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Former WWE commentator and executive Jim Ross believes Triple H initially disliked Chris Jericho due to his size and talent.
Triple H and Jericho made their WWE debuts in 1995 and 1999, respectively, after previously working for WCW. The two men famously had real-life issues with each other behind the scenes in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Ross, who also worked as WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, spoke about Jericho’s first year in WWE on this week’s Grilling JR podcast. He said Triple H must have had a “politically based” agenda against his former co-worker.
“Triple H probably didn’t like him because he’s shorter and he’s a hell of a hand, and somebody’s gonna get to figure out what he’s all about. I thought for a guy as smart as Paul Levesque [Triple H's real name], and he is, and I saw he’s getting better from his heart issues, which is great. He’s so smart, hence why I named him the Cerebral Assassin on an entrance…” Ross said.
“There’s gotta be a motive there. There’s gotta be an agenda of some kind, Conrad [Grilling JR host Conrad Thompson], why Triple H would say that [Jericho needed to learn "the WWE style"], and I believe it was politically based. Now, he won’t agree with that.”
Chris Jericho and Triple H faced each other in three pay-per-view singles matches between 2000 and 2002. Their most memorable match took place at WrestleMania 18, where Triple H defeated his opponent in the main event to win the Undisputed Championship.
Chris Jericho is now friends with Triple H
As the picture above shows, Chris Jericho and Triple H became friends several years after they began working together in WWE.
Speaking on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show earlier in 2021, Jericho said Triple H was not the only WWE Superstar who disliked him.
“There was some people that just didn’t want me there because I was a WCW guy, not realizing [that he ultimately wanted to work for WWE]. I talked to Triple H about this on Talk Is Jericho. We hated each other for years and we don’t even really know why now, but at the time it was like, ‘This guy’s a piece of s***,’” Jericho said.
The current AEW star added that Triple H thought he only joined WWE because WCW no longer wanted him. In reality, both Jericho and Triple H aspired to work for WWE even while they were employed by WCW.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
