History Wrestling / TripleH

* DropTheHammer: His IconicItem / CompanionCube is a sledgehammer. Though he wields it in a highly unusual manner [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality because hitting somebody with a sledgehammer for real would cause severe legitimate injuries]]. Any time he swings the sledgehammer in the usual way he'll miss.

** As about fifteen years have passed, this could be purely coincidental (read: age), but it's likely that some of this has to do with his CharacterDevelopment from his snooty Connecticut blueblood gimmick to the macho, [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer-wielding]] brawler that he's been for the majority of his career.

** Either this or VocalDecay; when he first started, his voice was kind of high and nasal. As time as gone on, it's bottomed out and gotten more [[GutturalGrowler growly]].

Triple H, or Hunter Hearst Helmsley if you prefer (''[[TropeNamers not]]'' [[DoNotCallMePaul Paul Michael Levesque]], born July 27, 1969), was one of Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s longest tenured performers before announcing his in-ring retirement in March 2022. He is a nine-time [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Champion]], and has been part of some of the biggest angles and matches in the company's history. Currently, he is the [[{{Kayfabe}} on-screen]] Chief Operating Officer. In real life, he works in the backstage area of the business, as Executive Vice President of Talent Development and Relations, as well as a "Senior Advisor" to Vince [=McMahon=], and his position as Development EVP means that the developmental show Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} is a major focus of his. He was also given creative control of the then-floundering ''WWE 205 Live'' in January 2018.

Married (yes, for real - {{kayfabe}} made things kinda weird here, we know) to Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon, the daughter of WWE chairman/CEO Wrestling/VinceMcMahon.

Received his first induction into the 2019 Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame, as part of the group induction for Wrestling/DGenerationX. Though, considering his vast contribution to wrestling as a whole, both in and out of the squared circle, he's bound to receive more in the future. In June 2019, unknown to the world or even to himself, Trips would wrestle his final matches; after largely staying behind the scenes during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, he suffered a bout of viral pneumonia and subsequently experienced a "cardiac event" which permanently damaged his heart. He later went on to elaborate that he suffered an almost complete blockage of a major artery in his heart and narrowly escaped a 99%+ chance of death, requiring him to use an implanted pacemaker to prevent future catastrophes. In so making this announcement, he also brought an end to his in-ring career, permanently retiring from competition as of March 2022.

In light of Vince [=McMahon=]'s retirement from being the CEO and President of WWE, Triple H has returned to his position of EVP of Talent Development and Relations, as well as taking over the creative and booking duties, while his wife Stephanie and business partner Nick Khan have been appointed Co-Presidents of the company.

*** It is worth noticing though, that Hunter has gone on record to say he's willing to bury the hatchet (at least publicly) with Punk if he's willing to come back, as he believes it would be what's (legit) best for business. Hunter has a proven record of being good at mending fences (as the manager of the WWE Hall of Fame he managed to convince both Wrestling/BrunoSammartino and the Wrestling/UltimateWarrior to accept induction after ''years'' of refusing to have anything to do with it) so it's believable enough. Punk, on the other hand, has only hinted at attempting reconciliation as of recent.

* AnythingThatMoves[=/=]DepravedBisexual: Oh boy, if his history with HBK was anything. In the original DX, this was a pretty important part of his character. The biggest example was his immortal response when asked if he spoke Spanish like Wrestling/{{Chyna}}:
-->'''Wrestling/JimRoss:''' ''Didn't know you were bilingual.''\\
'''Triple H:''' ''I'm bi a lot of things, but lingual isn't one of them. [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud Wait, did I mean to say that?]]''\\
'''Jim Ross:''' ''[[DeadpanSnarker Probably not, but we're live.]]''

%%* : In the original DX, this was a pretty important part of his character. He also kissed Shawn Michaels a bunch of times and gave this immortal response when asked if he spoke Spanish like Wrestling/{{Chyna}}:
* {{Determinator}}:

** As about fifteen years have passed, this could be purely coincidental (read: age), but it's likely that some of this has to do with his CharacterDevelopment from his snooty Connecticut blueblood gimmick to the RatedMForManly, [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer-wielding]] brawler that he's been for the majority of his career.

* RatedMForManly: His singles competitor persona from 2005 to 2011. Gone are the [[BadassInANiceSuit custom three-piece suits]] of Evolution and the [[DepravedBisexual sexual ambiguity]]/[[VulgarHumor juvenile humor]] of Wrestling/DGenerationX. Instead he's a hammer-wielding badass with a Music/{{Motorhead}} VillainSong and a bad attitude.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Seems to work for him in varying degrees since becoming the onscreen Chief Operations Officer. He's managed to put down guys like Wrestling/BrockLesnar and Wrestling/{{Sting}} at ''[=WrestleMania=]'' but also couldn't beat [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]], Wrestling/TheUndertaker or Wrestling/RomanReigns. Then again, he won not only the ''Royal Rumble'' in 2016, but the world championship in the same fell swoop.

* BeardOfBarbarism: An interesting example. While by no means a face, he was clean-shaven during his early years under the "Connecticut Blueblood" gimmick, as a way to emphasize his snobbish holier-than-thou attitude and his penchant for proper etiquette. After forming D-Generation X with Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, and dropping the Blueblood gimmick, he began to grow a beard and began to wear UnderwearOfPower instead of his traditional tights, completing the transition with his "The Game" gimmick, in which he is now an untamed, sledgehammer-wielding larger-than-life hellraiser who can give Stone Cold Steve Austin a run for his money -- a look which he retained even after reforming DX. As an on-screen CorruptCorporateExecutive in the present, he now sports a PermaStubble to complement his crew-cut.

