WWE: Top 10 Triple H WrestleMania Entrances

Bryan Heaton

HOUSTON - APRIL 05: Triple H retains the WWE Championship belt after defeating Randy Orton at "WrestleMania 25" at the Reliant Stadium on April 5, 2009 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/WireImage)

When it comes to over the top WrestleMania entrances, few in WWE hold a candle to Triple H. The Game has practically made a career out of the spectacle of his ring entrances. But which ones are the best ever?

Over the years, Triple H has had quite the WWE career. A multi-time world champion, Triple Crown and Grand Slam winner, King of the Ring, and even Slammy Awards — the list of accolades is fairly long. But few in WWE have had the impact at WrestleMania like The Game.

And it’s not even just matches at WrestleMania that have cemented Triple H as possibly worthy of the “Mr. WrestleMania” title. The Show of Shows is notable for its spectacle — celebrities compete and attend, musical performances punctuate the in-ring action, and boyhood dreams are achieved.

That pomp and circumstance also applies to ring entrances, and The King of Kings is in a world unto himself when it comes to WrestleMania entrances. Out of his 23 matches on The Grandest Stage of Them All, there have been multiple occasions Triple H went all-out for his walk down to the ring.

But which of these ring entrances are the best? I mean, 23 Mania matches means there’s a ton to choose from, right? Well, you are correct! So without further ado, here are Triple H’s ten greatest WrestleMania ring entrances, along with some honorable mentions.

(Oh, and don’t forget this is just one man’s opinion — although anything you find on the internet is 100% written in stone and is totally irrefutable.)

Honorable Mentions

Let’s be real, Triple H has had 23 matches at WrestleMania. Narrowing it down to ten was not easy. (In fact, I initially pitched this article as a Top 5 list. BIG MISTAKE.) Here’s a few that didn’t quite make the cut, but are notable for one reason or another, in chronological order.

WrestleMania XII

Triple H made his WrestleMania debut in 1996, at that point still known as “Hunter Hearst Helmsley” and portraying a snobby Connecticut blue-blood. For each match he had, Helmsley entered the ring with a different valet — here, he introduced the WWE Universe to Sable, a future Women’s Champion.

WrestleMania XXVIII/WrestleMania 29

The structure WWE had built for Triple H’s WrestleMania XXVIII entrance was really cool — a giant skull-shaped castle with glowing red eyes. It was so cool, in fact, that the exact same structure was reused the following year. Lame.

Oh, and that second time the skull castle was used? Triple H was hit with a blast of dry ice right in the abdomen, causing severe burns right before his match against Brock Lesnar. That’s what WWE gets for trying to recycle props.

WrestleMania 32

On its own, the actual ring entrance was awesome. WWE Champion Triple H entered the arena flanked by a bunch of skull-faced figures carrying championship titles of their own. The atmosphere at AT&T Stadium was perfect, with the lighting and metal gates dragged onto the stage.

But Stephanie McMahon preceded the incredible entrance with possibly the lamest monologue ever delivered on a wrestling program. It was so absurd that the rest of the entrance lost its luster.

WrestleMania 33

More than once, Triple H has entered WrestleMania riding a motorcycle. Of those occasions, this was probably the least flashy, police escort aside.

10. WrestleMania XXV

Heading into a WWE Championship defense against Randy Orton, Triple H was in a pickle at WrestleMania XXV: If The Game were to be counted out or disqualified, he would lose the title. Yes, it’s absurd booking, but it gave us great symbolism for this main event ring entrance.

The Cerebral Assassin began to enter the arena with his signature weapon — a sledgehammer — in his hand. Clearly, this would be ill-advised, as bringing such a weapon to the ring would make a disqualification seem more likely.

However, this was not meant to be (yet), as Triple H instead voluntarily gave up the sledgehammer by throwing it into a glass wall. It’s an admittedly impressive visual, with the shattered glass falling to the stage as Triple H walks towards the ring. Not the flashiest entrance in the world, but there’s more to a great entrance than just flash.

9. WrestleMania X8

In the first entrance on this list to feature live musicians, Triple H entered the Toronto SkyDome accompanied by the sounds of nu metal band Drowning Pool. In case you don’t remember, WWE released an album called “Forceable Entry,” an unfortunately named compilation of hard rock and heavy metal covers of various entrance themes, one week after WrestleMania X8.

Why Drowning Pool had to cover legendary heavy metal band Motörhead, I’ll never know. But to get some buzz around the upcoming album, both Drowning Pool and Saliva performed their contributions live at WrestleMania.

With the sounds of Motörhead so synonymous with Triple H, especially with the benefit of hindsight, it’s a little jarring to hear a cover version, let alone at the biggest show of the year. But whatever, Drowning Pool rocked back in the day, and live bands almost always enhance a superstar’s ring entrance.

8. WrestleMania XIV

Speaking of live bands, how on earth can you ignore Chris Warren and the DX Band? I can vividly remember their, uh, indescribable renditions of “America, The Beautiful” and the national anthem prior to WrestleMania XIV. It’s a good thing I do, because there’s next to no evidence they ever existed — the crowd was pretty vocal in how they felt about these performances, and you can’t find them on the WWE Network or home video.

But later in the night, the group played both Shawn Michaels and Triple H down to the ring. For reasons I don’t know, Triple H only got an instrumental version of the D-Generation X theme, “Break It Down.”

Other than the live band, though, it was a pretty standard entrance for The Game — he didn’t even stop and pose near the band.

