25 Years Of Triple H In WWE

Is Triple H better as a heel or face?

David Gibb: Heel! Is this even a question?

Anthony Mahalis: While Triple H is great in both regards, he is 100% a better heel. Aside from Mr. McMahon, he is the best heel in the history of the business.

Chad Gelfand: Triple H has always been a better heel than face. That isn’t to say that he can’t be a good face, he’s on another level as a heel. I don’t think there was a wrestler I hated more when I was little than Triple H.

Juan Bautista: Triple H is better as a heel. He is corny and rarely justified as a babyface.

Matthew Smith: Triple H does both very well. His babyface returns are still some of the biggest pops in WWE history. Despite that, Triple H is a much better heel. He was born to play a bad guy, whether it was a rich snob, a cerebral assassin or as the authority of WWE.

Steven Jackson: Without a shadow of a doubt, heel. HHH as a babyface never really has worked and his performances have seemed to suffer from it. As a heel, HHH is so good. Probably too good!

John Corrigan: Although his run on SmackDown in 2008 was enjoyable, Triple H will forever be one of the wrestlers that you just love to hate.

Jack Goodwillie: Triple H is a born heel. Don’t believe me? Watch anything from his run with the McMahon–Helmsley faction or Evolution and you’ll find a guy who is as big a fan of the history of wrestling as anybody and took all the worst parts of some of the industry’s most dastardly characters and rolled them into one villain. Now granted, he did come off as overexposed on numerous occasions and there have been stories on him burying those he didn’t personally believe warranted the spot (google Triple H, ‘am I f’n going over’ for more on that). But I’m willing to look past it, because he was the villain wrestling fans deserved for so many years. Imagine being a kid who has just discovered WWE and watched less than 12 hours of wrestling in his life and seeing this angry, musclebound asshole trying to get one over on a ‘mentally handicapped’ Eugene before beating him to a bloody pulp and later accepting his challenge for a match. If that’s not heat, I don’t know what is.

Who is Triple H’s greatest rival?

Gibb: The Rock. The McMahon-Helmsley era made SmackDown, made Triple H and cemented The Rock as a near-equal to Steve Austin.

Mahalis: The Game has had great feuds with so many superstars: Rock, Austin, Jericho, Angle, Taker, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton and the list goes on. Even as I’m typing, I don’t know who to choose. I mean, he had 3 WrestleMania matches with the Undertaker. However, the storylines with Orton, Austin and HBK were better. You know what? This may be unpopular, but I’m gonna go with Stone Cold. Between the stuff with DX and Triple H paying Rikishi to run Austin over, they produced great stuff.

Gelfand: The Rock. From feuding over the IC Title to the WWE Championship, these two had incredible chemistry and helped the other immensely in getting to the next level. Their best match together is at Backlash 2000 and if you haven’t seen it, watch it and soak in how electric the atmosphere is.

Bautista: Batista. He beat Triple H three straight times on PPV, ending his reign of terror.

Smith: Shawn Michaels. Turning on his best friend really defined Triple H’s character. He sold his soul, becoming a household name and multi-time World Heavyweight Champion in the process. Even better, Michaels took the title from him at Survivor Series 2002 to extend their feud.

Jackson: Batista. The whole story arc of Evolution and their relationship, which led into their great feud in 2005, will always stand with me as the best rivalry of HHH’s career.

Corrigan: The Rock. I became a wrestling fan during their feud in 2000 when they traded the WWE Championship back and forth. Of course, their bad blood dates back to DX vs. NOD.

Goodwillie: Batista. Yes, Triple H had already had matches with Randy Orton, a previously disgraced Evolution member, and that was initially looked at as what would be the big angle to come of the stable, but Batista’s turn was as organic as it gets. The matches felt like fights, and kudos to WWE for having some patience to allow Batista to develop into a character fans such as myself could rally behind. And although their main event match at WrestleMania 21 was a bit of a whiff, each subsequent Triple H-Batista match improved and their Hell in a Cell match at Vengeance 2005 is still an all-timer.

What is Triple H’s greatest angle/moment?

Gibb: I’ve always felt one of the weaknesses of Triple H’s game is how over-wrought his big-match/big-angle stuff comes across. It’s like everything’s Flair-Vader where someone is going to die. With that said, the best angle he did was the one-night title switch with Jericho on Raw.

Mahalis: His return from injury in 2002 and subsequent Royal Rumble victory. The pop from the crowd when he returned was absolutely unbelievable.

Gelfand: The Batista/Triple H storyline leading up to WrestleMania 21 is a masterpiece in nuanced, restrained storytelling in wrestling. Everything about it was perfect and Batista turning on Triple H is one of the best moments in WWE history.

Bautista: His return from injury at Madison Square Garden. The crowd was electric for Triple H that night.

