Training and early career (1990–1993) In early 1990, Levesque began to train as a professional wrestler at Killer Kowalski's school in Malden. His classmates included fellow future WWF wrestlers
Chyna, whom he would later date, and
Perry Saturn. He made his professional debut under the
ring name Terra Ryzing (a play on "terrorizing") in Kowalski's
International Wrestling Federation (IWF) on March 24, 1992, defeating Tony Roy. In July 1992, he defeated Mad Dog Richard to win the IWF Heavyweight Championship. Managed by John Rodeo, he wrestled for various promotions on the East Coast
independent circuit until 1993.
World Championship Wrestling (1994–1995) In early 1994, Levesque signed a one-year contract with
World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In his first televised match, he debuted as a
villain named
Terror Risin, defeating
Keith Cole. His ring name was soon modified to
Terra Ryzing, which he used until he was renamed
Jean-Paul Lévesque in mid-1994. This
gimmick referred to his real surname's French origins, and he was asked to speak with a
French accent as he could not speak
French. He began using what would become his popular finishing maneuver, the
Pedigree, during this time. Between late 1994 and early 1995, Lévesque briefly teamed with English wrestler
Lord Steven Regal, whose
upper class British gimmick was similar to Lévesque's character; in real life, they became close friends, and Regal would serve as his right-hand man behind the scenes in
WWE decades later. 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
Wrestling Challenge defeating
Buck Zumhofe. Helmsley made his WWF
pay-per-view debut on August 27 at
SummerSlam, defeating
Bob Holly. Helmsley remained undefeated during the early months of his career, suffering his first pinfall at the hands of
The Undertaker in a
Survivor Series match at
the namesake event. In the fall of 1995, Helmsley began a feud with hog farmer
Henry O. Godwinn, whom he defeated in the infamous
Hog Pen match on December 17 at
In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings. After being highly promoted in the first few months after his debut, his career stalled during 1996, starting off with a feud with
Duke "The Dumpster" Droese following a loss during the
Free for All at
1996 Royal Rumble. Up until that event, his
angle included appearing on television each week with a different female valet (which included
Playboy Playmates Shae Marks and
Tylyn John). as part of the storyline, he took his aggressions out on her. The debuting
Marc Mero (her real-life husband) came to her rescue, starting a feud between the two wrestlers. On June 1, 1996, Hunter appeared on an episode of
Superstars in a match against
Marty Garner. When he attempted to perform the
Pedigree, Garner mistook the maneuver for a
double underhook suplex and tried to jump up with the move, causing him to land squarely on top of his head and suffer neck damage. He was known backstage as a member of
The Kliq (alongside
Shawn Michaels,
Kevin Nash,
Sean Waltman, and
Scott Hall), a group known for influencing Vince McMahon and the WWF creative team. Despite the punishment, Helmsley did have success following the incident.
Mr. Perfect became his manager and he won the
Intercontinental Championship for the first time on October 21 by defeating Marc Mero. For a very brief time, Helmsley was accompanied by
Mr. Hughes, who was his storyline bodyguard reminiscent of
Ted DiBiase and
Virgil. After losing the title, he feuded with
Goldust, defeating him on March 23 at
WrestleMania 13. During their feud,
Chyna debuted as his new bodyguard.
