Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27 1969) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of his former Hunter Hearst Helmsley moniker. He currently wrestles for the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Before joining WWE, Levesque began his wrestling career with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993, wrestling under the name Terra Ryzing. He changed his gimmick to Jean-Paul Lévesque, before joining World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) in 1995.

Since joining WWE, he has become an 11-time world champion: a six-time WWE Champion and a five-time World Heavyweight Champion. In addition, he won the 1997 King of the Ring, the 2002 Royal Rumble, and was the second Grand Slam Champion.

He married Stephanie McMahon in 2003, becoming the son-in-law of WWE chairman Vince McMahon. Outside of wrestling, Levesque has made numerous guest appearances in film and on television. He is starring in the upcoming WWE Film Journey of Death.

Levesque was born in Nashua, New Hampshire on July 27 1969. Although tall and skinny for his age, he participated in both basketball and baseball. He was also a fan of professional wrestling. In his youth, his favorite wrestler was Ric Flair.

At the age of 14, he became aware of bodybuilding. After graduating high school in 1987, he entered several body building competitions. Levesque was crowned Teenage Mr. New Hampshire at the age of 19. During this time, he met Ted Arcidi and began to consider a career in professional wrestling.

Levesque enrolled at Killer Kowalski's wrestling school in 1992 after it was recommended to him byTed Arcidi. He joined the Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF), which used trainees from Kowalski's school in their promotion. Here, he became the IWF Heavyweight Champion and an IWF Tag Team Champion with fellow Kowalski trainee, Perry Saturn. It was in the IWF that Levesque started using the name Terra Ryzing.

In early 1994, he joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), wrestling as a heel. In his first televised match, he defeated Brian Armstrong. He continued using the name Terra Ryzing until mid-1994, when he was renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque. This gimmick was in reference to his surname's French origins. 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.

Lévesque had a brief storyline feud with Alex Wright that culminated at Starrcade. In early 1995, Lévesque briefly teamed with Lord Steven Regal, whose snobby British persona was a good match with Lévesque's similar persona. The team was short-lived, however, as Lévesque soon left for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), after WCW shot down Levesque's request to be pushed as a singles competitor.

As a continuation of his gimmick in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Triple H 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.

Although he was heavily pushed in the first few months after his debut, his career stalled during 1996, starting off with being mired in a feud with Duke "The Dumpster" Droese following a loss in the Free For All at the 1996 Royal Rumble. Up until that event, his angle included appearing on television each week with a different female valet. Sable was his valet at WrestleMania XII, and after his loss to Ultimate Warrior, he kayfabe took his aggressions out on her. The debuting Marc Mero came to her rescue, and this started a storyline feud between the two wrestlers.

Helmsley was best known backstage as one of the members of the Clique, 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. Helmsley was in line to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, but he was buried and demoted from championship contender to jobber to the stars, after the Madison Square Garden Incident, in which the Clique 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. He found a manager in Mr. Perfect and was booked to win his first Intercontinental Championship 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 dropped it to Rocky Maivia on the February 13 1997 edition of a special 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, assaulting Goldust's wife and valet Marlena.

Helmsley's push resumed in 1997, when he won the King of the Ring tournament on June 8 1997 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", along with a "crotch chop" hand motion, and sarcastically deriding Bret Hart and Canada. By now, Helmsley had fully dropped the "blueblood snob" gimmick and adopted the name of Triple H.

Even after the DX versus Hart Foundation storyline ended when Bret, Jim Neidhart, and Davey Boy Smith defected to WCW, Helmsley began to feud with the sole remaining member Owen Hart over the WWF European Championship. This culminated in a match between the two at WrestleMania XIV, the stipulation of which stated that Chyna had to be handcuffed to then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Hunter won when Chyna interfered after blinding Slaughter with a powder shot to the face. After WrestleMania XIV, Michaels was forced into retirement due to a legitimate back injury sustained at the 1998 Royal Rumble, and Triple H took over the leadership position in DX, kayfabe 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 ("Bad Ass" Billy Gunn and "Road Dogg" Jesse James).

