Triple H and Mankind weren't always enemies - in the lead up to Mankind's record-breaking Heavyweight Title on WWF Raw is War, December 29, 1998, Mick wasn't even supposed to have a shot. Following weeks of taunting by Vince McMahon, the final nail in the coffin was delivered when Vince announced that Mankind would only have a marginal CHANCE at the title at the next PPV, and only if he could beat his then-new friend - Triple H. To top all this off, Shane McMahon was announced as the special referee. The match went as expected - Shane delivered a fast count, and Triple H got the win. As Shane raised his hand for the victory, Triple H had this to say:
"Hey, I'm sorry, but business is business, a win is a win, and when it comes to the WWF title, I'll take it any way I can get it. But I will say this: 'HAPPY NEW YEAR!' *PEDIGREES SHANE MCMAHON*. Hey *motioning to the unconscious Shane* ... HE'S ALL YOURS!"
Mick would take the opportunity to put Shane in a painful shoulder clutch and pretty much blackmail Vince into giving him his title shot that night. And making it No Disqualification. All because of Triple H's pedigree. Even better, this was the night Foley won his first World Title and was the same night WCW began its decline into oblivion (the title change was spoiled on Nitro with insults to Foley, coupled with several... shall we say misjudged ideas that drove fans away to the WWF) was the icing on the cake.
His 2000 run is considered to be the pinnacle of his career. To elaborate, he was widely considered the best wrestler in the world circa 2000-2001 prior to his quad injury- winning multiple wrestler of the year awards and having several classic matches at consecutive PPVs.
January 23, 2000 — In the final months of the millennium he's established as the face of the WWE, becoming the heel champion, reforming D-Generation X as a heel stable in league with the boss's daughter, and became a villain the likes the WWF had not seen in years. In 2000 he fired Mick Foley, only to hire him back when The Rock and every other wrestler under contract threatened to walk out. Then The Game beat Mankind in a vicious brawl, only to be driven off by a bleeding, unmasked Mankind, who H treated as if he'd seen a ghost. Mankind was meant to fight Triple H at the Rumble, but after he was beaten said he wasn't up to it. Cactus Jack was though. Triple H treated this as Angelturning to Angelus, a fact that Foley himself attributed credit for why the angle was so well-received.
The match itself was treated as the best since the second Hell in a Cell in 1998, which was adored because of the high spots and excluding that the Royal Rumble street fight was considered the best match since the first Hell in a Cell in October 1997. Triple H and Cactus Jack spent the first two minutes in the ring, then the next ten tearing each other apart in the crowd. Then Cactus found his secret weapon, a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire. The two would exchange blows with this before Cactus was slammed on the announce table. He was able to fight back while handcuffed until The Rock blasted Triple H with a chair, then he brought out thumbtacks. This backfired, as Triple H slammed Jack on the tacks, then hit the Pedigree, then a Pedigree on the tacksnote this meant that Trips got the tacks jammed into his knees and lower legs while slamming Jack down! for the win. To this day, the Street Fight against Cactus Jack is considered by many people to be the single greatest match of Triple H's entire career.
Backstage footage showed the injuries Triple H suffered during the brawl, including lacerations all over his face from barbed wire, splinters from being slammed on wooden pallets and suspected broken bones. Mick Foley may be willing to put himself through hell to put another wrestler over, but you have to be willing to go there with him!
At the following PPV Triple H and Cactus Jack would fight again. This earns a CMoA because Triple H lamented not being hit with the actual barbed wire at the Rumble, Cactus was and when it was his turn another 2x4 was used. Triple H wanted to be hit with the real thing, and here he got his wish.
And then Foley set the thing on FIRE! And hit H with it, not full swing by Foley's account, but it was a f'n burning 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire!
Jerry Lawler: What could be worse than a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire? (Foley lights up as the crowd roars like Hegestand were there.)
Jim Ross: Oh I'll tell you what's worse, Cactus Jack has that barbed wire and the wire's burning!
Either of his major quadriceps injuries. You can see the muscle separate and he insists on finishing out the match. Even led to an interesting moment where Chris Jericho looks visibly concerned as they try to finish the match. Say what you will about the guy, he plays through the pain.
Let's remember, not only did he finish the match, he took the Walls of Jericho on that torn quad, which is a move designed to absolutely torture your leg muscle.
