Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque, also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, professional wrestling promoter, and retired wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer, its head of creative, and an executive producer.
Levesque began his wrestling career in 1992 under the ring name Terra Ryzing, and gained his first mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling in 1994, becoming known as Jean-Paul Levesque. In 1995, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation and became known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, which was later shortened to Triple H. In WWF, he gained fame during the Attitude Era as a member of The Kliq and of. Amongst other wrestling accomplishments, he is a world champion in WWE, having won the WWF/WWE Championship nine times and the World Heavyweight Championship five times, a Royal Rumble winner, the seventh Triple Crown winner, and second Grand Slam winner. He has headlined multiple WWE events, including its flagship annual event, WrestleMania, seven times. In 2022, he retired from working as an in-ring performer due to health concerns but remains active in an executive role and as an on-screen presence.
Through his marriage to Stephanie McMahon, he is a member of the McMahon family, which held a controlling interest over WWE until its sale to Endeavor in 2023. Levesque has garnered praise for his work within the promotion, which includes creating the acclaimed developmental branch NXT, elevating female wrestlers to the level of their male counterparts, and spearheading WWE's international expansion with concepts such as NXT UK. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame's 2019 class as part of and was inducted for his individual career in the class of 2025. Outside of wrestling, he has done acting with roles in Blade: Trinity and The Chaperone.
Early life
Paul Michael Levesque was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, on July 27, 1969. He has a sister named Lynn. His first experience of watching professional wrestling was seeing a match involving Chief Jay Strongbow as a young child, and he took up bodybuilding at the age of 14 because he wanted to look like the professional wrestlers he saw. He graduated in 1987 from Nashua High School, where he played baseball and basketball. He continued to enter bodybuilding competitions and won the 1988 Mr. Teenage New Hampshire competition at the age of 19. While working as the manager of a gym in Nashua, he was introduced to champion powerlifter and professional wrestler Ted Arcidi, who was signed to WWE at the time. After numerous attempts, he persuaded Arcidi to introduce him to professional wrestler Killer Kowalski, who ran a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts.Professional wrestling career
Training and early career (1990–1993)
In early 1990, Levesque began to train as a professional wrestler at Killer Kowalski's school in Malden. His classmates included fellow future WWF wrestlers Chyna, whom he would later date, and Perry Saturn. He made his professional debut under the ring name Terra Ryzing in Kowalski's International Wrestling Federation on March 24, 1992, defeating Tony Roy. In July 1992, he defeated Mad Dog Richard to win the IWF Heavyweight Championship. Managed by John Rodeo, he wrestled for various promotions on the East Coast independent circuit until 1993.World Championship Wrestling (1994–1995)
In early 1994, Levesque signed a one-year contract with World Championship Wrestling. In his first televised match, he debuted as a villain named Terror Risin, defeating Keith Cole. His ring name was soon modified to Terra Ryzing, which he used until he was renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque in mid-1994. This gimmick referred to his real surname's French origins, and he was asked to speak with a French accent as he could not speak French. He began using what would become his popular finishing maneuver, the Pedigree, during this time.Lévesque had a brief feud with Alex Wright that ended on December 27 at Starrcade with Wright pinning him. Between late 1994 and early 1995, Lévesque briefly teamed with English wrestler Lord Steven Regal, whose upper class British gimmick was similar to Lévesque's character; in real life, they became close friends, and Regal would serve as his right-hand man behind the scenes in WWE decades later. The tag team was short-lived as Lévesque left for WWE in January 1995 after he and WCW could not come to terms on a new contract.
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / WWE (1995–present)
Intercontinental Champion (1995–1997)
In a modified version of his gimmick in WCW, Levesque started his WWF career as a "Connecticut Blueblood". According to Levesque, J. J. Dillon originally gave him the name of Reginald DuPont Helmsley, but Levesque asked for a name to play with the first letters and management ultimately agreed to his suggestion of 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 Wrestling Challenge defeating Buck Zumhofe. Helmsley made his WWF pay-per-view debut on August 27 at SummerSlam, defeating Bob Holly. Helmsley remained undefeated during the early months of his career, suffering his first pinfall at the hands of The Undertaker in a Survivor Series match at the namesake event. In the fall of 1995, Helmsley began a feud with hog farmer Henry O. Godwinn, whom he defeated in the infamous Hog Pen match on December 17 at In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings.After being highly promoted in the first few months after his debut, his career stalled during 1996, starting off with a feud with Duke "The Dumpster" Droese following a loss during the Free for All at 1996 Royal Rumble. Up until that event, his angle included appearing on television each week with a different female valet. It was during this time that Helmsley suffered his first loss in singles competition in WWF, against Bret Hart on the March 4 episode of Raw. Sable would become Helmsley's valet at WrestleMania XII on March 31 and after his loss to The Ultimate Warrior, as part of the storyline, he took his aggressions out on her. The debuting Marc Mero came to her rescue, starting a feud between the two wrestlers.
On June 1, 1996, Hunter appeared on an episode of Superstars in a match against Marty Garner. When he attempted to perform the Pedigree, Garner mistook the maneuver for a double underhook suplex and tried to jump up with the move, causing him to land squarely on top of his head and suffer neck damage. Garner reportedly sued the WWF, eventually settling out of court. However, in 2020, Garner affirmed there was no lawsuit.