Triple H led the "DX Army" throughout 1998, spawning a series of vignettes where the DX army "invaded" the CNN Building and WCW Offices in Atlanta, culminating in the group nearly crashing an episode of Nitro in Virginia. This was the first time he had performed as a face in the WWF. It was also during this time that Triple H began feuding with the leader of the Nation of Domination and rising WWF heel, The Rock. This storyline rivalry eventually led to a feud over The Rock's Intercontinental Championship. Triple H was booked to defeat The Rock in a ladder match at SummerSlam 1998 to capture the title. He did not hold the title long, however, as he was sidelined with a legitimate knee injury. When The Rock won the WWF Championship at the Survivor Series 1998, the rivalry between the two continued, as DX fought Vince McMahon's Corporation stable, of which Rock was the main star. Triple H received a shot at the WWF Championship on the January 25 1999 edition of RAW in an "I Quit" match against The Rock, but was kayfabe forced to quit or see his aide Chyna chokeslammed by Kane. This began a new angle for Triple H, as Chyna attacked him after the match and joined the Corporation, betraying him.

As part of the storyline, at WrestleMania XV Triple H wrestled as a face for the last time in several months when he beat Kane with the aid of Chyna, who 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, thus turning heel and taking Chyna with him. This decision helped push Triple H further in the direction of the WWF Championship. Triple H then joined the Corporation, briefly placing him on the same side as The Rock. Unable to get along, The Rock turned on the Corporation and took Triple H's place as a face. After Triple H's heel turn in early 1999, he moved away from his "DX" look, taping his fists for matches, sporting new and shorter wrestling trunks, and adopting a shorter hairstyle. His gimmick changed as he fought to earn a WWF title shot. After numerous failed attempts at winning the championship, Triple H and Mankind challenged WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin at SummerSlam 1999 in a triple threat match, which featured Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the special guest referee. Mankind was booked to win the match by pinning Austin, becoming a three-time WWF champion. However, the following night on RAW, Triple H defeated Mankind to win his first WWF Championship.

Triple H dropped the WWE Championship to Vince McMahon on the September 16 1999 edition of SmackDown!, before regaining it at Unforgiven in a Six-Pack Challenge which included Davey Boy Smith, Big Show, Kane, The Rock, and Mankind. He defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin at No Mercy 1999, before dropping the title to The Big Show at Survivor Series 1999.

By January 2000, already a three-time WWF champion, Triple H had dubbed himself "The Game", implying that he was at the top of the wrestling world, and was dubbed "The Cerebral Assassin" by Jim Ross. His storyline feud with Vince McMahon continued with McMahon winning the title from Triple H during an episode of SmackDown!. However, the short-lived feud started the angle with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon that carried the WWF throughout the next seventeen months; this period was known as the "McMahon-Helmsley Era".

Triple H worked a program with Mick Foley in early 2000, which ended in a Hell in a Cell match at No Way Out 2000 that sent Foley into retirement. By the time Triple H pinned The Rock at WrestleMania 2000, he was one of the most over WWF stars, generating enormous heat for his entrance and promos alone. He lost the title at April's Backlash to The Rock, but regained it two months later, in an Iron Man match at Judgment Day, only to lose it back to The Rock at King of the Ring. Hunter then entered into a storyline feud with Chris Jericho, which cultivated in a Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded 2000.

A Triple Threat match against WWF Champion The Rock and Kurt Angle led to an angle between Angle and Triple H, which centered around Angle's infatuation with Stephanie. Triple H and Kurt Angle began fighting before the match started (and before The Rock made his entrance). Triple H dragged Angle to an announce table and set him up for The Pedigree, planning on performing the move through the table. In this instance, however, the table gave way just as Triple H was jumping up. This resulted in a genuine concussion for Angle, and Triple H and Rock had to improvise much of the match while Angle recovered.

A later storyline feud between Triple H and Steve Austin started when it emerged that Triple H had paid off Rikishi to run down Austin at Survivor Series 1999, causing him to take a year off action. In reality, Austin's previous neck injuries started bothering him again, forcing him to have surgery. The Game and Austin fought in a battle at Survivor Series 2000 that ended when Triple H tried to trick Austin into coming into the parking lot to run him over again, only to have Austin lift his car up with a forklift and flip the car onto its roof 10 feet high. Triple H returned a few weeks later and attacked Austin. The feud continued into 2001 and culminated in a Three Stages of Hell match in which Helmsley defeated Austin. In 2001, Triple H also feuded with The Undertaker, who defeated him at WrestleMania X-Seven. He later teamed with his former nemesis Austin to form The Two-Man Power Trip, capturing both the WWF Tag Team Titles and the Intercontinental Championship (twice) by the end of the next pay-per-view.