May 21st, 2001 — The Two-Man Power Trip ("Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Triple H) are defending the WWF Tag Team Championship against the team of Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. Near the end of the match, Triple H attacks Jericho from behind while the latter has Austin in the Walls of Jericho. As Hunter's attack lands, he suffers a massive tear of the quad muscle in his leg. Despite being in overwhelming pain, Trips not only finishes the match, but he also takes the Walls of Jericho on the commentators' table (which did nothing to help his condition). Jericho recalled in his book that he and Triple H had bad blood at the time, but the fact that he willed himself to finish the match, not to mention trusted Jericho to give him his finisher despite the injury earned him Jericho's respect. This injury would keep Triple H on the shelf for most of 2001 (which allowed him to miss the InVasion storyline), and he wouldn't be seen again until...
Triple H's entrance at Wrestlemania 27 is one of the most awesome in existence: Everything goes dark until Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" starts playing, with what sounds like lightning strikes that light up the arena in time to the chiming of the bell. Then the lights come up, revealing a mountainside on the TitanTron while the entrance scaffolding appears to be lit on fire. Armored footmen with shields appear on the stage, forming a circle that expands out to show Triple H illuminated in a circle of light in furs, a crown, and a mask. The lights go out once again. They come on once more with his theme playing and he is now in his wrestling gear to make his way to the ring.
And then there's his entrance at Wrestlemania 22, in which he rose up from the floor seated on a throne, dressed like none other than Conan, while a screen behind him showed medieval battle scenes.
He used a similar entrance for Wrestlemania 30 that, for some, recalled Game of Thrones. Said Wrestlemania 30 entrance got massive pops, despite facing Daniel Bryan. That's Evil Is Cool at its finest.
While the pop for his return on 2-21-11 wasn't as loud, he gets bonus points for also interrupting the return of the freaking Undertaker.
The ending of WM27. Both he and Undertaker have Determinator moments, including Triple H's "Why Won't You Die?" reaction when he hits Taker with chair slams, pedigrees, and even his own Tombstone Pilediver. As Taker, critically injured, counters back, Triple H goes for the Sledgehammer before getting attacked by Hell's Gate; though he tries again for the Sledgehammer, he becomes so weak that he has to tap out, putting the Streak at 19-0. Though both men are injured, Triple H is lucky to get up in wonder and walk out of the ring on his own. Taker, however, doesn't fare any better, as he slowly crawls over to the edge of the ring and barely sets foot outside before collapsing from his serious injuries. Triple H, concerned about Taker's health, tries going out of his way to help him up, only to be told by an official that he is in no condition to help Taker whatsoever. All Triple H can do is to offer a silent apology before walking away and leaving the job to the medical staff. Talk about a Moment of Awesome for both Triple H and Taker.
During his rematch against The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 28, during the final minutes of the match, it became clear that Undertaker was going to add to his streak. It was just a matter of when. He catches Triple H and his sledgehammer mid-swing and throws The Game back into the turnbuckle. Triple H stares at Undertaker for a moment, contemplating whether to throw in the towel or not and instead… flashes the "Suck it!" crotch chop to a huge pop from the crowd. Sure, he ate a Tombstone Piledriver shortly thereafter, but that was a textbook example of being Defiant to the End.
Admittedly, most of the awesome was on Punk's side—hard to be otherwise, it was the Summer of Punk—but during one face-to-face confrontation with CM Punk, Punk's microphone cuts out. What does HHH do? He orders someone to get him another mic just so Punk can say what he was going to say to his face. The second mic cuts out? He's more pissed off at someone ringside, presumably the guy who maintains the mics, than the guy who was verbally tearing into him. There's something impressive about someone willing to hand someone as eloquent and who dislikes them that much a microphone on live television, and when the microphone doesn't work or is cut off by outside forces will get him another one.
When Triple H is being heckled by Paul Heyman over two lawsuits and Trips is made angry enough to hit Heyman, he steps down. Heyman then says "I can see everything you're going to do from a mile away!" Triple H proceeds to DECK HEYMAN IN THE FACE.
Triple H:Didja see that comin'?
His recent return to in-ring action involves beating Brock Lesnar hard until he starts bleeding from the head.
Monday Night RAW, 12/9/13 show. During the scuffle near the end of the show, Randy Orton knocks into Stephanie, knocking her unconscious. Triple H scrambles over to her side, then within the space of ten seconds, switches to kickass mode, kicks Orton in the gut, followed by a Pedigree. Considering he's been out of action for quite a while, the fact that he was able to so naturally go back into his mindset is a mini-CMoA in and of itself.