** Has been on the wrong end of a few beatdowns by his enemies with his own [[WeaponOfChoice sledgehammer.]]

* WeaponOfChoice: The [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer]].

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Hunter has switched allegiances, alliances and friends endlessly over the years. When he first started out in his BlueBlood gimmick, he was a heel and stayed heel during the first incarnation of DX. He then turned face shortly before Shawn left and turned heel upon his betrayal of the DX Army, and became a heelish main-eventer. He mostly played heels, with some face runs in between, up until his retirement when he became an onscreen authority figure who is [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure surprisingly benevolent]] despite his past actions.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Hunter has switched allegiances, alliances and friends endlessly over the years. When he first started out in his BlueBlood gimmick, he was a heel and stayed heel during the first incarnation of DX. He then turned face shortly before Shawn left and turned heel upon his betrayal of DX.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor

* TheCaligula: Along with Stephanie [=McMahon=] during the [[HostileShowTakeover McMahon-Helmsley Era]]

** For the most part Triple H is semi-retired, mainly due to his backstage duties piling up in preparation for when he finally does take over the company.

* DropTheHammer: His WeaponOfChoice / CompanionCube is a sledgehammer. Though he wields it in a highly unusual manner [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality because hitting somebody with a sledgehammer for real would cause severe legitimate injuries]]. Any time he swings the sledgehammer in the usual way he'll miss.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: From the low man on Wrestling/TheKliq totem pole and the guy who carried Wrestling/ShawnMichaels' bags to the guy who stands to potentially inherit the company in barely four years.
* GagNose: He lampshaded it in his Hall of Fame induction for Wrestling/ShawnMichaels:

* VillainTeamUp: In 2001, with Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin (as the Two-Man Power Trip).

*** He has been trying to talk Vince into resurrecting the [=WarGames=] match for years - which he finally managed to make happen in 2017 in NXT, booking a War Games match between Wrestling/{{SAnitY}} (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain), The Authors of Pain & Wrestling/RoderickStrong and Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra (Wrestling/AdamCole, Wrestling/BobbyFish and Wrestling/KyleOReilly) at the eponymous ''NXT [=TakeOver=]: [=WarGames=]'' event. It turned out to be a smashing success. While the first one was [[InNameOnly a heavily-modified version]] of the original [=WarGames=] format, the 2018 edition was (with the exception of the open-topped cage) a faithful recreation of the WCW original. With it subsequently becoming an annual event, the 2019 one even saw the first ''women's'' [=WarGames=] match (another example of this trope, as Trips is also noted for how hard he pushes the women on the roster).

* BashBrothers: With Wrestling/ShawnMichaels as part of the later incarnations of DX.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Invoked during DX's reunion on the season premiere of ''Raw'', where he tells them that they have to tone down their vulgarity and swears because of WWE's sponsors. It doesn't work, with Shawn blurting out a ClusterBleepBomb full of swears and later pointing to the presence of "four cocks" hanging out (which turn out to just be [[DoubleEntendre four rubber chickens]]).

* GlassCannon: He managed to blew out ''both'' of his quadriceps.

* BashBrothers: With Wrestling/ShawnMichaels.

* Bowdlerise: Invoked during DX's reunion on the season premiere of ''Raw'', where he tells them that they have to tone down their vulgarity and swears. It doesn't work, with Shawn blurting out a ClusterBleepBomb and pointing to the presence of "four cocks" (revealed to be four rubber chickens).

* AFatherToHisMen: Especially in contrast to his dictatorial father-in-law, Hunter is well-known for treating the wrestlers who work for him just as well as he might treat his own children, which is one of the major operating factors in the UndyingLoyalty so many from NXT would come to award him. He's not "Papa H" for no reason.

* AFatherToHisMen: Triple H ironically evolved into this upon becoming the head of NXT, mentoring the roster to the best of his abilities and just being overall nice to them.

* AscendedExtra: He was a pretty minor character in Wrestling/{{WCW}} as Jean-Paul Levesque. In WWE, he was the Kliq's DesignatedDriver and "the guy who carried Shawn Michaels' bags."

* TheStrategist: He's called "The Cerebral Assassin" for a reason. As a character and in real life, Triple H has mastered the psychology of professional wrestling. In [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield JBL's]] words (regarding potential ring rust on the part of Triple H), "This is a 13-time world champion. The brain doesn't rust!"

In light of Vince [=McMahon=]'s retirement from being the CEO and President of WWE, Triple H has returned to his position of EVP of Talent Development and Relations, as well as taking over the creative and booking duties, while his wife Stephanie and Nick Khan have been appointed Co-Presidents of the company.

Received his first induction into the 2019 Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame, as part of the group induction for Wrestling/DGenerationX. Though, considering his vast contribution to wrestling as a whole, both in and out of the squared circle, he's bound to receive more in the future. Trips wrestled his last matches in June 2019, before announcing on March 25, 2022, that he would never wrestle again after viral pneumonia in September 2021 resulted in a "cardiac event" that caused damage to his heart.

* ActionDad: Triple H has three daughters.

* GameBreakingInjury: [[{{Pun}} Jokes aside,]] The Game tearing his quad left him out of action for eight months in 2001, and tearing his ''other'' quad left him out of action for a similar amount of time in 2007.

* BerserkButtonL