During the May 21 2001 broadcast of RAW, he suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury. In the night's main event, he and Steve Austin were defending the Tag Team titles against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. At one point, Jericho had Austin trapped in his Walls of Jericho submission hold. Triple H ran-in to break it up, but just as he did, he suffered a tear in his left quadriceps muscle, causing it to come completely off the bone. Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match. He even allowed Jericho to put him in the Walls of Jericho, a move that places considerable stress on the quadriceps. The tear required an operation, which was performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, in Birmingham. This injury brought an abrupt end to the McMahon-Helmsley Era, as the rigorous rehabilitation process kept Triple H out of action for over eight months, completely missing the Invasion storyline of WCW/ECW.

Triple H returned to RAW as a face on January 7 2002 at Madison Square Garden. He was booked to win that year's Royal Rumble, and thus received a WWF Undisputed Championship match in the main event at WrestleMania X8. At WrestleMania X8, Triple H beat Chris Jericho for the WWF Undisputed Championship. After holding the title for a month, Helmsley dropped it to Hulk Hogan at Backlash 2002. Triple H then became exclusive to the SmackDown! roster due to the WWF Draft Lottery and continued to feud with Chris Jericho, culminating in a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day.

In the interim, between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, the McMahon-Helmsley era was brought to an official on-screen conclusion. By the time he returned, Triple H's kayfabe marriage to Stephanie was on the rocks, so Stephanie faked a pregnancy in order to get him back on her side. When he learned that it was fake, he dumped her publicly on RAW when they were supposed to renew their wedding vows. Stephanie aligned with Chris Jericho afterward, but she was forced to leave action after losing a triple threat on RAW the night after WrestleMania when she was pinned by Triple H. The divorce, and thus the storyline, was finalized at Vengeance.

Meanwhile, Triple H's old DX companion Shawn Michaels had made his return to WWE and joined the nWo, and Michaels and Kevin Nash planned to bring Triple H over to RAW in order to put him into the group. However, Vince McMahon disbanded the nWo following several backstage complications and brought in Eric Bischoff as RAW's new general manager. One of Bischoff's first intentions was to follow up on the nWo's plan and woo Triple H over to the RAW roster. Triple H did indeed jump over to RAW, reuniting with Shawn Michaels, but on July 22 2002, he turned heel once again by turning on Michaels, hitting a surprise Pedigree on him during what was supposed to be a DX reunion. The following week, Triple H smashed Michaels' face into a car window to prove that Michaels was "weak". These events led to the beginning of a long storyline rivalry between the former partners and an eventual "Unsanctioned Street Fight" at SummerSlam 2002, in which Michaels came out of retirement and won. Afterwards, however, Triple H attacked him with a sledgehammer, and Michaels was carried out of the ring.

Prior to September 2 2002, WWE recognized only one Champion for both RAW and SmackDown! However, after SummerSlam, champion Brock Lesnar signed a storyline deal to become exclusive to SmackDown!, leaving RAW without a champion. RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff then awarded the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H in the form of the old WCW Championship belt. Triple H was pushed by having successful title defenses against Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, Kane, and others, but eventually dropped the belt to Shawn Michaels in the first ever Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002. He regained the title from Michaels a month later in a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon 2002.

In January 2003, Triple H formed Evolution with Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista. Its purpose was to include the "greatest wrestlers" of the past (Flair), present (Triple H), and future (Orton and Batista). The group was pushed on RAW from 2003 to 2004, the height of their dominance occurring after Armageddon 2003 when every member of Evolution was booked to win a title. Triple H beat Goldberg to win the World Heavyweight Championship, Randy Orton beat Rob Van Dam to win the Intercontinental Championship, and Ric Flair and Batista beat The Dudley Boyz to win the World Tag Team Championship. Triple H held the belt for most of 2003, feuding with and ultimately defeating former WCW talent including former WCW World Heavyweight Champions Scott Steiner, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Goldberg in main events.

At the Royal Rumble, Triple H and Shawn Michaels fought in a Last Man Standing match. Both men fought to a double countout, so Triple H retained the title. Triple H lost his title to Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XX, and he was unable to reclaim the belt from Benoit in subsequent rematches, including an exact rematch of the WrestleMania main event between Triple H, Benoit, and Shawn Michaels at Backlash.