During the closing of the 3/17/14 show of Monday Night RAW, Triple H conducted a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Daniel Bryan in a manner that goes against anything PG related on a WWE program thus reminding those that while he hasn't been in action for quite some time he is still the Cerebral Assassin. The awesome part came that even those in IWC boards who hated Triple H enjoyed watching, what was considered, the Triple H of old. Before he became hated by the IWC.
During the latter part of his in-ring career, whenever he turns up at a house show. The crowds go absolutely nuts for him.
Being responsible for convincing Bruno Sammartino to finally accepting an induction to the WWE Hall of Fame after years of animosity towards Vince McMahon. The key points were convincing Bruno that they cleaned up the product with its current PG policy and that they do everything they can to ensure a drug-free locker room. He initially tried a year earlier after several meetings, and while Sammartino ultimately declined, he kept an open mind to it for the future and had a very positive impression of HHH. Notably, Vince had no direct influence in the negotiations and, at the time of the announcement, still hadn't even spoken to Bruno.
WrestleMania XXX: Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H. Does anyone have any doubts that Haitch could pull off a good match after months of potential ring rust? Not after this one.
Strangely enough, Hunter losing clean can be considered a CMOA. Having developed a somewhat deserved reputation among smarks for elevating his career at the expense of younger talent, seeing Hunter put Bryan over at the Biggest Stage of Them All while putting on a very good match definitely counts.
Honestly, if you look at Hunter's main roster career over the last few years, you can see that, despite his obnoxious douchebaggery as the head of The Authority, there's a clear pattern of him doing his best to use his position to build other main event stars. At WrestleMania 30 he put over Daniel Bryan like a million bucks, setting him up for one of the greatest Wrestlemania moments of the decade later in the main event. At Wrestlemania 32 he at least did his best to put Roman Reigns over, although it was foiled by Reigns' X-Pac Heat. And at Wrestlemania 33 he concluded his feud with Seth Rollins in what was considered one of the best matches of a very good event, making him look every inch the top-level star. Whether it's an intentional attempt to make up for the Reign of Terror or simply him actually doing what's best for business, there's little doubt that Triple H is still a real force for awesome in the wrestling world.
Hell, at WrestleMania 34 he was willing to sell for Ronda Rousey in the first actual intergender match WWE had put on for years. It was supposed to be strictly Ronda vs Stephanie McMahon and Kurt Angle vs Triple H, but when Ronda ended up in the ring with Trips, she wanted to throw down with him, he met her head-on, and he made her look awesome!
Dealing The Shield its heaviest blow yet. How? By convincing Seth Rollins to join Evolution rejoin The Authority. You'd expect him to go after the resident mad dog "Lunatic Fringe" Dean Ambrose, or even Roman Reigns, who's rumored to be the next top company Face, especially since Batista had just quit earlier that evening, leaving their group without a powerhouse. You wouldn't expect him to go after the guy who was always one of the first to speak, to prop up his fist in their Symbol of Excellence pose (see main page image), who willingly took not one but two punches from Ambrose if it meant keeping the group together. If there's any doubt in anyone's mind now that Trips is still the Cerebral Assassin, then let this be the moment that doubt dissipates.
Ambrose and Reigns, while remaining friends, would opt to go down separate roads, no longer operating as the Shield at all within two weeks of this. Triple H didn't just deal the Shield its heaviest blow, he went from getting embarrassed by the Shield every week to destroying the Shield practically overnight.
Add to this the fact that Rollins would outright denounce the idea that both the brotherhood and justice aspects of the Shield were anything more to him than just business. Enter Fridge Brilliance when you realize that Trips, who's stated his belief in Rollins as the future of the company both in and out of kayfabe, has plenty of experience of his own in the art of betraying the closest of friends to get ahead. He saw his own same Machiavellian nature and hunger for success at all costs in Rollins while everyone else was comparing Seth to CM Punk or Jeff Hardy. "One step ahead of you moron fools" indeed.
Rollins's attachment to Triple H and the two's shared mastermind tendencies, in addition to Vince's soft spot for his family, would eventually come in handy for Hunter even after the Authority was supposedly destroyed. On the last Raw of 2014, Rollins used an appearance on the Cutting Edge Peep Show to attack the permanently-injured Edge and threaten to break his neck via curb stomp on the Money in the Bank briefcase, forcing John Cena to use the power given to him by Vince to bring The Authority back to power. Triple H's investment into the future and awareness of the talent around him is paying dividends even in kayfabe.
He's amassed an incredible amount of talent (among them Kharma, Kenta Kobayashi, Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe, Kanako Urai, Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura) and consistently delivers incredible house shows and events. He's even managed to introduce two history-making matches never before seen in WWE: Bayley and Sasha Banks's Iron Man match at Takeover: Respect and the War Games match at the PPV of the same name. Both matches were above and beyond anyone's expectations, and they're both due to Triple H's dedication to his talent.