D-Generation X (1997–1999) Helmsley was being highlighted again in 1997, winning the
1997 King of the Ring tournament by defeating
Mankind in the finals. Later that year, Shawn Michaels, Helmsley, Chyna and
Rick Rude formed D-Generation X (DX). This stable became known for
pushing the envelope, as Michaels and Helmsley made risqué promos—using the catchphrase "Suck It" and a "crotch chop" hand motion—and sarcastically derided Bret Hart and Canada. By that point, Helmsley had all but dropped the "blueblood snob" gimmick, appearing in T-shirts and leather jackets. During this period, his ring name was shortened to simply
Triple H, though he was still called Helmsley from time to time and Hunter for the rest of his career. with Triple H taking over the leadership position in DX, As 1998 went along, DX became more popular, turning the group from
villains to
fan favorites. During this time, he adopted an entrance gimmick of asking the crowd "Are you ready? I said, are you ready?", followed by a parody of rival promotion WCW's ring announcer
Michael Buffer's famous catch-phrase, "Let's get ready to rumble", substituting the word "rumble" with the DX slogan, "suck it". Also during this time, Triple H began a feud with the leader of the
Nation of Domination and rising WWF
villain,
The Rock. He did not hold the title long, as he was sidelined with a legitimate knee injury. the rivalry between the two continued, as DX fought
The Corporation stable of which The Rock was the main star and Triple H received a shot at the WWF Championship on the January 25, 1999,
Raw is War in an
"I Quit" match, but the match ended when Triple H was forced to quit or see his aide Chyna
chokeslammed by
Kane. The following night on
Raw Is War, Triple H defeated Mankind to win his first WWF Championship.
McMahon–Helmsley Era (2000–2001) By January 2000, Triple H had nicknamed himself "The Game" after stating he was above the top of the wrestling world (as in not merely the "best in the game" but in fact "the game" itself) and was nicknamed "The Cerebral Assassin" by
Jim Ross. On the January 3 episode of
Raw Is War, Triple H defeated Big Show to win his third WWF Championship. Triple H feuded with
Mick Foley in early 2000. On January 23 at the
Royal Rumble, Triple H retained the WWF Championship in a Street Fight after performing two
Pedigrees on Foley. The feud ended on February 27 at
No Way Out inside
Hell in a Cell, where Triple H retained the title and forced Foley to retire. Triple H defeated The Rock, Mick Foley and Big Show in a Fatal 4-Way elimination match at
WrestleMania 2000 on April 2 to retain the title, but lost it on April 30 at
Backlash to The Rock, ending his reign at 118 days. Triple H regained it three weeks later, in an
Iron Man match against The Rock on May 21 at
Judgment Day, only to lose it back to The Rock on June 25 at
King of the Ring. Triple H then entered a storyline with
Chris Jericho, who upset Triple H by defeating him for the WWF Championship on the April 17 episode of
Raw Is War before the title was returned to Triple H because of a fast count made by referee
Earl Hebner, and Jericho's reign is not recognized. Their feud culminated in a
Last Man Standing match at
Fully Loaded on July 23 which Triple H won. Triple H feuded with
Kurt Angle, initially over the WWF Championship, but then as a love triangle between himself, Angle, and Stephanie. Both Triple H and Angle wrestled for the WWF Championship against The Rock on August 27 at
SummerSlam, but The Rock retained the title after Angle received a
legit concussion during a
botched Pedigree on a commentary table by Triple H. The feud culminated at
Unforgiven on September 24, where Triple H defeated Angle with a
Pedigree after a
low blow from McMahon. Triple H reverted to his heel persona and restarted his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin when it emerged that Triple H had paid off
Rikishi to run down Austin at
Survivor Series, causing him to take a year off. While Triple H said he had done it in order to shield Austin from the WWF Championship and end his career in storyline, Austin's previous neck injuries started bothering him again in reality, forcing him to have surgery. At
Survivor Series on November 19, Triple H and Austin had a match 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. A brutal
Three Stages of Hell match between the two at