He then ended his angle with Michaels, defeating him in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 2004. After another failed attempt, losing to Chris Benoit at Vengeance, he focused on Eugene, beating him at SummerSlam. Triple H then regained the title from former associate Randy Orton at Unforgiven. Following a triple threat World title defense against Chris Benoit and Edge on the November 29 2004 episode of RAW, the World Heavyweight Championship became vacant for the first time.

At New Year's Revolution, Triple H won the Elimination Chamber to begin his 10th world title reign. At WrestleMania 21, Triple H lost the championship to Batista, and subsequently lost two rematches at consecutive RAW pay-per-views: Backlash 2005 and Vengeance 2005. Following this, Triple H took some time off from wrestling, learning about the corporate side of WWE in preparation for a future full-time executive position, as well as to film the future WWE films project Journey of Death.

Triple H returned to RAW on October 3 2005 as part of WWE Homecoming to a tremendous ovation, even though at the time he took his absence, he was a heel. He teamed up with Ric Flair (who had turned face during Triple H's absence) against Chris Masters and Carlito. Triple H and Flair won, but Triple H then turned on Flair with his sledgehammer. Triple H then began a feud with Flair. They met in a Steel cage match at Taboo Tuesday for Flair's Intercontinental Championship, a match that Flair won. However, Triple H defeated Flair in a non-title Last Man Standing match at Survivor Series and ended their feud.

Although Triple H failed to win the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble to earn a title shot, another championship opportunity arose for Triple H in the Road to WrestleMania Tournament. He won it, granting him a match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22. At WrestleMania 22, Triple H and John Cena fought in the main event for the WWE Championship, which Triple H lost via submission. Later that month at Backlash 2006, Triple H was involved in another WWE Championship match, fighting Edge and John Cena in a Triple Threat match, where he lost again. In an act of frustration, a bloodied Triple H used his sledgehammer to kayfabe attack both Edge and Cena and then performed a number of DX crotch chops. Triple H unsuccessfully attempted to win the WWE title from Cena on numerous occasions, blaming his shortcomings on Vince McMahon, which eventually lead to a storyline feud between the McMahons and Triple H.

Shawn Michaels returned on the June 12 2006 edition of RAW and soon reunited with Triple H to reform their previous wrestling stable, D-Generation X. DX defeated the Spirit Squad at Vengeance 2006 in a 5-on-2 handicap match. DX continued their feud with Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and the Spirit Squad for several weeks. They then defeated the Spirit Squad again at Saturday Night's Main Event in a 5-on-2 Elimination match. They then again defeated the McMahons at SummerSlam 2006, withstanding the attack of several handpicked WWE superstars by Vince McMahon. At Unforgiven 2006, D-Generation X overcame the odds once again, defeating The McMahons and ECW World Champion Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match (the seventh Hell in a Cell match for Triple H and the third for Shawn Michaels). DX embarrassed Vince by shoving his face in between the Big Show's buttocks during the match, and DX won when Triple H broke a sledgehammer over the shoulders of Vince McMahon after Michaels delivered Sweet Chin Music to him.

At Cyber Sunday 2006 during their feud with Edge and Randy Orton, the fans selected special guest referee Eric Bischoff, who allowed the illegal use of a weapon to give Rated-RKO the ill-gotten win. At Survivor Series 2006, DX got their revenge when their team defeated Edge and Randy Orton's team in an Elimination Match with a clean sweep. At New Year's Revolution 2007, DX and Rated-RKO fought to a no-contest after Triple H suffered a legitimate torn right quadriceps (similar to the one he suffered in 2001 but in the other leg) fifteen minutes into the match. A successful surgery was performed on January 9 2007 by Dr. James Andrews.

Triple H made his in-ring return at SummerSlam 2007, defeating King Booker with his signature finishing move, the Pedigree. Upon his return on RAW, he humiliated Carlito at his Cabana, starting a feud between the two, that lead to a match at Unforgiven, in which there were No Disqualifications for Carlito. Nevertheless, Triple H won the match after a Pedigree.

He won the WWE Championship at No Mercy 2007 after beating the newly named Champion, Randy Orton who had been awarded the title less than 20 minutes earlier, making him an 11-time World Champion. In the same event, Triple H also defeated Umaga in his first title defense after Mr. McMahon declared his already-scheduled bout with Umaga a title match. McMahon then announced Orton would receive a title rematch in a Last Man Standing match in the final match of the event; which Orton won and ended Triple H's sixth reign. Triple H's title reign at No Mercy is the fourth shortest reign in WWE history, only lasting through the duration of the event.