His Wrestlemania 31 Entrance. A series of clips, seemingly random, play, and then it shows us a robot view, and Ahnold says "I've been waiting for you." Cue Triple H entering against Sting, alongside an ARMY OFT-800s in an absolutely horrifying Terminator outfit. Then, Arnold comes on-screen and removes his sunglasses, revealing his robot eyes, and says that Wrestlemania 31 is Judgement Day. Terrifying? Yes. Awesome? OH YEAH.
In a villainous example of Laser-Guided Karma, Triple H returns in the 2016 Royal Rumble as number 30 after being mauled by Roman Reigns a month before and exacts revenge on Reigns by eliminating him. After that, he takes out Dean Ambrose to win the Royal Rumble and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Even better. On the 2/22/16 edition of Raw he beat Roman Reigns to a bloody pulp, which made the beatdown Reigns gave him at TLC pale in comparison. To add insult to injury, the Detroit audience cheered Triple H on. Once again, we are talking about the same Triple H, who has been a base breaker among the wrestling community, being given thunderous applause despite the fact that he's supposed to be the heel in his feud with Roman Reigns. Rooting for the Empire at its finest.
Then on the 8/29/16 edition of RAW, in the waning moments of the Fatal 4-Way Match between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Big Cass for the WWE Universal Championship, Triple H showed up, to the shock of the WWE Universe, Stephanie and Mick, Pedigreeing Roman Reigns, which allowed Seth Rollins to eliminate him. And then when it appeared Owens was gonna follow next, HHH shocked everyone by Pedigreeing Seth Rollins. It took a good 30 seconds for Kevin Owens, who was as shocked as everybody else, to realize what HHH was doing before easily pinning Rollins and becoming the second WWE Universal Championnote after inaugural champion Finn Bálor was forced to give it up due to a separated shoulder.
Temporarily joining The Shield for a run of UK house shows in November 2017 because Roman was sick (Seth even lampshading his earlier betrayal to join Trips by referring to Trips as 'Plan B'). He wrestled in main event matches that went over 20 minutes long every night, still managed to pull off all his classic moves with no difficulty at all, and had insane crowd reactions whenever he entered the arena, tagged in, or performed one of his signature moves. He may be getting very close to 50, but boy has he still got it.
How about just how much he and Stephanie have turned around public opinion on WWE in just a few months when WWE at around the first half of 2022 was at its lowest point in terms of fan response due to Vince's continuous string of releases and bad booking reaching a breaking point with many fans. Between these, the number of defectors (in terms of performers and fans) going to All Elite Wrestling and Vince being accused of sexual misconduct, many thought WWE would be done for. And yet Hunter, knowing what's best for business, stepped up to the plate and made many changes for the better, from giving the midcard and tag team scenes more attention, to booking more consistent creative decisions, revamping NXT to be more in-line with how it was under his watch, and bringing back superstars who were unceremoniously released or many thought were done with WWE (with Bray Wyatt, Johnny Gargano, Hit Row, Dexter Lumis, Dakota Kai, Karrion Kross and Scarlett, all in the past few months alone returning to much acclaim). He still has a long way to go in terms of winning back full respect, but many agree it's a step-up from how things were months ago.
The biggest example of this is mending fences between, of all people, CM Punk at Survivor Series.
Trips' post-retirement on-screen role as the Reasonable Authority Figure of WWE was put to the test when The Rock turned heel in the WrestleMania XL kickoff event and aligned himself with both Roman Reigns and The Bloodline to try set up a match between him and Roman for the main event, earning the ire of Cody Rhodes who retorted that only he has the right to face Roman as a result of his victory in the 2024 Royal Rumble. He even came into blows with his old rival, who demanded Hunter to fix this or the Bloodline would. On the following day at SmackDown, Triple H made one thing clear: Roman and Cody will be the main event and he doesn't care if some disliked it. In his own words:
Despite being in overwhelming pain, Trips not only finishes the match, but he also takes the Walls of Jericho on the commentators' table (which did nothing to help his condition). Jericho recalled in his book that he and Triple H had bad blood at the time, but the fact that he willed himself to finish the match, not to mention trusted Jericho to give him his finisher despite the injury earned him Jericho's respect. This injury would keep Triple H on the shelf for most of 2001 (which allowed him to miss the InVasion storyline), and he wouldn't be seen again until...