'The Game' Triple H is a name and face that everyone knows in the world of professional wrestling, and if you weren't already aware of who he is, then we'd kindly have to ask what rock you've been living under.
Alas, while he may be a notable figure, that doesn't necessarily mean he's the most popular guy in the world.
Some folks love him and others hate him, and it kind of balances out pretty well amongst most fans. Either way, we're going to try and figure out exactly what it is that makes him such a polarising member of the wrestling family.
20 LOVE - His New Look
Over the course of the last few years, The Game has transformed his look to the point where he kind of resembles something of a supervillain.
He’s gone bold which is a look that actually quite suits him, and he’s also grown a beard that would make the majority of vikings jealous.
It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to stay like this forever, but we’re cool with it.
19 HATE - Saudi Arabia Deal
The Saudi Arabia deal is something that every WWE fan knows is wrong on some level, and there’s just no way of getting around it. While Vince may have been the one to set the wheels in motion, you just know that Triple H had a pretty big role to play.
18 LOVE - NXT
NXT has been the source of many, many top stars that currently reside on WWE’s main roster, and you simply cannot understate the role that Triple H has played in that. He’s been at the forefront of the experiment since the beginning, and long may it continue as we look ahead to the future.
17 HATE - CM Punk Dilemma
Triple H quite clearly always had an issue of some kind with CM Punk, and we saw that manifest itself when Punk left the company. His podcast with Colt Cabana was pretty clear and direct: these two just did not like each other and that was painfully obvious for a long time.
16 LOVE - Wednesday Night Wars
Wednesday evenings are now the most electric night in all of professional wrestling, and a lot of that is down to Triple H moving NXT to the USA Network – competing head to head with All Elite Wrestling in the process. It’s a power play, and we approve of the message behind it.
15 HATE - Mr. Burial
There are a million and one wrestlers that The Game was perceived to have buried, from Booker T to Goldberg and beyond. There’s actually quite a lot of value in that idea, and it’ll be interesting to see how history looks back on his time at the top as a singles competitor.
14 LOVE - NXT UK
There’s still a long way to go before NXT UK can officially be considered a success, but we’d say they’re on their way towards doing some pretty big things. Not many people thought this brand would work, but HHH clearly saw a great deal of potential in it from the start.
13 HATE - Stephanie Association
He’s married to Stephanie McMahon and while most people are perfectly okay with that fact, his association with her alone is enough to frustrate the masses. Steph continues to reign supreme as one of the most annoying characters on WWE television, and that’s just a fact that people need to understand.
12 LOVE - 2002 Return
Triple H made his triumphant return from injury on an episode of Monday Night RAW back in January 2002, and the reaction from the crowd was unlike anything we’ve ever seen from throughout the game’s career. You could argue that at this moment, he peaked – or at least his popularity did.
11 HATE - Katie Vick Storyline
Nobody wants to drag up horrible old storylines from the past, but it’s hard not to pick up on the fact that Triple H was one of the two superstars involved in the Katie Vick storyline.
To say it was tasteless would be an understatement. Hopefully, it’s forgotten over time.
10 LOVE - Old School DX
DX was an institution within pop culture and we don’t say that lightly. Back in the day, they were considered to be the coolest faction in the game alongside the New World Order, and if it wasn’t for Triple H, you could argue that this wouldn’t be the case whatsoever.
9 HATE - WrestleMania 29
WrestleMania seems to be Triple H’s time to shine – in the mind of Triple H, that is.
At WrestleMania 29 he beat Brock Lesnar, derailing his momentum pretty handily. Sure, Lesnar built his way back up, but it’s still annoying that this loss is officially on his record for life.
8 LOVE - Prime Heel HHH
Back in the late nineties and early noughties, Triple H was the man. He was at the pinnacle of his powers as a top-level heel, and he was thriving off the energy of the crowd.
The Game knew how to work it better than anyone else as a bad guy
7 HATE - Montreal Screwjob
Sure, the main people involved in the Screwjob were Vince McMahon, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, but let’s not pretend like The Game didn’t have something to do with it. He was there and he was by Shawn’s side every step of the way like a little minion. It’s kind of sickening.
6 LOVE - Hope For The Future
Vince McMahon isn’t going to be around as the leading man forever, and when he finally walks away, it’s going to come down to Triple H to lead us into the future. Given how much joy he’s had with that up to this point, we can’t say that we’re all too worried.
5 HATE - The RAW Opening Promo Era
A few years ago when Triple H turned heel once again, he seemed to invent the opening promo era on Monday Night RAW. For a good few years, the show seemed to feature a 20-30 minute speech and boy did it get tiring after a while. We kind of want to scrub it from our memory.
4 LOVE - Media Availability
You have to make time for the media in the current era because they are the ones that drive the attention and focus on the product. We all know that to be the truth, and HHH has made a point of trying to open up more opportunities for the media to talk to him. Access is important, after all.
3 HATE - Over The Top Mania Entrances
WrestleMania will live forever and is all about being the showcase of the immortals, but the over the top entrances that HHH has done over the years kind of takes it to a whole new level. It’s just a bit embarrassing, in our opinion, mainly because others could be getting that kind of shine instead.
2 LOVE - Big Match Feel
For better or worse, a Triple H match feels big and it probably always will until the day he retires. He is a well-known figure in the industry and there’s always a certain level of importance attached to the contest when he gets inside the squared circle to compete.
1 HATE - The Sting Issue
Sting came in hoping to be treated with a little bit of respect in WWE, but when he lost to Triple H at WrestleMania 31, there were simply no excuses. Nobody can tell us that this was a good move because it just wasn’t, in any way, shape or form.
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