OMEN
03-30-2006, 09:25 AM
In an interview with Connecticut's Hersam Acorn Newspapers, Triple H responds to the shocking allegations of him possibly "holding back" talent. In response to the subject at hand, Triple H says, "I hear all these stories about things I supposedly did or who I'm holding back and it doesn't bother me. You just deal with it. There are people out there who are going to think you're great and there are people out there who are going to think you're crap. There have been some unfair claims, but I realize I'm a scapegoat for some people."
The Aricle
http://www.acorn-online.com/news/uploads/cover-hhh-wwe-3-23.jpg
The winner: HHH.
Time to play The Game
By Ken Borsuk
There are some entrances in professional wrestling so iconic that the first chord of their themes provokes instant reaction.
When fans hear the pounding music from Motorhead they know play time is over.
It’s time to play the game.
Triple H is here.
The winner: HHH. —Courtesy World Wrestling Entertainment (Copyright)
He strides to the ring with a look in his eyes promising nothing short of complete annihilation of his opponent. As boos rain down for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)’s most detestable villain, he takes a long drink from his water bottle and holds it in. As the heavy metal music in his entrance theme winds down, Triple H flings the bottle into the crowd and unleashes a shower of water spit out onto the fans who dare boo the cerebral assassin.
Since 1992, Triple H, short for Hunter Hearst Helmsley, has been one of the performers fans most love to hate. His character evolved from an elitist Greenwich snob to the master of the ring known as “The Game” and he’s picked up all the major WWE titles, defeating the top superstars and earning a legion of enemies along the way.
When Triple H steps into the ring April 2 in Chicago to face John Cena at Wrestlemania for the heavyweight title, he will be main eventing the biggest professional wrestling showcase for the fifth consecutive year, putting his skills on display for a sold-out crowd and hundreds of thousands more ordering the show on Pay-Per-View.
Who is he?
Behind the persona of Triple H lies a man named Paul Levesque, who lives among the suburbanites of Weston.
Even after appearing every week at 9 p.m. on the USA Network for Monday Night Raw, traveling all around the world and wrestling countless matches against the best of the best, being in the main event has lost none of its allure.
“It’s the same thrill for me,” Mr. Levesque said. “I really think it’s like being on a winning team and going to the Super Bowl every year. That’s your goal when you start the season. That’s what Wrestlemania is for me. It’s our Super Bowl. It’s the most important event in our industry.”
Mr. Levesque grew up a professional wrestling fan in New Hampshire, particularly idolizing the legendary Ric Flair, but until he turned 18 he never thought he could make a living in it. When he met a professional power lifter, Mr. Levesque said his perspective changed.
After working for the Independent Wrestling Federation, where he was both a tag team champion and a heavyweight champion, Mr. Levesque caught on with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and then moved on to WWE.
“When you’re a kid you dream of being out there on the mound in the ninth inning throwing the last pitch of the World Series,” Mr. Levesque said. “I got into this business wanting to be great. It was something I hoped would happen and worked hard to achieve it, but it’s still a dream until it actually happens.”
Many characters
Over the years Mr. Levesque has played a lot of different characters, from an evil French guy in WCW to the sledgehammer wielding “cerebral assassin” he is today.
“You always look back at times like those and you wonder what you were thinking, but I wouldn’t be what I am today if I didn’t play those characters,” Mr. Levesque said. “Playing the Greenwich snob was a great character to me. People hated him and that was what he was supposed to do. That got me noticed and getting the reaction from the fans is what’s important. They can boo or they can cheer. But you don’t want them just sitting there on their hands and not reacting.”
Though Mr. Levesque has been both a bad guy and a good guy in the wrestling ring, it’s no contest as to which one he prefers.
“I definitely love being a bad guy,” Mr. Levesque said. “It’s much more fun to have people paying to scream at you and boo you and wanting for you to get the crap kicked out of you in the ring. I get to do a lot more crazy stuff as a bad guy. A lot of times when you go to the movies you see the villain is the better character. It’s always more fun to be Darth Vader than Luke Skywalker.”
Looking back upon his career, Mr. Levesque said he is especially proud of a match he had in 2002 with Shawn Michaels, who was coming back from a back injury that was thought to have prematurely ended his career.
“He was coming back from five years off and even though we were enemies in the ring, we’re good friends out of it,” Mr. Levesque said. “At the time he was thinking it might be his one and only match back, but it just went so well that it proved to him he could still do this full time. I was really proud of being in there with him and having this great match.”