No Way Out on February 25, 2001, saw Triple H defeat Austin 2–1, thus ending their feud. The Three Stages of Hell match received universal acclaim and is widely regarded as one of the most brutal and one of the best professional wrestling match of all times. Triple H also feuded with
The Undertaker, who
defeated him on April 1 at
WrestleMania X-Seven. The night after WrestleMania, Triple H interfered in a steel cage match between Austin (who had just won the WWF Championship) and The Rock where he joined forces with Austin and double teamed on The Rock, forming a
tag team called
The Two-Man Power Trip. Triple H then defeated Chris Jericho for his third Intercontinental Championship on the April 5
SmackDown!, and won it for a fourth time two weeks later by defeating
Jeff Hardy. Triple H then became a
world tag team champion by winning the
WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time at
Backlash on April 29 when he and Austin defeated
Kane and The Undertaker in a "Winner Take All" tag team match. As Triple H was still Intercontinental Champion, the win made him a double champion. In doing so, Triple H became the seventh Triple Crown winner and second Grand Slam winner in WWE history. During the main event of the May 21, 2001, episode of
Raw Is War, Triple H suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury. He and Austin were defending the WWF Tag Team Championship against Chris Jericho and
Chris Benoit. At one point, Jericho had Austin trapped in the
Walls of Jericho and Triple H ran in to break it up, but just as he did, he suffered a tear in his left
quadriceps muscle, where Triple H defeated Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship. When he learned that it was fake, he dumped her publicly on
Raw when they were supposed to renew their wedding vows. The divorce, and thus the storyline, was finalized on July 21 at
Vengeance. Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels had made his return to WWE and joined the
New World Order (nWo). Michaels and Kevin Nash planned to bring Triple H over to
Raw in order to put him into the group. Mr. McMahon disbanded the nWo following several backstage complications and brought in
Eric Bischoff as the
Raw general manager. One of Bischoff's first intentions was to follow up on the nWo's plan and bring Triple H over to the
Raw roster. Triple H moved to the Raw brand at Vengeance, reuniting with Michaels, but he turned on Michaels by performing a
Pedigree on him during what was supposed to be a DX reunion, turning
heel once again. 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" on August 25 at
SummerSlam, in which Michaels came out of retirement to win. Triple H then attacked him with a
sledgehammer and he was carried from the ring on a stretcher. Before September 2, 2002, WWE recognized only one
world champion, the WWE Undisputed Champion, for both the Raw and SmackDown! brands. After SummerSlam, then WWE Undisputed Champion
Brock Lesnar became exclusive to the SmackDown! brand, leaving the Raw brand without a world champion. Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff then awarded Triple H the
World Heavyweight Championship, represented by the
Big Gold Belt (which previously had been used to represent the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship and
WCW World Heavyweight Championship), making him the first World Heavyweight Champion. Triple H retained his title against
Rob Van Dam on September 22 at
Unforgiven when
Ric Flair hit Van Dam with a sledgehammer. In October, Triple H began a controversial feud with Kane, leading to a match at
No Mercy in which both Kane's Intercontinental Championship and Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship were at stake. In the weeks preceding the match, Triple H claimed that, several years earlier, Kane had an
unrequited relationship with a woman named Katie Vick. He went on to claim that, after Vick was killed in a
car crash, Kane (the driver)
raped her corpse. and was de-emphasized before the title match. Triple H went on to defeat Kane at No Mercy on October 20,
unifying the two titles. Triple H eventually lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Shawn Michaels in the first
Elimination Chamber match on November 17 at
Survivor Series. He defeated Van Dam on the December 2 episode of
Raw to earn a title shot at
Armageddon with Michaels as the
