Featured Wrestler of the Month[June] - TRIPLE H

REAL NAME :Paul Michael Levesque
Ring names : Terra Ryzing
Jean-Paul Levesque
Hunter Hearst Helmsley (HHH)
Triple H

Date of Birth :July 27, 1969 (1969-07-27) (age 39)

Debut :March 1992

For me, TRIPLE H is perhaps the greatest heel of all time. I haven't seen anyone carry the heel tag the way he did. So its a kind of appreciation to name him the featured wrestler in the first edition. Lets first dig into his history a bit and how he accomplished himself and then look at his other contributions.


TRIPLE H was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. In his youth, he

was a fan of professional wrestling and his favorite wrestler

was Ric Flair. He became aware of bodybuilding at the age of

fourteen, and after graduating from high school in 1987, he

entered several body building competitions. He was crowned

Teenage Mr. New Hampshire at the age of nineteen. During this

time, he met Ted Arcidi and began to consider a career in

professional wrestling.

HHH enrolled at Killer Kowalski's wrestling school in 1992 after

it was recommended to him by Arcidi. He joined the

Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF), which used trainees from

Kowalski's school in their promotion. Here, Levesque became

the IWF Heavyweight Champion and started using the name

Terra Ryzing.

In early 1994, HHH signed a one year contract with World

Championship Wrestling (WCW). In his first televised match, he

wrestled as a heel and defeated Brian Armstrong. He continued

using the name Terra Ryzing until mid-1994, when he was

renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque. This gimmick referred to his

surname's French origins and he was asked to speak with a

French accent, as he could not speak French. During this time,

he began using his finisher, the Pedigree.

HHH left for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in January

1995 after WCW shot down his request to be pushed as a

singles competitor.

As a continuation of his gimmick in WCW, HHH started off his

WWF career as the Connecticut Blueblood, Hunter Hearst

Helmsley. He appeared in taped vignettes, in which he talked

about how to use proper etiquette, up until his wrestling debut

on the April 30, 1995 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge.

HHH was known backstage as one of the members of The Kliq,

a group of wrestlers including Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sean

Waltman and Scott Hall, who were known for influencing Vince

McMahon and the WWF creative team. He was slated to win the

1996 King of the Ring tournament, but was demoted from

championship contender to "jobber to the stars" after the

Madison Square Garden Incident, in which the Kliq broke

character after a match to say goodbye to the departing Nash

and Hall. Despite the punishment, Helmsley did have several

successes following the MSG Incident. Mr. Perfect became his

manager and he was booked to win the Intercontinental

Championship for the first time on October 21, 1996, defeating

Marc Mero. When Mr. Perfect left the WWF, his departure was

explained to be a result of Helmsley turning his back on his

manager as soon as he won the Intercontinental Championship.

He held the belt for nearly four months before dropping it to

Rocky Maivia on the February 13, 1997 special edition of

Monday Night Raw, called Thursday Raw Thursday. For a very

brief time, Helmsley was accompanied by Mr. Hughes, who was

his storyline bodyguard. After losing the Intercontinental title,

he feuded with Goldust, defeating him at WrestleMania 13.

During their feud, Chyna debuted as his new bodyguard.

Helmsley's push resumed in 1997, when he won the King of the

Ring tournament by defeating Mankind in the finals.Later that

year, Shawn Michaels, Helmsley, Chyna and Rick Rude formed

D-Generation X (DX). This stable later became known for

pushing the envelope, as Michaels and Helmsley made risqué

promos—spawning the catchphrase "Suck It", using a "crotch

chop" hand motion, and sarcastically deriding Bret Hart and

Canada. By that point, Helmsley had fully dropped the

"blueblood snob" gimmick, appearing in T-shirts and leather.

During this period, his ring name was shortened to simply Triple

H. Even after the DX versus Hart Foundation storyline

ended, Helmsley continued to feud with the sole remaining

member Owen Hart over the European Championship. This

culminated in a match between the two at WrestleMania XIV,

with the stipulation that Chyna had to be handcuffed to

then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Helmsley won after Chyna

threw powder into Slaughter's eyes, momentarily "blinding" him

and allowing her to interfere in the match.


Commercials

His commercial appearances include ads in May 2006 for Miller Lite in which he debates "Man Laws" with the likes of Burt Reynolds, Eddie Griffin and Jerome Bettis. That same month, he also appeared in a commercial for USA Network with Anthony Michael Hall, which cross-promoted Raw and Hall's show, The Dead Zone. Hall's character, a psychic, touches Triple H while he lounges beside a pool and has a vision of him falling asleep in the sun, and fellow wrestler John Cena slapping Triple H's sunburned back and leaving a handprint. He has also appeared in commercials for bodybuilding supplements such as Stacker 2 and YJ Stinger. Levesque also appeared in a Wendy's commercial holding up a Triple Classic Burger calling it the "Triple H Burger".

Film

HHH appeared in the movie, Blade: Trinity, as a vampire enforcer named Jarko Grimwood.

HHH has also appeared in several WWE Home Video releases, including Triple H: The Game and Triple H: That Damn Good in 2002, D-Generation-X, a reissue of the VHS version, in 2006, and The New and Improved DX in 2007. Triple H: King of Kings, a DVD covering his career so far, was released on March 25, 2008.

Television appearances

HHH appeared in an episode of the USA Network series Pacific Blue on August 9, 1998. In December 1998, he did a guest appearance in The Drew Carey Show as the Disciplinarian. He was also featured in the August 14, 2005 episode of MTV's Punk'd in which he was led to believe that he had ruined a wedding by hitting the bride in the face with a door and damaging her nose until Ashton Kutcher and Stacy Keibler showed up. Additionally, his television appearances include guest spots as Triple H on MADtv and Saturday Night Live, and as a character on an episode of The Bernie Mac Show. HHH also won the WWF edition of The Weakest Link, in which he and Stephanie McMahon were the final two contestants. HHH has also been a guest announcer for the Mr. Olympia competition.