Mr. Levesque has faced most of wrestling’s biggest names in the ring, with what he admits have been mixed results at times.
“I love the run as champion I had in 2000 when I just went from one great opponent to the next,” Mr. Levesque said. “I went from Mick Foley to The Rock to Stone Cold Steve Austin to Undertaker. I was facing all the top guys and we had some great matches. But sometimes the biggest names aren’t always the best in the ring. Bill Goldberg was no picnic. He’s just not very good. He’s a great guy, but not that good a wrestler. Scott Steiner was another big name that got brought in and he looked like a million bucks out there but he’d had a lot of injuries. I had a lot of trouble out there trying to have a match with him.”
Mr. Levesque is going for his 11th world championship at Wrestlemania, but he’s not sure if he’ll ever equal or surpass the 16 championships his friend and idol Mr. Flair has won.
“It’s been hard enough getting to number 10,” Mr. Levesque said. “Certainly trying to get the title gets harder and harder. It’s something I might like, but then again I don’t want to be one of guys who’s still going out there when he shouldn’t be and people look and go ‘Wow, remember when he used to be great.’ I want to still be great at what I do. I don’t want to be someone who’s out there just trying to get by on name recognition.”
Learning the business
Mr. Levesque was conspicuously absent from WWE programming for much of last summer and he said there were a few reasons behind it. He had received some minor injuries, including one to his neck, that he wanted to rest so they didn’t become bigger problems and he also wanted to take time to learn about the business of WWE outside of the ring by shadowing the WWE’s co-founder and chairman of the board of directors Vince McMahon at the company’s Stamford offices.
Mr. McMahon is not just Mr. Levesque’s boss, however. He is also his father-in-law. Mr. Levesque married Stephanie McMahon in 2003 and his close ties to the McMahon family have frequently come under fire. Mr. Levesque has been accused by some fans and colleagues of holding other wrestlers back to keep himself in the main event at major Pay-Per-Views.
“I hear all these stories about things I supposedly did or who I’m holding back and it doesn’t bother me,” Mr. Levesque said. “You just deal with it. There are people out there who are going to think you’re great and there are people out there who are going to think you’re crap. There have been some unfair claims, but I realize I’m a scapegoat for some people.”
In addition to focusing on what will come after his wrestling days are over, Mr. Levesque is about to undergo another life-changing experience. He and Stephanie are expecting their first child this July.
“It’s hard to believe I’ll be responsible for someone else,” Mr. Levesque said with a laugh. “I’m hardly responsible for myself.”
LOP/Acorn Newspapers
The Aricle
http://www.acorn-online.com/news/uploads/cover-hhh-wwe-3-23.jpg
The winner: HHH.
Time to play The Game
By Ken Borsuk
There are some entrances in professional wrestling so iconic that the first chord of their themes provokes instant reaction.
When fans hear the pounding music from Motorhead they know play time is over.
It’s time to play the game.
Triple H is here.
The winner: HHH. —Courtesy World Wrestling Entertainment (Copyright)
He strides to the ring with a look in his eyes promising nothing short of complete annihilation of his opponent. As boos rain down for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)’s most detestable villain, he takes a long drink from his water bottle and holds it in. As the heavy metal music in his entrance theme winds down, Triple H flings the bottle into the crowd and unleashes a shower of water spit out onto the fans who dare boo the cerebral assassin.
Since 1992, Triple H, short for Hunter Hearst Helmsley, has been one of the performers fans most love to hate. His character evolved from an elitist Greenwich snob to the master of the ring known as “The Game” and he’s picked up all the major WWE titles, defeating the top superstars and earning a legion of enemies along the way.
When Triple H steps into the ring April 2 in Chicago to face John Cena at Wrestlemania for the heavyweight title, he will be main eventing the biggest professional wrestling showcase for the fifth consecutive year, putting his skills on display for a sold-out crowd and hundreds of thousands more ordering the show on Pay-Per-View.
Who is he?
Behind the persona of Triple H lies a man named Paul Levesque, who lives among the suburbanites of Weston.
Even after appearing every week at 9 p.m. on the USA Network for Monday Night Raw, traveling all around the world and wrestling countless matches against the best of the best, being in the main event has lost none of its allure.
“It’s the same thrill for me,” Mr. Levesque said. “I really think it’s like being on a winning team and going to the Super Bowl every year. That’s your goal when you start the season. That’s what Wrestlemania is for me. It’s our Super Bowl. It’s the most important event in our industry.”