special guest referee. He regained the title from Michaels in a
Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon on December 15, winning 2–1. Triple H held the World Heavyweight Championship for most of 2003, successfully defending against
Booker T on March 30 at
WrestleMania XIX in an angle with racist undertones. He lost the title after 280 days on September 21 at
Unforgiven to
Goldberg, in a match with the stipulation that had Goldberg lost, he would have to retire. After failing to win back the title from Goldberg in a rematch on November 16 at
Survivor Series, he finally regained the championship from Goldberg in a triple threat match at
Armageddon on December 14, which also involved Kane. Triple H fought Shawn Michaels in a Last Man Standing match on January 25, 2004, at the
Royal Rumble to a double
countout, so he retained the title as a result. Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on the March 22 episode of
Raw and failed to capture the
WWE Championship from
Eddie Guerrero. Triple H was traded back to
Raw without competing on
SmackDown! and tried to reclaim the World Heavyweight title from Benoit in a WrestleMania rematch against Benoit and Michaels on April 18 at
Backlash, but was unsuccessful. The following night on
Raw, Triple H turned on his protège Randy Orton (who became the youngest world champion in WWE history at SummerSlam), expressing jealousy over Orton's title victory. He regained the championship from Orton on September 12 at
Unforgiven. Following a triple threat World Heavyweight title defense against Benoit and
Edge on the November 29 episode of
Raw, the World Heavyweight Championship became
vacant for the first time. At
New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, Triple H won an Elimination Chamber match to regain the World Heavyweight Championship after last eliminating Orton, then retained the title against him on January 30 at the
Royal Rumble to end their feud. That same night, his stablemate Batista won the
Royal Rumble match, earning a world title match at
WrestleMania 21. Tension between the two began in the weeks leading up to the event as Triple H convinced Batista to challenge for the
WWE Championship instead of his World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 21 episode of
Raw, Batista turned on Triple H and signed a contract to face him for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania on April 3, Triple H lost the championship to Batista, and subsequently lost two rematches on May 1 at
Backlash and on June 26 at
Vengeance, where Batista became the first man to pin Triple H inside Hell in a Cell. After Vengeance, Triple H took a hiatus from WWE due to suffering from minor neck problems. After a four-month hiatus, Triple H returned to
Raw on October 3, where he and Flair defeated
Chris Masters and
Carlito. After the match, Triple H turned on Flair by attacking him with a sledgehammer, sparking a feud between the duo. Flair defeated Triple H in a
steel cage match on November 1 at
Taboo Tuesday for Flair's
Intercontinental Championship. Subsequently, Triple H defeated Flair in a non-title Last Man Standing match on November 27 at
Survivor Series to end their feud. On April 30 at
Backlash, Triple H was involved in another WWE Championship match, fighting Edge and Cena in a triple threat match, where he lost again. Angered at his loss, a bloodied Triple H used his sledgehammer to 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 led to a feud between the McMahons and Triple H. Shawn Michaels returned on the June 12 episode of
Raw and reunited with Triple H to re-form D-Generation X, turning Triple H
face for the first time since 2002. DX defeated
The Spirit Squad on June 25 at
Vengeance in a 5-on-2 handicap match. They continued their feud with Mr. McMahon, Shane McMahon and The Spirit Squad for several weeks. They then defeated The Spirit Squad again on the July 15, 2006, episode of ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII'' in a 5-on-2 elimination match. They then again defeated the McMahons on August 20 at
SummerSlam, withstanding the attack of several wrestlers who assaulted them before the match as directed by Mr. McMahon. At
Cyber Sunday on November 5, during DX's feud with
Rated-RKO (
Edge and
Randy Orton), special guest referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a weapon to give Rated-RKO the win. At
