Triple H

Jean Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969 in Nashua, New Hampshire) is an American professional wrestler, best known for performing under the name Hunter Hearst Helmsley or Triple H. He is a multi-time World Champion and the current World Heavyweight Champion of RAW.

HHH is a graduate of Killer Kowalski's wrestling school. In 1994 he joined the WCW, wrestling there as a heel under the names Terra Ryzin and Jean-Paul Levesque. He left in 1995 for WCW's rival organization, the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment). The WWF packaged him as heel Hunter Hearst Helmsley, a spoiled rich kid from Greenwich, Connecticut. Along with fellow Clique members Shawn Michaels and Chyna, he formed D-Generation X in 1997. This was the beginning of a meteoric rise to become one of the most successful wrestlers ever.

During Triple H's WWE career, he has held an impressive number of titles, including WWE Championship, the WWE Intercontinental Championship, the WWE European Championship, and the WWE World Tag Team Championship (held with Stone Cold Steve Austin as his partner) as well as winning the 1997 King of the Ring. He is only the second of five men to have held all four of those titles, the first being Shawn Michaels. Though the WWE claim he has held 9 world titles, it is in fact 10, as when Triple H defeated the Chris Jericho to win the WWF Undisputed Championship, he won both the WWF Championship and the World Championship, and was the title holder when the two belts were consolidated into one distinct title. Since they he was awarded the belt once and won it a further 3 more times, from Shawn Michaels, Goldberg and Randy Orton, as well as 5 reigns as WWF/WWE Champion as well, totalling 10.

The most difficult moment of HHH's career occurred during a match on a live broadcast of Monday Night RAW on May 21, 2001 where he suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury. A misstep caused him to suffer a tear in his left quadriceps muscle. Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H completed his part in the remaining few minutes of the match - an admirable display of dedication to the business. He even allowed one of his opponents in the tag team match, Chris Jericho, to place him in his standard finishing maneuver, the "Walls of Jericho" (Boston crab), a move that places considerable stress on the quadriceps. The tear required an operation, which was performed by famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews. The rigorous rehabilitation process kept him out of action until January 7, 2002, over seven months.

Triple H is one of the most controversial figures in the history of the business. Many pundits have criticised him for using backstage political leverage to hog screen time, retain titles, elevate his friends, and generally hold down talented workers who might otherwise deserve to share the limelight with him. At the same time, his career is filled with legendary performances against a wide variety of opponents, ranging from newcomers to some of the greatest champions ever. All else aside, he continuously draws one of the biggest crowd reactions (whether cheered or booed) in any arena he performs in - a mark of high success in the wrestling world.

Triple H is married to Stephanie McMahon [1], and is the son-in-law of WWE owner Vince McMahon.

Triple H's WWE Championship Reigns
Won from: Mankind	First	Lost to: Vince McMahon
Won from: vacant	Second	Lost to: Big Show
Won from: Big Show	Third	Lost to: The Rock
Won from: The Rock	Fourth	Lost to: The Rock
Won from: Chris Jericho	Fifth. Won with World Title, this became Undisputed title	Lost to: Hulk Hogan

Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship Reigns
Won from: Chris Jericho	First. Won with WWE title these titles were then joined together to become an undistuped title	Lost to: Hulk Hogan
Won from: awarded	Second	Lost to: Shawn Michaels
Won from: Shawn Michaels	Third	Lost to: Bill Goldberg
Won from: Bill Goldberg	Fourth	Lost to: Chris Benoit
Won from: Randy Orton	Fifth	Lost to: Current Champion

Triple H is currently the World Heavyweight Champion for the fifth time (counting his simultaneous winning of it and the WWF Championship in 2002, before they were combined, as his first). He is also in 10th reign as a recognized World Champion, having already won the WWE Championship 5 times as well. He began his ninth title reign on September 12, 2004 by beating former Evolution member Randy Orton with the help of current Evolution members Ric Flair and Batista.

This number is controversial as the WWE themselves claim Triple H is only a 9 time total champion, yet when Triple H defeated the Chris Jericho to win the WWE Undisputed Championship, he won both the WWE Championship and the World Championship, and was the title holder when the two belts were consolidated into one distinct title. Since they he was awarded the belt once and won it a further 3 more times, from Shawn Michaels, Goldberg and now Randy Orton.

Matches generally regarded as HHH's most notable performances:

versus The Rock - WWE Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match - SummerSlam, 8/30/1998

versus Cactus Jack - WWE Championship Street Fight - Royal Rumble 1/23/2000

versus Cactus Jack - WWE Championship Hell In A Cell Match - No Way Out, 2/27/2000

versus The Rock - WWE Championship 60 Minute Ironman Match - Judgment Day, 5/21/2000

versus Chris Jericho - Last Man Standing Match - Fully Loaded 7/23/2000

versus Stone Cold Steve Austin - Best 2 Of 3 Falls Match - No Way Out, 2/25/2001

versus The Undertaker - WrestleMania 17, 4/1/2001

versus Shawn Michaels - Nonsanctioned Match - SummerSlam, 8/25/2002

versus Ric Flair - World Heavyweight Championship Match - WWE RAW, 5/19/2003

versus Shawn Michaels - World Heavyweight Championship Match - WWE RAW, 12/29/2003

versus Shawn Michaels - World Heavyweight Championship Last Man Standing Match - Royal Rumble, 1/25/2004

versus Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels - World Heavyweight Championship Match - WrestleMania 20, 3/14/2004

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