Mr. Levesque grew up a professional wrestling fan in New Hampshire, particularly idolizing the legendary Ric Flair, but until he turned 18 he never thought he could make a living in it. When he met a professional power lifter, Mr. Levesque said his perspective changed.
After working for the Independent Wrestling Federation, where he was both a tag team champion and a heavyweight champion, Mr. Levesque caught on with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and then moved on to WWE.
“When you’re a kid you dream of being out there on the mound in the ninth inning throwing the last pitch of the World Series,” Mr. Levesque said. “I got into this business wanting to be great. It was something I hoped would happen and worked hard to achieve it, but it’s still a dream until it actually happens.”
Many characters
Over the years Mr. Levesque has played a lot of different characters, from an evil French guy in WCW to the sledgehammer wielding “cerebral assassin” he is today.
“You always look back at times like those and you wonder what you were thinking, but I wouldn’t be what I am today if I didn’t play those characters,” Mr. Levesque said. “Playing the Greenwich snob was a great character to me. People hated him and that was what he was supposed to do. That got me noticed and getting the reaction from the fans is what’s important. They can boo or they can cheer. But you don’t want them just sitting there on their hands and not reacting.”
Though Mr. Levesque has been both a bad guy and a good guy in the wrestling ring, it’s no contest as to which one he prefers.
“I definitely love being a bad guy,” Mr. Levesque said. “It’s much more fun to have people paying to scream at you and boo you and wanting for you to get the crap kicked out of you in the ring. I get to do a lot more crazy stuff as a bad guy. A lot of times when you go to the movies you see the villain is the better character. It’s always more fun to be Darth Vader than Luke Skywalker.”
Looking back upon his career, Mr. Levesque said he is especially proud of a match he had in 2002 with Shawn Michaels, who was coming back from a back injury that was thought to have prematurely ended his career.
“He was coming back from five years off and even though we were enemies in the ring, we’re good friends out of it,” Mr. Levesque said. “At the time he was thinking it might be his one and only match back, but it just went so well that it proved to him he could still do this full time. I was really proud of being in there with him and having this great match.”
Mr. Levesque has faced most of wrestling’s biggest names in the ring, with what he admits have been mixed results at times.
“I love the run as champion I had in 2000 when I just went from one great opponent to the next,” Mr. Levesque said. “I went from Mick Foley to The Rock to Stone Cold Steve Austin to Undertaker. I was facing all the top guys and we had some great matches. But sometimes the biggest names aren’t always the best in the ring. Bill Goldberg was no picnic. He’s just not very good. He’s a great guy, but not that good a wrestler. Scott Steiner was another big name that got brought in and he looked like a million bucks out there but he’d had a lot of injuries. I had a lot of trouble out there trying to have a match with him.”
Mr. Levesque is going for his 11th world championship at Wrestlemania, but he’s not sure if he’ll ever equal or surpass the 16 championships his friend and idol Mr. Flair has won.
“It’s been hard enough getting to number 10,” Mr. Levesque said. “Certainly trying to get the title gets harder and harder. It’s something I might like, but then again I don’t want to be one of guys who’s still going out there when he shouldn’t be and people look and go ‘Wow, remember when he used to be great.’ I want to still be great at what I do. I don’t want to be someone who’s out there just trying to get by on name recognition.”
Learning the business
Mr. Levesque was conspicuously absent from WWE programming for much of last summer and he said there were a few reasons behind it. He had received some minor injuries, including one to his neck, that he wanted to rest so they didn’t become bigger problems and he also wanted to take time to learn about the business of WWE outside of the ring by shadowing the WWE’s co-founder and chairman of the board of directors Vince McMahon at the company’s Stamford offices.
Mr. McMahon is not just Mr. Levesque’s boss, however. He is also his father-in-law. Mr. Levesque married Stephanie McMahon in 2003 and his close ties to the McMahon family have frequently come under fire. Mr. Levesque has been accused by some fans and colleagues of holding other wrestlers back to keep himself in the main event at major Pay-Per-Views.
“I hear all these stories about things I supposedly did or who I’m holding back and it doesn’t bother me,” Mr. Levesque said. “You just deal with it. There are people out there who are going to think you’re great and there are people out there who are going to think you’re crap. There have been some unfair claims, but I realize I’m a scapegoat for some people.”
In addition to focusing on what will come after his wrestling days are over, Mr. Levesque is about to undergo another life-changing experience. He and Stephanie are expecting their first child this July.
“It’s hard to believe I’ll be responsible for someone else,” Mr. Levesque said with a laugh. “I’m hardly responsible for myself.”
LOP/Acorn Newspapers