New Year's Revolution on January 7, 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 in his other leg) 15 minutes into the match. Surgery was successfully performed two days later by Dr. James Andrews. On October 7 at
No Mercy, Triple H was originally scheduled to face
Umaga in a singles match. At the start of the night, Triple H challenged newly named WWE Champion Randy Orton, reigniting their feud that had been interrupted following his injury. Triple H won the match, winning his eleventh world championship and sixth WWE Championship, then defended his title against Umaga in his regularly scheduled match after Mr. McMahon declared the match to be for the WWE title. After that, McMahon gave Orton a rematch against Triple H in a Last Man Standing match in the main event, and Triple H lost after an
RKO on a broadcast table. At
WrestleMania XXIV on March 30, Orton retained the title in a triple threat match after
punting Triple H and pinning John Cena following Triple H's
Pedigree on Cena. On April 27 at
Backlash, Triple H won the title in a fatal four-way elimination match against Orton, Cena, and
John "Bradshaw" Layfield, tying the record for most WWE Championship reigns with The Rock. Triple H retained the title against Orton on May 18 at
Judgment Day in a steel cage match and again on June 1 at
One Night Stand in a Last Man Standing match. Orton suffered a legitimate
collarbone injury during the match, prematurely ending the feud. in November 2008|211x211pxOn the June 23 episode of
Raw, Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown brand as a part of the
2008 WWE draft, in the process making the WWE Championship exclusive to
SmackDown. Triple H then went on to defeat John Cena
cleanly to retain the WWE Championship on June 29 at
Night of Champions. He defended the championship over the summer by defeating the likes of
Edge on July 20 at
The Great American Bash and
The Great Khali on August 17 at
SummerSlam, and was the only champion to retain his title at
Unforgiven's
Championship Scramble matches on September 7. He successfully defended it against
Jeff Hardy both on October 5 at
No Mercy and
Cyber Sunday on October 26. At
Survivor Series on November 23, Triple H was scheduled to defend the title against
Vladimir Kozlov and Jeff Hardy, but Hardy was kept out of the match after a scripted attack and injury. During the match,
SmackDown general manager
Vickie Guerrero announced that Edge had returned and introduced him into the contest. Hardy interfered and hit Triple H with a steel chair meant for Edge, costing him the title after a 210-day reign. After failing to regain the title on December 14 at
Armageddon, Triple H entered seventh in the
Royal Rumble on January 25, 2009, but was last eliminated by Randy Orton. At
No Way Out on February 15, Triple H won the WWE Championship in the
SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, setting the record for most reigns at eight. That record stood until 2011 when John Cena won his ninth WWE Championship. On the February 16 episode of
Raw, Triple H made an appearance aiding
Stephanie and
Shane McMahon, after they were attacked by Orton. On the February 20 episode of
SmackDown, Triple H was interviewed by
Jim Ross; in the interview, footage was shown highlighting the events that occurred on the February 16 episode of
Raw. Ross asked Triple H how he felt seeing that footage, in response, he broke character (after 5 years of marriage) by admitting that
Vince McMahon is his father-in-law, that Shane is his brother-in-law, and that Stephanie is his wife, creating a rivalry between Triple H and Orton. On the February 23 episode of
Raw, Triple H confronted Orton, before attacking him,
Ted DiBiase, and
Cody Rhodes (a group known as
The Legacy) with a sledgehammer and chasing them from the arena. At
WrestleMania 25 on April 5, Triple H defeated Orton to retain the title. On the April 13 episode of
Raw, Triple H was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the
2009 WWE draft, thus bringing the WWE Championship back to Raw. He teamed with Shane McMahon and Batista against Orton and The Legacy in a six-man tag match for the WWE Championship on April 26 at
Backlash, which they lost after Orton pinned Triple H. He lost a Three Stages of Hell title match to Orton on June 28 at
The Bash. At
Night of Champions on July 26, he again lost a title match to Orton in a triple threat match involving John Cena.
