Triple H

**Paul Michael Levesque** (born July 27, 1969), better known by his ring name **Triple H** (an abbreviation of his character's full name, **Hunter Hearst Helmsley**), is an American professional wrestler, business executive, actor, and former bodybuilder. Levesque currently works in the front office of WWE as the Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events; he appears as Triple H on television as the chief operating officer and part-time wrestler. He was also at one point the General Manager of Raw.

Levesque began his wrestling career in the International Wrestling Federation as **Terra Ryzing** before joining World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He soon became **Jean-Paul Lévesque**, a French Canadian aristocrat, similar to the Hunter Hearst Helmsley character he would later portray in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He later abbreviated his name to Triple H and adopted an alternative image in the D-Generation X (DX) stable.

After the dissolution of DX, Triple H was pushed as a main event wrestler, winning several singles championships. In 2003, Triple H formed another stable known as Evolution, and reformed DX with Shawn Michaels in 2006 and 2009. Levesque is heavily involved in the writing process of WWE programming, and holds complete creative control over his television character's storylines, win/loss record, and championship reigns.

Overall, Levesque has won seven championships including being a three-time World Champion, having held the WWE Championship twice and the World Heavyweight Championship once. He is also a four-time WWE Tag Team Champion winning it twice with Shawn Michaels, once each with Randy Orton and Steve Austin. In 2012 Levesque was inducted into the 2012 Hall of Fame along with Michaels. Triple H has also served as the General Manager of RAW, on-screen he was relived of his duties however behind the scenes he is still the General Manager of RAW. After months of inactivity Triple H returned in June 2013.

## Early life

Paul Levesque was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. In his youth, he was a fan of professional wrestling and his favorite wrestler was Ric Flair. Levesque became aware of bodybuilding at the age of fourteen; after graduating from high school in 1987, Levesque entered several bodybuilding competitions. He was crowned Teenage Mr. New Hampshire in 1988.

## Professional wrestling career

### World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2005–present)

#### Return (2013–present)

At Invasion Triple H made his return as the mystery partner for Project Mayhem, while also revealing himself to be the man behind Project Mayhem all along, thus renaming it to Team Triple H. Triple H was the last men left for his team before being eliminated by Travis Kooper after Eric Bischoff hit Triple H in the back of the head with a lead pipe.

## Backstage roles

In 2010, Levesque's role as an Executive Senior Advisor was officially formalized as he was given an office at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Levesque was named Executive Vice President, Talent in 2011. In this role he oversees the talent relations and talent development departments, training of performers and management of worldwide recruitment. In addition to his talent duties, Levesque has worked as a director and producer of the creative direction and storylines of WWE's programming.

Following his departure from TV in 2012, TMZ.com reported a photo of Levesque with a buzz cut, a far departure from the long locks that he had been known for. WWE.com later confirmed the new hair cut, mentioning that Levesque got the hair cut for informal attire-based reasons due to his backstage involvement with the company.

## Personal life

He has a sister named Lynn. In late 2004, Levesque released a book titled 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 wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Pedigree* (Double underhook facebuster) - 1995–present
	+ *Pedigree Pandemonium / Pedigree Perfection* (Cutter) - 1994–1995

* **Signature moves**
	+ Abdominal stretch
	+ Blatant choke
	+ Chop block
	+ Facebreaker knee smash, often used as a back body drop counter
	+ Figure four leglock
	+ Flowing DDT
	+ High knee
	+ Jumping knee drop
	+ Mounted punches
	+ Running clothesline
	+ Running neckbreaker
	+ Short arm clothesline
	+ Sleeper hold
	+ Sledgehammer shot
	+ Spinning spinebuster

* **Managers**
	+ Shawn Michaels
	+ Ric Flair

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

* **Entrance themes**
	+ "My Time" by The DX Band (June 27, 1999 – December 10, 2000)
	+ "Break It Down" by The DX Band (Used while apart of DX)
	+ **"The Game"** by Motörhead (January 8, 2001–present)
	+ "Line in the Sand" by Motörhead (Used while a member of Evolution)
	+ "King of Kings" by Motörhead (used for promos and as prelude to "The Game"; April 2, 2006–present)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE**
	+ World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WWE Championship (2 times)
	+ WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Shawn Michaels (2), Randy Orton (1) & Steve Austin (1)
	+ Money in the Bank (2006, 2008)
	+ Hall of Fame (2012)
	+ Chief Operating Officer of WWE - current
	+ General Manager of Raw