WWE: Looking back to the top five moments of Triple H’s career
Triple H sat down with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take Friday in an emotional interview, where he admitted his cardiac event was life-threatening, and he would never wrestle again. In the interview, he said he had viral pneumonia. He had fluid in his lungs and arms and that his heart ejection fraction had gotten down to 12%. A normal ejection fraction ranges from 55-60%.
Triple H is one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time, and the Cerebral Assassin has been involved in some of the most important moments in WWE history. His career proves that he has one of the greatest minds in professional wrestling inside of the ring and outside of the ring. In this piece, I will be discussing the five greatest moments of Triple H’s career.
5. The Curtain Call
When the Curtain call happened, it was looked down at because the four future Hall of Famers exposed the business. For a minute, it looked like Triple H’s professional wrestling career was over because of the curtain call.
The WWE higher-ups were furious over HHH, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon & Diesel celebrating at the end of a Madison Square Garden house show when they were heels/babyfaces. In the WWE’s eyes, somebody had to get punished because of the curtain call. Razor and Diesel headed to WCW for more money and a shorter wrestling schedule. HBK was the WWF champion and was untouchable at that point. Triple H would be the one to get punished for several months, which would change history because he was penciled in to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament. He was still able to overcome this career setback.
4. HHH Becomes The leader of DX (1998)
It was the night after Wrestlemania XIV, Stone Cole Steve Austin had defeated HBK, and that would start a new era for the WWE because it was the beginning of the Austin era. Triple H would tell the audience that Shawn Michaels dropped the ball and would kick him out of DX. The new DX was introduced, including X- Pac, a former WCW star, and welcomed the New Age Outlaws into DX at the night’s end. With Triple H at the helm, DX would make their presence known on RAW abs would become one of the most popular parts of Monday Night Raw during the Attitude Era.
3. HHH Betrays His Best Friend (2002)
Triple H and Shawn Michaels have been best friends for over two decades, but it’s a friendship with its ups and downs. HHH would betray his friend on the July 29th, 2002 edition of RAW when he smashed Michaels’ face through a car window. He said he did this to prove that Michaels was “weak” and that his coming back to the WWE was a mistake. This was the moment that would make him the top heel in the company. The rivalry between Triple H and Shawn Michaels is one of the greatest wrestling rivalries because it had everything a true wrestling fan would want an interesting storyline, superb matches, and blood.
2. HHH Becomes a Champion (1999)
Triple H’s rise to the top in the WWE is interesting because regardless of what people want to believe, he had to work his way to the top and wait his turn to be the top star. As his in-ring abilities evolved, he would become a threat to everyone in the WWE, becoming a contender for the WWE Championship. Triple H would become close on serval different occasions to win the company’s top prize but was never to pull it off. He would win his first of many WWE world championships in the main event on RAW by Defeating Mankind. HHH winning his first WWE championship was an important moment because fans had seen how hard he had to work to get to that moment.
1. HHH Returns (2002)
On May 21st, 2001, Triple H had suffered what many considered a career-ending injury. It was the worst time for an injury because Triple H was in a tag team with Stone Cold Steve Austin called The Two-Man Power Trip. His injury would put him out of action for eight long months. When Triple H returned to WWE, it was on a January 7th, 2002 edition of Monday Night RAW in Madison Square Garden.
Triple H would come out wearing a leather jacket, denim vest, and jeans. It had been a long wait, but Triple H had returned to the WWE and would win the Royal Rumble and the undisputed WWF championship from Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania X8