WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Triple H
When people think WWE they always think of Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and John Cena. However, for the last thirty years, there has been one constant and that constant has been Triple H. Prior to arriving in WWE, he was known as Jean-Paul Levesque, a Blue Blood personality who teamed with Lord Steven Regal (William Regal in WWE). Like many others who left WCW to WWE, Levesque was another one whose career wasn’t heading anywhere in the Atlanta based company. When he arrived to WWE, he maintained his Blue Blood personality as Hunter Hearst Helmsley. It didn’t take him long to find success as he became WWE Intercontinental Champion in 1996. In 1997, he slowly began to phase the Blue Blood personality out and he started have to a new attitude.
At the height of Attitude Era, Bret Hart had left for WCW and Shawn Michaels suffered a career ending back injury. The Rock and Steve Austin were on the rise and being noticed very quickly. However, D-Generation X brought the attitude, controversy and a lot of the excitement that came with the Attitude Era. DX was the catalyst for the rise of Triple H and out of DX came the McMahon-Helmsley Era. In the summer of 1999, Triple H became the WWE Champion for the very first time and there was no looking back after that. He became a fourteen time World Champion with the last of his reigns coming in 2016. His matches with Austin, Rock, Foley, HBK, Angle and The Undertaker are legendary. He worked with anyone who came through WWE’s locker room for nearly twenty five years.
Towards the end of his in-ring career, he began getting more involved with creative, signing talent, and building a new brand called NXT. Triple H along with Dusty Rhodes and William Regal have helped cultivate the careers of so many performers on the current Raw and Smackdown rosters. Levesque made NXT must see TV with their weekly show and made their PLE’s even better. Once Vince McMahon stepped down, Triple H became Head of Creative for Raw and Smackdown. His official title is Chief Content Officer and during his tenure, he has received a lot of praise for how he treats and guides the talent underneath him.
Triple H has always been a student of the game. We saw it when he was a performer and we see it now as a producer. I could on for a lengthy period of time about how great Triple H is. He is a 14-time World Champion, 5-time Intercontinental Champion, 2-time Tag Team Champion, 2-time Royal Rumble winner, King of the Ring winner, European Champion. and Slammy Award Winners. He’s received many other honors outside of WWE and I have no doubt that this Hall of Fame induction will not be the time he’s honored and recognized for his achievements. Congratulations to Paul “Triple H” Levesque on being named to the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