Third run with D-Generation X (2009–2010) On the August 10 episode of
Raw, Triple H met with Michaels at an office cafeteria in Texas where Michaels was working as a chef; throughout the show, Triple H tried to convince Michaels to return to WWE from hiatus. After several incidents (including grease grill burgers on fire and Michaels shouting at a little girl), Michaels agreed to team with Triple H to face The Legacy at
SummerSlam,
superkicked the girl, and quit his chef job. On the August 17 episode of
Raw, Triple H and Michaels officially reunited as DX, but as they were in the process of their in-ring promo, The Legacy attacked them both. Their first match after reuniting was against The Legacy at SummerSlam on August 23, which they won. On September 13 at
Breaking Point, they lost to The Legacy in the first ever
Submissions Count Anywhere match in WWE history. At
Hell in a Cell on October 4, DX defeated The Legacy in a Hell in a Cell match. DX unsuccessfully challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship in a triple threat match on November 22 at
Survivor Series, after which they remained friends and partners. On December 13 at
TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, DX defeated
Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and Big Show) to win the Unified
WWE Tag Team Championship in a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. in December 2010On December 21, Triple H announced that
Hornswoggle was the new DX mascot. This came about after Hornswoggle sued DX for emotional and physical distress due to them not allowing him to join DX. On the February 8 episode of
Raw, DX lost the Unified Tag Team Championship to ShoMiz (
The Miz and Big Show) in a triple threat elimination tag match, also involving
The Straight Edge Society (
CM Punk and
Luke Gallows). On the March 1 episode of
Raw, they lost a rematch for the titles in their last televised match before Michaels retired. On February 21, Triple H eliminated then WWE Champion
Sheamus from the
Elimination Chamber match, though he did not win the title. Sheamus attacked him weeks later, setting up a match at
WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, which Triple H won. Also at WrestleMania, Michaels lost to The Undertaker and was forced to retire. While giving a farewell speech the next night, Sheamus attacked him and set up a rematch at
Extreme Rules on April 25. Sheamus attacked Triple H at the start of the show, before later winning the match, after which Triple H took a long hiatus from the WWE. Triple H made an untelevised appearance on October 30 at the WWE Fan Appreciation Event and also at the 2010
Tribute to the Troops.
Chief Operating Officer (2011–2013) On the February 21, 2011, episode of
Raw, Triple H returned, interrupting the return of
The Undertaker and challenging him to a match at
WrestleMania XXVII, which later became a No Holds Barred match. A week later, he attacked Sheamus with a Pedigree through a broadcast table in retaliation for Sheamus giving him a ten-month injury. At WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, Triple H lost, which
extended The Undertaker's undefeated streak to 19–0; The Undertaker was carried from the ring on a stretcher whereas Triple H left on his own accord. At the end of the July 18 episode of
Raw, Triple H returned on behalf of WWE's board of directors to relieve his father-in-law
Vince McMahon of his duties. This was followed by the announcement that he had been assigned to take over as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the WWE. This was during a storyline where CM Punk had won the WWE Championship and left the company. Though a new champion was crowned, Triple H helped re-sign Punk and upheld both championship reigns. He announced he would referee a match to unify both WWE Championships on August 14 at
SummerSlam. Although he counted a pinfall for CM Punk to win, John Cena's leg was on the ropes, which would break the pin. Regardless, Triple H's longtime friend
Kevin Nash attacked Punk immediately after the match to allow
Alberto Del Rio to become the new champion. Though Nash and Punk demanded a match against each other, Triple H fired Nash for insubordination and booked himself in a No Disqualification match on September 18 at
Night of Champions with his position of COO on the line. Triple H defeated Punk at Night of Champions despite interference from
John Laurinaitis, Nash,
The Miz and
R-Truth. After repeated attacks from these wrestlers in various matches, the majority of WWE's on-screen staff gave Triple H a vote of no confidence. Mr. McMahon returned to relieve him of his duties on the October 10 episode of
Raw SuperShow, though he remained the COO. Laurinaitis was named interim general manager of
Raw, and booked him and Punk in a tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth on October 23 at
