Before joining WWE, Levesque began his wrestling career with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993, wrestling under the ring name Terra Ryzing and later as Jean-Paul Lévesque.[2] Levesque joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1995 with the on-screen persona of wealthy sophisticate Hunter Hearst Helmsley.[1] He later changed his name to Triple H and adopted an alternative image in the stable D-Generation X (DX). After the dissolution of DX, Triple H was pushed as a main event wrestler, winning several singles championships.[3] As part of a storyline, Triple H married Stephanie McMahon, who later became his real-life spouse. In 2003, Triple H formed another stable known as Evolution,[3] and in 2006 and 2009, briefly reformed DX with Shawn Michaels.[7]
Overall, Levesque has won 23 championships in WWE, including thirteen World Championships, having won the WWE Championship eight times, and the World Heavyweight Championship five times (Triple H is also recognized as the first World Heavyweight Champion under WWE's lineage).[8][9] In addition, Levesque won the 1997 King of the Ring, the 2002 Royal Rumble, and was the second Grand Slam Championship winner.[3]
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1995-present)
In early 1994, Levesque signed a one year contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW).[4][12] In his first televised match, He wrestled as a villain and defeated Brian Armstrong.[1] He continued using the name Terra Ryzing until mid-1994, when he was renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque.[1][13] This gimmick referred to his surname's French origins and he was asked to speak with a French accent, as he could not speak French.[14] During this time, he began using his finishing maneveur, the Pedigree.Levesque had a brief storyline feud with Alex Wright that ended at Starrcade 1994[1] with Wright pinning him.[15] Between late 1994 and early 1995, Levesque briefly teamed with Lord Steven Regal, whose snobby British persona was a good match with his similar persona.[13] The team was short-lived, however, as Lévesque left for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in January 1995 after WCW turned down his request to be pushed as a singles competitor.[2][13][14]
McMahon-Helmsley Era (2000–2001)
By January 2000, Triple H dubbed himself "The Game," implying that he was at the top of the wrestling world, and was nicknamed "The Cerebral Assassin" by Jim Ross. On the January 3 edition of Raw is War, Triple H defeated The Big Show to win his third WWF championship.[34]Triple H feuded with Mick Foley in early 2000 in a storyline that ended with a Hell in a Cell match at No Way Out that sent Foley into retirement.[35] Triple H pinned The Rock at WrestleMania 2000 to retain the title,[36] but lost it at Backlash to The Rock.[37] He regained it three weeks later, in an Iron Man match at Judgment Day,[38] only to lose it back to The Rock at King of the Ring.[39] Hunter then entered a storyline feud with Chris Jericho, which culminated in a Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded.[39]
A later storyline feud between Triple H and Steve Austin started when it emerged that Triple H had paid off Rikishi to run down Austin at Survivor Series, causing him to take a year off. In reality, Austin's previous neck injuries started bothering him again, forcing him to have surgery. In 2000, Triple H and Austin had a match at Survivor Series that ended when Triple H tried to trick Austin into coming into the parking lot to run him over again, only to have Austin lift his car up with a forklift and flip the car onto its roof 10 feet high. Triple H returned a few weeks later and attacked Austin. The feud continued into 2001 and ended 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.[40] The night after WrestleMania, Triple H interfered in a steel cage match between Austin (who had just won the WWF Championship) and The Rock where he joined forces with Austin and double teamed on The Rock,[41] forming a tag team called The Two-Man Power Trip. Triple H then defeated Chris Jericho for his third Intercontinental Championship on the April 5 edition of SmackDown!,[42] and won it for a fourth time two weeks later by defeating Jeff Hardy. Triple H then became a tag team champion for the first time at Backlash when he and Austin defeated Kane and The Undertaker in a winner-take-all tag match.[43]
During the May 21, 2001 episode of Raw, he suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury.[1][44] In the night's main event, he and 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. Triple H ran in to break it up, but just as he did, he suffered a tear in his left quadriceps muscle,[1][44] causing it to come completely off the bone.[4] Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match.[4] 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 orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews. 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,[1][4] completely missing The Invasion storyline.
Return from injury (2002)
Triple H returned to Raw as a fan favorite on January 7, 2002 at Madison Square Garden.[4] He won the Royal Rumble and received a WWF Undisputed Championship match at WrestleMania X8.[45] At WrestleMania X8, Triple H beat Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Championship.[1][45] After holding the title for a month, Helmsley dropped it to Hulk Hogan at Backlash.[45] 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. On June 6, Triple H defeated Hogan in a Number One Contenders match for the Undisputed Championship at the King of the Ring against The Undertaker but was unsuccessful at the event.
Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels had made his return to WWE and joined the New World Order (nWo). Michaels and Kevin Nash planned to bring Triple H over to Raw in order to put him into the group. Vince McMahon, however, disbanded the nWo following several backstage complications and brought in Eric Bischoff as the 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 on July 22, he turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him during what was supposed to be a DX reunion, becoming a villain again. The following week, Triple H smashed Michaels' face into a car window to prove that Michaels was "weak". These 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. Afterwards, however, Triple H attacked him with a sledgehammer, and Michaels was carried out of the ring.[49]
Before September 2, 2002, WWE recognized only one champion for both the Raw and SmackDown! brands. After SummerSlam, champion Brock Lesnar became 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.[50] Triple H retained his title against Rob Van Dam at Unforgiven when Ric Flair hit RVD with a sledgehammer, and against Kane at No Mercy in a title unification match in which Triple won the Intercontinental Championship and unified it with his World Heavyweight Championship, but he eventually dropped the belt to Shawn Michaels in the first ever Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series.[51] He defeated RVD for the title shot at Armageddon with Michaels as special referee. He regained the title from Michaels in a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon.[51]
Evolution (2003–2005)
In January 2003, Triple H formed a stable known as Evolution with Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista. Triple H and Ric Flair challenged RVD and Kane for the World Tag Team Titles, but they lost the match. The group was pushed on Raw from 2003 to 2004. The height of their dominance occurred after Armageddon when every member of Evolution left the pay-per-view holding a title.[52] Triple H held the World Heavyweight Championship for most of 2003 until Unforgiven, losing the title to Bill Goldberg. After a failed attempt to win back the title from Goldberg in a rematch at the Survivor Series, he finally regained the championship against Goldberg in a triple threat match at Armageddon which also involved Kane. At the 2004 Royal Rumble, Triple H and Shawn Michaels fought in a Last Man Standing match to a double countout, so Triple H retained the title as a result.[52] Triple H dropped the title to Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XX,[53] and he was unable to reclaim the belt from Benoit in subsequent rematches, including a rematch from WrestleMania between Triple H, Benoit, and Shawn Michaels at Backlash.[53]He then ended his feud with Michaels, defeating him in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood.[53] After another failed attempt, losing to Benoit at Vengeance, he focused on Eugene, beating him at SummerSlam.[54] Triple H then regained the title from former associate Randy Orton at Unforgiven.[55] Following a Triple Threat World Heavyweight title defense against Benoit and Edge on the November 29, 2004 episode of Raw, the World Heavyweight Championship became vacant for the first time.[56] At New Year's Revolution, Triple H won the Elimination Chamber to begin his tenth world title reign.[57] At WrestleMania 21, Triple H lost the championship to Batista,[58] and subsequently lost two rematches at Backlash and Vengeance.[59][60] Following this, Triple H took some time off from wrestling, suffering from minor neck problems.[11]
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, sparking a feud between the duo.[61] Flair defeated Triple H in a Steel cage match at Taboo Tuesday for Flair's Intercontinental Championship.[62] Subsequently, Triple H defeated Flair in a non-title Last Man Standing match at Survivor Series to end their feud.[62]
King of Kings (2007–2009)
Triple H made his return at SummerSlam, where he defeated King Booker.[70] After his return, he won the WWE Championship at No Mercy after beating the newly named Champion, Randy Orton, making Triple H an eleven-time world champion.[71] In the same event, Triple H also defeated Umaga in his first title defense after Mr. McMahon declared his already-scheduled bout with Umaga, a title match.[72] McMahon then announced, Orton would receive a title rematch in a Last Man Standing match in the final match of the event, which Orton won after an RKO onto the announcer's table, thus ending Triple H's sixth reign.[72] Triple H's title reign at No Mercy is the fifth shortest reign in WWE history, only lasting through the duration of the event.[72] In the Raw Elimination Chamber at No Way Out, Triple H gained a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV, by outlasting five other men.[73] However, at WrestleMania XXIV, Randy Orton retained after punting Triple H and pinning John Cena following Triple H's Pedigree on Cena.[74] A month later, at Backlash, Triple H won the title in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match against Orton, Cena, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, tying the record for most WWE Championship reigns with The Rock.[75] Triple H then retained the title against Orton at Judgment Day in a Steel Cage match and again at One Night Stand in a Last Man Standing match.[76][77] Orton suffered a legitimate collarbone injury during the match, thus ending the feud prematurely.[78]
On June 23, 2008 edition of Raw, Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown brand as a part of the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the WWE Championship exclusive to SmackDown.[79] After several successful title defenses against Edge, The Great Khali, and Jeff Hardy, Triple H ultimately lost his title to Edge at the 2008 Survivor Series pay-per-view. He then engaged himself in a feud against Vladimir Kozlov.[80] After qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match at the No Way Out pay-per-view, Triple H won the match to win his eighth WWE Championship, surpassing the record originally set by The Rock at seven reigns.
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