7. WrestleMania 35

Full disclosure: I was at MetLife Stadium for this entrance, and I barely remembered the details until I rewatched it recently. I knew there was a vehicle of some sort, I knew there was a weird video, but attending a live WrestleMania is exhausting.

But upon further review, this wasn’t half bad. The CGI in the video is hilariously awful, but why would you expect it to be good? And Triple H upgraded from the previous few years from a motorcycle to a DOOM BUGGY. I say that’s a good change.

My one complaint? The “epic” music from the cinematic intro kept playing as the car made its way down the ramp, and came to a full stop on the floor outside the ring. Only then did the classic Motörhead theme start to play. Why not let Triple H get driven down the incredibly long ramp to his signature song?

6. WrestleMania 34

At WrestleMania 33, Triple H made his first entrance to the ring on a motorcycle. The following year, the concept was executed in a much more satisfying manner.

The big difference the second time around was because of the match — a mixed tag match rather than singles competition. Since Triple H was teaming with Stephanie McMahon, one giant three-wheeled motorcycle wasn’t enough. No, sir, this match called for TWO giant trikes!

Escorted by a half dozen or so of what I assume was the finest biker babes in New Orleans, The Authority rode down to the ringside by side ready for battle. Some may prefer the original, but to me this entrance is the Empire Strikes Back to WrestleMania 33’s New Hope. Both are perfectly fine, but the second attempt exceeds the first.

5. WrestleMania 21

For the second time in his career, The Game made an entrance at WrestleMania with Lemmy Kilmister and Motörhead leading the way through song. The first time at WrestleMania X-Seven, though, had the band set so far off to the side that Triple H needed to walk for miles

inside this pit of danger

across multiple levels of stage equipment to, uh, point at Lemmy and company from a good ten feet away.

Four years later, the proximity issue was fixed, as Triple H literally rose up through the stage in the middle of the band. Personally, I wouldn’t take too kindly to someone spitting water that close to thousands of dollars of musical equipment, but you can’t yell at The Game — I doubt he was wearing earplugs.

What both Motörhead performances had in common, though, was the utter incoherence of the lyrics Lemmy sang. I would expect nothing less from one of the greatest heavy metal bands to walk the earth, but I do occasionally like to be able to understand the words of whatever song is being performed.

4. WrestleMania XXVII

If WWE would be smart and upload this entrance in its original form to the Network or YouTube, it would have a real claim to one of the best entrances ever. It’s still really good, but in-house soundalike music has always been a bane to my ears, and that’s what the “official” record provided by WWE has left us with.

But on that glorious night in 2011, Triple H prepared for battle with not just Motörhead, but Metallica, as well. Before facing The Undertaker, a group of gladiators carrying shields came out onto the stage, accompanied by “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” As the music built to a climax, Triple H emerged behind the shields, bathed in a spotlight and clad in a spiked cloak and skull crown.

The lights and music both went out, and as the classic Motörhead track “The Game” started up, the lights returned with Triple H ready for combat, in just his ring gear. Sure, Undertaker may have immediately upstaged The Cerebral Assassin with his “Ain’t No Grave” entrance, but this is still one of Triple H’s greatest ring entrances.

3. WrestleMania 31

If this was an east coast WrestleMania, chances are this entrance could be number one. But with an early-on-the-west-coast start time, this particular entrance taking place in broad daylight is a real shame.

In advance of his clash with Sting, Triple H leaned on the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before. Arnold even recorded video for the entrance, which involved a crowned King of Kings rising up from beneath the stage and carrying several decapitated Terminator skulls.

Oh, there were also multiple T-100s flanking Triple H as the percussion theme from the Terminator franchise echoed throughout the arena. If the sun was down, it would be an all-timer; still, anything Terminator-related is excellent (unless it’s Genisys).

2. WrestleMania 22

Without this entrance, many of the other great Triple H entrances are impossible. At the time, it may not have been appreciated because of its ridiculousness, but looking back it’s huge. It’s the “Avengers: Age of Ultron” of Triple H WrestleMania entrances.

In 2006, Motörhead was ready to drop a new theme for the King of Kings, called, uh, “King of Kings.” It was released on a WWE album called “Wreckless Intent” in May 2006, though it was planned for a January 2006 release. “King of Kings” made its WWE debut at WrestleMania 22, prior to the album release.

To really go with the song’s theme, Triple H went full king — a throne, fur cloak, crown, the whole nine yards. He looked a little like Conan the Barbarian as the throne rose up from beneath the stage while Motörhead’s latest theme blared through the speakers. When the throne came to a stop, “The Game” began to play, but it didn’t matter — The King of Kings had arrived for battle.

1. WrestleMania XXX

Of all the “king” entrances Triple H has made, none will ever top WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. It was the culmination of several previous ring entrances and the epitome of what a king of wrestling would look like.

WrestleMania 22 gave us the King of Kings moniker. WrestleMania XXVII brought the skull king to life. WrestleMania XXVIII provided the castle, which returned a year later. But at WrestleMania XXX, Triple H put it all together. He was wearing a chainmail-accented skull-shaped crown of gold. His throne was adorned with a skulls on pikes and a sledgehammer.

Behind the throne was a giant skull with glowing red eyes. The cloak? Exquisite red fabric, adorned with gigantic golden spikes. And by Triple H’s side? Three beautiful masked maidens, who also happened to be Papa H’s NXT kids. Before Motörhead was heard, an orchestra with soaring brass and an angelic choir accompanied the regal imagery on display. It’s one of the greatest WWE ring entrances there has ever been, in my opinion.

Over the years, Triple H has been a part of numerous great ring entrances at WrestleMania. Which one is your favorite? Sound off in the comments below!