Vengeance. During the match, Nash once again attacked him (costing Triple H and Punk the match) and did so the following night on the October 24 episode of
Raw SuperShow, hospitalizing him (kayfabe). WWE later announced that Triple H had sustained a fractured vertebra, and would be out of action. He returned on December 12, as part of the
Slammy Awards. On December 18, he defeated Nash at
TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in
sledgehammer ladder match, after attacking him with a sledgehammer. ahead of their second consecutive
WrestleMania matchTriple H returned on the January 30, 2012 episode of
Raw SuperShow to evaluate Laurinaitis' performance as general manager. Before he could announce the decision, he was interrupted by the returning Undertaker. After initially refusing the rematch as he did not want to tarnish The Undertaker's legacy, Triple H accepted the challenge after being called a coward who lives in Shawn Michaels' shadow, on the condition their rematch be contested inside Hell in a Cell. Triple H went on to lose this match on April 1 at
WrestleMania XXVIII. Triple H returned on the April 30 episode of
Raw SuperShow, when he refused to give in to
Brock Lesnar's unreasonable contract demands, resulting in Lesnar attacking him and storyline breaking his arm. Upon his return two weeks later, Triple H was confronted by Lesnar's legal representative,
Paul Heyman, who announced Lesnar was filing a lawsuit against WWE for breach of contract. After he accosted Heyman, Heyman threatened another lawsuit against Triple H for assault and battery. At
No Way Out on June 17, Triple H challenged a non-present Lesnar to a match at
SummerSlam, which Heyman refused on Lesnar's behalf the following night on
Raw SuperShow. At
Raw 1000, Stephanie McMahon goaded Heyman into Triple H's challenge against Lesnar. To anger Triple H, Lesnar broke Michaels's arm on the August 13 episode of
Raw. Six days later at SummerSlam, Triple H lost to Lesnar after submitting to the Kimura Lock, breaking his arm again in storyline. Triple H returned on the February 25, 2013, episode of
Raw, brawling with Brock Lesnar after he attempted to attack Mr. McMahon. The brawl resulted in Lesnar having his head legitimately split open and requiring 18 stitches. The following week, Triple H issued a challenge to Lesnar, requesting a rematch with him at
WrestleMania 29 on April 7, which Lesnar accepted on the condition that he could choose the stipulation. The following week, after Triple H signed the contract and assaulted Heyman, the stipulation was revealed as No Holds Barred with Triple H's career on the line. Triple H defeated Lesnar after a
Pedigree onto the steel steps. On May 19 at
Extreme Rules, Triple H lost to Lesnar in a steel cage match after interference from Heyman, and also injured his jaw. The next night on
Raw, Triple H wrestled Heyman's newest client,
Curtis Axel. He suffered a storyline
concussion and was deemed to have forfeited. Despite being medically cleared to wrestle before the June 3 episode of
Raw, Vince and Stephanie McMahon did not allow Triple H to wrestle Axel, citing concerns for his well-being and the safety of his children. In response, Triple H stormed out the arena and vowed to return to the ring the next week on
Raw.
The Authority (2013–2016) On August 18 at
SummerSlam, Triple H served as the special guest referee for the WWE Championship match between champion
John Cena and
Daniel Bryan. After Bryan won the match, Triple H attacked him, allowing Randy Orton to cash in his
Money in the Bank contract and win the title, turning heel for the first time since 2006. Along with his wife Stephanie, they subsequently created
The Authority, with
The Shield (
Seth Rollins,
Roman Reigns and
Dean Ambrose) as his enforcers, Kane as the Director of Operations and Orton as their hand-picked WWE Champion. At
WrestleMania XXX on April 6, 2014, Triple H lost to Bryan, thereby granting Bryan a part in the subsequent WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Batista and Orton, which Bryan ultimately won. In order to end Bryan's title reign, Triple H re-formed Evolution with Orton and Batista on the April 18 episode of
SmackDown, but Bryan remained champion due to The Shield turning on The Authority. Evolution subsequently lost back-to-back matches with The Shield on May 4 at
Extreme Rules and on June 1 at
Payback. Batista quit WWE on the
Raw after Payback after Triple H refused to grant him his shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H then went to "Plan B", Seth Rollins, who turned on The Shield and rejoined The Authority. '' inspired entrance at
WrestleMania 31 The Authority were briefly removed from power after losing a five-on-five tag team elimination match on November 23 at
Survivor Series after
