestlers today, and for several reasons too. You don’t get to call yourself ‘The Game or The King of Kings’ just like that.He has 14 WWE Championships to his name, and as far as his mic skills and in ring abilities are concerned, I don’t think I need to say much; the 14 belts and his reputation in the wrestling business are more than enough. HHH’s contribution to the WWE cannot be understated.You’d think a guy like him would be on the school sports team, but he wasn’t. Even today, HHH has confessed that he isn’t particularly a sports fan. But how did Paul Michael Levesque become The Game and now the King of Kings, perhaps the most influential pro-wrestler today?The 14-time champion, former DX, Kliq and Evolution member hasn’t always been perfect, though. Did you know that even HHH has done his share of jobbing and has had some embarrassing gimmicks (also read as “not best for business) that he’d not be too pleased with.Read on as we document his rise to the top as the biggest player in the business.

#1 Start Game

Paul Levesque wasn’t the most avid wrestling fan as a teenager. He found inspiration in the physiques of the old greats like Bruno Sammartino and Billy Graham. His entry into the world of wrestling, one would say happened by chance.

He was given a free one-week gym membership pass while passing by one, which was the push that he needed. Before long, Paul started grinding in the gym to the extent that by the time he’d turned 18, he already weighed a massive 270 pounds and won quite a few bodybuilding championships.

His and the WWE’s obsession with jacked-up bodies isn’t very surprising, is it? It was here that he met Ted Arcidi, the then ‘World’s Strongest Man.” Ted would introduce Paul to his mentor, Killer Kowalski.

Fun fact- He trained alongside Perry Saturn and future girlfriend, Chyna.

#2 Pre-WWF career

Paul trained at Killer Kowalski's wrestling school in Reading, Massachusetts and entered the Independent Wrestling Federation (or IWF), which used trainees from the school in their promotion in 1992 using the name Terra Ryzing. He debuted on March 1992 and defeated Tony Roy.

In July of the same year, he went to lift the IWF Championship after beating Mad Dog Richard. On February 4th, 1994, Levesque received a tryout match with World Championship Wrestling, defeating Keith Cole in Atlanta.

Soon after, Terra Ryzing debuted in WCW in a short stint highlighted only by a Television title match against Larry Zbysko in June – changing his name to Jean-Paul Levesque – a French-Canadian aristocrat. This gimmick referred to his surname's French origins and The Game was asked to speak with a French accent, as he could not speak French.

During this time, he began using his acclaimed finisher, the Pedigree.

Lévesque had a brief storyline feud with Alex Wright that culminated at Starrcade 1994. Between late 1994 and early 1995, Lévesque briefly teamed with Lord Steven Regal, whose snobby British persona was a good match with Lévesque's similar avatar.

The team was short-lived, however, as Lévesque left for World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in January 1995 after WCW shot down his request to be pushed as a singles competitor.

#3 Game loading

The man who would go one to become the COO of the company continued his WCW gimmick in the WWF. Although he was heavily pushed initially, 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.

He later feuded with Marc Mero – who debuted to save Sable, Lévesque’s valet in at Wrestlemania 12 – on whom Lévesque decided to vent his frustration after he lost to the Ultimate Warrior.

You can watch the 90-second match below. It was here that he became friends with Sean Waltman (more popularly known as X-Pac), Kevin Nash, Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), and of course, the Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels.

They were a backstage group known as The Kliq. At the end of Nash and Hall’s last match at Madison Square Garden, they all broke character even though they’d faced each other and got a little too friendly and Vince was outraged by it.

With Nash and Hall having left and X-Pac on the verge of leaving, the future COO of the company became the scapegoat and was punished with the role of a jobber. This cost him the 1996 King of the Ring. He, however, went on defeat Mero and won the Intercontinental Championship.

He went on to feud with Goldust (Dustin Rhodes) and later lost his belt to Rocky Miavia. He defeated Goldust at Wrestlemania 13 and won the 1997 King of The Ring after defeating Mankind in the finals and never looked back since.

He went on to form one of the most dominant and controversial factions ever along with Chyna, his bodyguard, Shawn Michaels and the Ravishing Rick Rude. After Michaels got injured, he became the leader of DX and inducted X-Pac and later on, the New Age Outlaws.

It was also during this time that Triple H began one of the one of the infamous feuds in WWE history with the leader of the Nation of Domination and rising WWF heel – The Rock – after he lost the finals of the King of the Ring because of HHH.

Triple H received a shot at the WWF Championship on the January 25th, 1999, edition of Raw in an "I Quit" match against The Rock, but the match ended when Triple H was forced to quit or see his aide Chyna choke slammed by Kane.

This began a new angle for Triple H, as Chyna betrayed him by turning on him after the match and joining The Corporation.

At WrestleMania XV, Triple H beat Kane with the help of Chyna, who was thought to have rejoined DX Later, betrayed his long-time friend and fellow DX member X-Pac by helping Shane McMahon retain the European Championship and joined The Corporation.

On Raw after Summerslam, he defeated Mankind to lift his first WWE title.

By January 2000, already a three-time WWF champion, Triple H dubbed himself "The Game," and was nicknamed "The Cerebral Assassin" by Jim Ross. His storyline feud with Vince McMahon continued, with McMahon winning the title from Triple H during an episode of SmackDown!.

As a result of the feud, an angle with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon began which carried the WWF throughout the next seventeen months; together they were known as the "McMahon-Helmsley Faction".

