Paul Michael Levesque, better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and professional wrestler.
Born: 27 July 1969 (age 47 years), Nashua, New Hampshire, United States
Full name: Paul Michael Levesque
Spouse: Stephanie McMahon
Billed height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Children: Murphy Claire Levesque, Aurora Rose Levesque, Vaughn Evelyn Levesque
1. Triple H began sculpting his body to resemble his wrestling heroes at the age of 14. His dedication showed at a young age when he was crowned Teenage Mr. New Hampshire at 19 years old in 1988.
But this was only the beginning for young Paul Michael Levesque.
2. He began his wrestling career training with Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski, who said Triple H was a natural and mentored him. As a promoter, he pushed HHH in his wrestling league, the International Wrestling Federation.
Talk about getting your foot in the door.
3. However, the name he started with was kinda lame. Kowalski suggested the name The Terrorizer, though young Levesque felt he should have a full name, and so they turned it into Terra Ryzing.
This was the name he would keep when he moved up to WCW.
4. As mentioned, HHH moved on to WCW with his Terra Ryzing persona which changed to Jean-Paul Levesque, and after a year of middling success there, he was offered an incredible contract for $250,000 that he turned down in order to move to the WWE.
While that was a great contract, he felt he had more room to grow in the WWE, and it looks like he was correct in that assumption.
5. When news of him turning down the contract spread, Macho Man Randy Savage was livid and wanted to bury Levesque's career before it could take off by beating him in 30 seconds. Ric Flair talked him out of it because he saw potential in the future Triple H.
The Macho Madness was Macho Mad at him.
6. Upon entering the WWE, they wanted his gimmick to be as a Connecticut blueblood named Reginald DuPont Helmsley, but Levesque felt he needed something catchier, and thus Hunter Hearst Helmsley was born.
Posh and regal, everything that wrestling stands for.
7. However, what Triple HHH is probably best known for is his involvement in founding Degeneration X with Shawn Michaels, proudly telling everyone to "SUCK IT" alongside their army of goons.
"SUCK IT!"
8. One of the most important moments from his early WWE career nearly ended it though, when he and three others broke the illusion and hugged. It was Scott Hall and Kevin Nash's final match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and they hugged their friends goodbye, rather than pretend to be bitter rivals.
Since you can't punish guys who are leaving, nor Shawn Michaels who was the reigning champion, HHH felt the brunt of the backlash.
9. In fact, Triple H was supposed to reign at the 1996 King of the Ring event, but because of his disobeying the higher-ups with the above mentioned hug, known as the MSG Incident, this honor was delayed until 1997's King of the Ring.
Thankfully HHH was able to bounce back from this setback in his career and still rise to the top.
10. Triple H played a major role in another major WWE event: the Montreal Screwjob. When Bret Hart refused to take the loss of his title in his home of Canada, Triple H suggested to his friend Shawn Michaels that he also refuse to lose, which lead to the sticky situation we ended up with.
When Hart was caught off guard by the call for him to lose, the only ones who knew were Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H.
11. Triple H's major relationship with Stephanie McMahon began as an affair. Triple H was originally living with and involved with fellow wrestler Chyna, but as part of a story angle involving him marrying Stephanie, the two fell in love, and are still married to this day, while Chyna was shortly after cut from the WWE.
Triple H maintains that his real relationship with Stephanie began after he and Chyna were no longer together though.
12. When Triple H and Stephanie's relationship began, many were grumbling about professionalism. feeling the pressure, Triple H approached The Undertaker, known to be a leading influence in the locker rooms, who gave him the professional okay to keep seeing her.
This took a lot of the pressure off their relationship, and surely helped it blossom.
13. Triple H was the second person to become a Grand Slam Champion after his close friend Shawn Michaels. This means that he won every championship that he was eligible for in his division, including the Intercontinental Championship, World Championship, and Tag Team Championship.
That's a lot of titles.
14. Meanwhile, he is the most hated wrestler of all time, winning Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Most Hated Wrestler award 5 times – more than any other wrestler ever. He also won Most Hated Wrestler of the Decade for 2000-09, as well as overall Wrestler of the Decade for the same years.
So while he is hated, even his haters have to admit how impressive and influential he is.
15. For many years, Triple H has entered the ring to the music of Motörhead, and was in fact close friends with lead singer Lemmy Kilmister, often sporting similar facial hair to his rock hero.
Triple H even spoke at Lemmy's funeral, thanking him for the gifts of his music and his friendship.
16. After the death of 8-year-old WWE superfan Connor "The Crusher" Michalek, due to a rare tumor affecting his spinal column and brain, Triple H and Stephanie were so moved by his life that they worked with the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to create the charity Connor's Cure to fight pediatric cancer.
Proving once again that when it comes to children, even the biggest and toughest wrestlers are big softies.
So what do you think of Triple H? Is he truly the King of Kings, or is he just a wannabe? Let us know with a COMMENT!
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