*Finishing and signature moves **Pedigree (Double underhook facebuster), normally preceded by a kick to the midsection **Spinning spinebuster **Facebuster knee smash, as a back body drop counter **Figure four leglock **High knee **Indian deathlock **Chop block **Knee drop **Falling neckbreaker *Signature foreign objects **Sledgehammer *Managers **Chyna **Ric Flair **Mr. Hughes **Mr. Perfect **Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley **Vince McMahon **Shawn Michaels **Lord Steven Regal **"Ravishing" Rick Rude **Sable

*Signature taunts **Crotch chop ("Suck it" taunt) **Showing off his muscles, put together with Shawn Michaels **Arms crossed (the DX "X") **Throwing the arms back and puffing out the chest **Spitting out water during his entrance

*Nicknames **The Connecticut Blueblood **The Cerebral Assassin **The Game **The King of Kings

*Theme music **"Break it Down" by Chris Warren (Theme for D-Generation X) **"My Time" by Chris Warren **"The Game" by Drowning Pool **"''The Game''" by Motörhead **"Line in the Sand" by Motörhead (Theme for Evolution) **"King of Kings" by Motörhead **"''The Game''" by Motörhead, w/ "''King of Kings''" intro

*Independent Wrestling Federation **IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **IWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Perry Saturn * World Wrestling Entertainment **WWF/E Championship (6 times) **WWF European Championship (2 times) **WWF Intercontinental Championship (5 times) **WWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Stone Cold Steve Austin **World Heavyweight Championship (5 times) **King of the Ring (1997) **Royal Rumble (2002) **Grand Slam Championship (second) **Triple Crown Championship (seventh) *Pro Wrestling Illustrated **PWI Feud of the Year award in 2000 – vs. Kurt Angle **PWI ranked him # 1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000. **PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 2003 **PWI ranked him # 139 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003. **PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 2004 **PWI Feud of the Year award in 2004 – vs. Chris Benoit **PWI Match of the Year award in 2004 – vs. Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XX, March 14 2004) **PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 2005 *Wrestling Observer Newsletter **Feud of the Year award in 2000 – vs. Mick Foley **Performer of the Year award in 2000 **Feud of the Year award in 2004 – vs. Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels **Feud of the Year award in 2005 – vs. Batista **Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)

His commercial appearances include ads in May 2006 for Miller Lite where 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 the main comedic factor being fellow wrestler John Cena leaving a sunburn enhanced handprint on Triple H's back. He has appeared in commercials for bodybuilding supplements such as Stacker 2's and YJ Stinger. Levesque also appeared in a Wendy's commercial holding up a Triple Classic Burger calling it the "Triple H Burger".

Levesque appeared in the movie Blade: Trinity, as a vampire enforcer named Jarko Grimwood. He is also starring in the upcoming WWE Film Journey of Death.

Levesque was 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. His television appearances also include guest appearances as Triple H on MADtv and Saturday Night Live, as a professional wrestler character named "The Disciplinarian" on an episode of The Drew Carey Show, as a character on an episode of The Bernie Mac Show and winning the WWF Edition of The Weakest Link in which he and Stephanie McMahon were the final two contestants. Levesque has also been a guest announcer for the Mr. Olympia competition.

Before marrying Stephanie McMahon, Levesque was in a relationship with Joanie Laurer (who appeared as Chyna). They dated for four years from 1996 until 2000. Levesque married Stephanie McMahon on October 25 2003. He and Stephanie welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Aurora Rose Levesque, into the world on July 24 2006.

He has a sister named Lynn, and he is an uncle to her two children: Peter and Nayssa. Levesque is also an uncle to brother-in-law Shane McMahon's two sons: Declan and Kenyon. His in-laws are Vince and Linda McMahon.

In late 2004, Levesque released a book entitled Making the Game: Triple H's Approach to a Better Body. Mostly devoted to bodybuilding advice, the book also includes some autobiographical information, memoirs, and opinions.

In a November 14 2006 interview with rapper The Game, it was revealed that Levesque is involved in a lawsuit with him over the rights to the name, "The Game".

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