He was known backstage as a member of The Kliq, a group known for influencing Vince McMahon and the WWF creative team. It is widely believed that he was scheduled to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, but the victory was instead awarded to Stone Cold Steve Austin after the "Curtain Call" incident at Madison Square Garden, in which the Kliq members openly broke character in front of fans after a match to say goodbye to the departing Nash and Hall. Despite the punishment, Helmsley did have success following the incident. Mr. Perfect became his manager and he won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time on October 21 by 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. Helmsley held the title for nearly four months before dropping it to Rocky Maivia on Thursday Raw Thursday, a special episode of Raw that aired on February 13, 1997. For a very brief time, Helmsley was accompanied by Mr. Hughes, who was his storyline bodyguard reminiscent of Ted DiBiase and Virgil. After losing the title, he feuded with Goldust, defeating him on March 23 at WrestleMania 13. During their feud, Chyna debuted as his new bodyguard.
D-Generation X (1997–1999)
Helmsley was being highlighted again in 1997, winning the 1997 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. This stable became known for pushing the envelope, as Michaels and Helmsley made risqué promos—using the catchphrase "Suck It" and a "crotch chop" hand motion—and sarcastically derided Bret Hart and Canada. By that point, Helmsley had all but dropped the "blueblood snob" gimmick, appearing in T-shirts and leather jackets. During this period, his ring name was shortened to simply Triple H, though he was still called Helmsley from time to time and Hunter for the rest of his career. Even after DX's feud with Hart Foundation storyline ended, he continued to feud with the sole remaining Hart family member Owen over the European Championship, which Helmsley won by "defeating" Michaels after Michaels laid down for him on December 11, which aired on the December 22 episode of Raw is War. Triple H lost the title to Hart after The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust competed against Hart in drag as Triple H on the January 22 episode of Raw is War. Triple H defeated Hart to win his second European Championship on the March 16 episode of Raw is War. At WrestleMania XIV on March 29, Triple H defended the title against Hart in a rematch, with the stipulation that Chyna had to be handcuffed to then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Triple H won after Chyna threw powder into Slaughter's eyes, momentarily "blinding" him and allowing her to interfere in the match.After WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels was forced into temporary retirement due to a legitimate back injury sustained in January at the Royal Rumble, with Triple H taking over the leadership position in DX, claiming that his now-former associate had "dropped the ball". He introduced the returning X-Pac the night after WrestleMania and joined forces with The New Age Outlaws. As 1998 went along, DX became more popular, turning the group from villains to fan favorites. During this time, he adopted an entrance gimmick of asking the crowd "Are you ready? I said, are you ready?", followed by a parody of rival promotion WCW's ring announcer Michael Buffer's famous catch-phrase, "Let's get ready to rumble", substituting the word "rumble" with the DX slogan, "suck it". Also during this time, Triple H began a feud with the leader of the Nation of Domination and rising WWF villain, The Rock. This storyline rivalry eventually led to a feud over the Intercontinental Championship. As part of the feud, Triple H lost the European Championship to Rock's Nation teammate D-Lo Brown on the July 20 episode of Raw is War. Triple H eventually defeated Rock in a ladder match to win his second Intercontinental Championship on August 30 at SummerSlam. He did not hold the title long, as he was sidelined with a legitimate knee injury. When The Rock won the WWF Championship on November 15 at Survivor Series, the rivalry between the two continued, as DX fought The Corporation stable of which The Rock was the main star and Triple H received a shot at the WWF Championship on the January 25, 1999, Raw is War in an "I Quit" match, but the match ended when Triple H was forced to quit or see his aide Chyna chokeslammed by Kane. This began a new angle for Triple H, as Chyna betrayed him by attacking him after the match and joining The Corporation.
On March 28 at WrestleMania XV, Triple H lost to Kane after Chyna interfered on his behalf and she was thought to have rejoined DX. Later on in the night, he betrayed his long-time friend and fellow DX member X-Pac by helping Shane McMahon retain the European Championship and joined The Corporation, turning heel in the process. In April, he started to move away from his DX look, taping his fists for matches, sporting shorter wrestling trunks, and adopting a shorter hairstyle. His gimmick changed as he fought to earn a WWF Championship opportunity. After failed attempts at winning the championship, Triple H and Mankind challenged then WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin to a triple threat match on August 22 at SummerSlam, which featured Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the special guest referee. Mankind won the match by pinning Austin.
The following night on Raw Is War, Triple H defeated Mankind to win his first WWF Championship. He dropped the WWF Championship to Mr. McMahon on the September 16, 1999, episode of SmackDown! before regaining it on September 26 at Unforgiven in a Six-Pack Challenge that included Davey Boy Smith, Big Show, Kane, The Rock and Mankind. He defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin on October 17 at No Mercy before dropping the title to Big Show on November 14 at Survivor Series. Triple H then continued his feud with Mr. McMahon by marrying his daughter Stephanie McMahon and defeating McMahon on December 12 at Armageddon. As a result of the feud, an angle with Triple H and Stephanie began which carried the WWF throughout the next seventeen months; together they were known as The McMahon-Helmsley Faction.