Smith: The man has so many he could write a book on how to get a reaction. Triple H was normally serious business with most of his promo work being very re-watchable. His greatest moment was when DX mocked the Nation of Domination. Triple H being “The Crock” is still funny.

Jackson: It would have to be the amazing pop HHH got when he returned to MSG in 2002. The sound that radiates through the screen blows you away.

Corrigan: Interrupting Stephanie and Test’s wedding to reveal that he had already swept in and taken the boss’ daughter as his bride.

Goodwillie: The heart attack angle? Just kidding. It can be narrowed down to two, and a lot of it is going to be based on who you think his biggest rival is: either the Batista-WrestleMania contract signing or Shawn Michaels’ revelation that Triple H was his assailant. Both were great, and Triple H contributed heavily to getting both segments as over as they were.

What is Triple H’s greatest match?

Gibb: I am very partial to his matches with Mick Foley. The Royal Rumble one where Triple H busts open his calf on the pallet is an obvious choice, but I’m an equally big fan of their match from King of the Ring 1997.

Mahalis: Obvious choice is against Undertaker at Mania 27, but I am partial to his unsanctioned street fight with HBK at SummerSlam 2002. Because the ending of the street fight was a tad lame, I’ll go with the Taker match.

Gelfand: The aforementioned Backlash 2000 match against The Rock. 2000 is Triple H’s in-ring peak; PPV after PPV he was putting on fantastic matches.

Bautista: vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVII.

Smith: vs. Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2002. If you don’t believe me, go watch this match and see the emotion from both men.

Jackson: In December 2003 when HHH faced Shawn Michaels on RAW for the World Heavyweight Title, it was a match which overdelivered on so many levels. The pacing, psychology, storytelling and finish were beautiful, cementing just how good a workhorse HHH is.

Corrigan: vs. Cactus Jack at Royal Rumble 2000. A brutal street fight that rocked MSG and cemented Triple H as the man in WWE.

Goodwillie: Either the unsanctioned street fight with Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2002 or Hell in a Cell with Batista at Vengeance 2005. It’s tough for me to fall to one side or the other, but I guess I’d side with the Batista match because so much of the greatness behind the street fight came down to Shawn Michaels’ magic, whereas with HIAC, it was Triple H who did more of the heavy lifting. A dark horse pick would be the Hell in a Cell he had with Cactus Jack at No Way Out 2000.

Will Triple H be remembered more for his wrestling achievements or NXT?

Gibb: That really depends on how much longer NXT continues to operate and prosper as it has. If all that ended today, I would definitely say his wrestling achievements.

Mahalis: Wrestling. He is one of the all-time greats and while what he has done with NXT has been tremendous, people will remember the name Triple H more than they remember NXT.

Gelfand: The legacy of what he’s created in NXT will outlive Triple H, but at the same time, he is a top 10 wrestler in WWE history and a name that’s become synonymous with pro wrestling across multiple generations. With that said, Triple H will be remembered more for his wrestling achievements.

Bautista: I don’t think it will be either. Once Triple H became the man, the ratings went down. He kept several guys from reaching his level, including that controversial angle with Booker T. While his work with NXT had repaired most of his image, at this rate, NXT is becoming a shell of what it once was.

Smith: Because it’s on everyone’s mind right now, he is more of an NXT guy. Overall, though, it has to be his in-ring work. This guy could have very easily gotten lost in an era of The Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Kane, Mankind and Kurt Angle. Truly earning his nickname, The Game’s mic work was solid and different from the jabs The Rock would dish out, his moveset was crafted after veterans before him and he constantly evolved with the times. Triple H didn’t give a damn about making friends; he cared only about being at the top and staying there, and that’s how he should be remembered.

Jackson: I actually think HHH’s work and impact on NXT overshadows his wrestling career. Not that his career wasn’t fantastic, but NXT has made (and still makes) such a impression on the wrestling landscape, it definitely is what I see him for. Without HHH, there would be no NXT and without NXT, who knows where we would be right now?

Corrigan: NXT. His in-ring legacy is already tarnished due to his political power, and future generations will view him in the same vein as Paul Heyman – a mastermind with a cutting-edge product who put young, hungry performers in the spotlight.

Goodwillie: Paul Levesque will go on to garner tons of achievements and critical acclaim for his work and contributions to NXT. However, Triple H, that damn seed of Satan himself, will be remembered for what he did in the ring and for his longevity at the top of the card. When you think about wrestlers who got to work with the top guys of the Attitude Era and the top guys of the Ruthless Aggression era, the list is very small (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Undertaker, Big Show, Kane). However, when it came to elevating guys like John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton, Triple H was there at every turn and absolutely had a hand in making them into the stars they became. His achievements in the ring, both figuratively and literally, are undeniable.