He also went on to have a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, which is talked about even today as it was one of the most bloody feuds of all time. 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 Championship and the Intercontinental Championship twice by the end of the next pay-per-view.

During the May 21st, 2001, episode of Raw, he suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury. In the night's main event, he and Steve Austin were defending the Tag Team Championship against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit.

At one point, Jericho had Austin trapped in the Walls of Jericho, but Triple H ran in to break it up – but just as he did – he suffered a tear in his left quadriceps muscle and it completely came off his bone.

Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match. He even allowed Jericho to put him in the Walls of Jericho, a move that places considerable stress on the quadriceps.

This injury brought an abrupt end to the McMahon-Helmsley Era, as the rigorous rehabilitation process kept Triple H out of action for over eight months, completely missing The Invasion storyline.

#4 The Game 2.0

Triple H returned to Raw on January 7, 2002, at Madison Square Garden, and announced that he will compete in the Royal Rumble and went on win it after eliminating Kurt Angle. At WrestleMania X8, Triple H beat Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Championship and after holding the title for a month, HHH lost it to Hulk Hogan at Backlash.

Triple H then became exclusive to the SmackDown roster due to the WWF Draft Lottery and continued to feud with Jericho, culminating in a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day.

Later, Shawn Michaels had made his return to WWF and joined the New World Order (nWo). Eric Bischoff was brought in as Raw brand's new General manager. One of Bischoff's first intentions was to follow up on the nWo's plan and bring Triple H over to the Raw roster.

Triple H did indeed go to the Raw brand, reuniting with Shawn Michaels, but he turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him during what was supposed to be a DX reunion. This, among other events led to the beginning of a long storyline rivalry between the former partners and an eventual Unsanctioned Street Fight at SummerSlam, in which Michaels came out of retirement to win.

Soon after, Triple H attacked him with a sledgehammer, and Michaels was carried out of the ring. Triple H then received a push by having numerous successful title defenses, but he eventually dropped the belt to Shawn Michaels in the first ever Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series. He regained the title from Michaels a month later in a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon.

In January 2003, Triple H formed a stable known as Evolution with Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista. Triple H held the World Heavyweight Championship for most of 2003. At the 2004 Royal Rumble, Triple H and Shawn Michaels fought in a Last Man Standing match to a double count out, so Triple H retained the title.

At WrestleMania 21, Triple H lost the championship to Batista and subsequently lost two rematches at Backlash and Vengeance. Following this, Triple H took some time off from wrestling, suffering from minor neck problems.

Triple H returned to Raw on October 3, 2005, as part of WWE Homecoming. He teamed with Flair to defeat Chris Masters and Carlito. After the match, Triple H turned on Flair, hitting him with a sledgehammer and sparking a feud between the duo. He went on to reunite with Shawn Michaels and feud with Vince in the subsequent months.

Getting past the Spirit Squad, Umaga and even stars from Smackdown, D-Generation X defeated the McMahons at SummerSlam.

A face from Triple-H’s past was coming up to be a thorn in the side of DX as Hunter’s former Evolution stablemate Randy Orton formed Rated RKO with Edge. The tag team feud ended in a no-contest when Triple-H tore his quad.

Upon his return in August, Triple H was hailed as “The King of Kings” and thrust into a brief feud against King Booker, whom he defeated at SummerSlam. After his return, he won the WWE Championship at No Mercy after beating the newly named Champion, Randy Orton. Later that night, he faced Umaga and then Orton again, against whom he lost. He went to feud with several stars like JBL and John Cena.

In the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out 2009, he defeated Undertaker to become a 13-time WWE Champion, breaking the WWE's record of having won most WWE Championships at eight. He feuded with Orton again, joining forces with his brother-in-law and father-in-law. The feud continued until Wrestlemania, where they would face off in one of the three main event matches of the event.

The match would end with Triple H winning the match to retain his championship, and some would say, his family honor.

At Backlash, he lost the Championship to Orton after The Legacy defeated Triple H, Shane McMahon and Batista in a six-man tag team match, after which he had to be taken out in a strecher. On the August 17 episode of Raw, Triple H reunited with Shawn Michaels to reform DX and defeated Legacy at SummerSlam.

On the March 1 episode of Raw, they lost their match, which would be their last televised match before Michaels retired. Michaels and Triple H had a non-wrestling reunion at the 2010 Tribute to the Troops later on.

He also feuded with Sheamus, whom he defeated at Wrestlemania XXVI and later lost to at Extreme Rules. He also challenged the Undertaker to a bout at Wrestlemania XXVII and lost.

#5 COO - King of Kings

At the end of the RAW that aired on July 18th, 2010, Triple H returned on behalf of WWE's board of directors to relieve Vince McMahon of his duties. This was followed by the announcement that he had been assigned to take over as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the WWE.

Ever since then, HHH has done a lot for the WWE. His work with Tough Enough and NXT cannot be undermined and to add to that, since becoming COO, HHH hasn’t stopped wrestling. He faced The Undertaker again at Wrestlemania XXVIII where lost to The Phenom again.

He also faced Sting at Wrestlemania 31 and defeated him. He feuded with the Shield after reforming Evolution which remained together briefly. He is currently the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This has been the rise ofPaul Levesque. From a bodybuilding jobber to perhaps the most influential pro-wrestler in history.