Sting made his WWE debut to assist their opponents. However, The Authority were reinstated on the December 29 episode of
Raw after Rollins coaxed Cena into reinstating them by holding
Edge hostage. Back in power, Triple H began feuding with Sting, whom he defeated in a no disqualification match on March 29, 2015, at
WrestleMania 31 after interference from D-Generation X. After his match with Sting, he and Stephanie McMahon were later confronted by The Rock and
Ronda Rousey during a promo regarding the record crowd at the event. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship was vacated after Rollins suffered a legitimate severe knee injury in November 2015 and a tournament to determine a new champion was held at
Survivor Series on November 22, which was won by Roman Reigns. Throughout the remainder of 2015, The Authority aligned with Sheamus, who successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contact immediately after Reigns' victory. After Sheamus defeated Reigns at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, Reigns viciously attacked Triple H, which resulted in a storyline injury that took him off television. During this hiatus, Reigns regained the championship from Sheamus on the following episode of
Raw. On January 24, 2016, Triple H made his return during the
Royal Rumble match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as the unannounced 30th entrant. After eliminating Reigns, he then eliminated Dean Ambrose to secure his second Royal Rumble win and 14th (and final) world championship. He successfully defended the championship against Ambrose on March 12 at
Roadblock, and defeated
Dolph Ziggler in non-title match two days later on
Raw, but lost the championship to Reigns in the main event of
WrestleMania 32 on April 3, ending his last world championship reign at 70 days. After WrestleMania 32, with The Authority now disbanded, Triple H competed in the WWE Live tour of the United Kingdom in late April before taking a hiatus from WWE television. However, he continued making occasional appearances in an executive role for
NXT.
Final feuds and retirement (2016–2022) On the August 29 episode of
Raw, Triple H made his return by interfering in the main event for the recently vacated and established
WWE Universal Championship. Firstly, he attacked rival Roman Reigns with a
Pedigree, allowing former Authority stable member Seth Rollins to eliminate him, before attacking Rollins with a
Pedigree, allowing
Kevin Owens to win the title. This began a feud with Rollins, which culminated in a "non-sanctioned match" at
WrestleMania 33 on April 2, 2017, where Rollins defeated Triple H. at
WrestleMania 34 Despite being part of Kurt Angle's Team Raw on November 19 at
Survivor Series, Triple H attacked him and caused him to be eliminated in their match against Team SmackDown, and he ultimately got credit for winning the match after he pinned Shane McMahon of Team SmackDown. Angle subsequently joined forces with the debuting Ronda Rousey, and the two defeated Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag match at
WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, after Stephanie submitted to Rousey's armbar. Triple H turned face again for the first time since 2013 and his final feuds were high-profile rematches with wrestlers that he had previously worked with. On April 27 at the
Greatest Royal Rumble in
Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, John Cena defeated Triple H in the first match ever featured on a
Saudi pay-per-view event. He subsequently defeated The Undertaker on October 6 at
Super Show-Down in a match that was billed as the "Last Time Ever". His feud with The Undertaker continued into
Crown Jewel on November 2, where Shawn Michaels came out of retirement to reform DX with him, in a winning effort against
The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane). At
WrestleMania 35 on April 7, 2019, Triple H defeated Batista with assistance from Ric Flair in what was Batista's retirement match. His final match on pay-per-view was a loss to Randy Orton at
Super ShowDown on June 7. Triple H's final
house show match took place on June 29 in Tokyo, Japan, where he and
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated
Robert Roode and
Samoa Joe in a tag team match after Nakamura pinned Roode. Triple H's appearances became increasingly sporadic and 2020 became the first year in which he did not wrestle a match since the start of his career. However, he continued to make occasional on-screen appearances in non-wrestling roles, including on the April 24 episode of
SmackDown, which was dedicated to his 25th anniversary in WWE. The final match of his career took place on the January 11, 2021, episode of
Raw when he faced Orton in an "unsanctioned fight", but after
Alexa Bliss and
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt got involved, Bliss attacked Orton with a fireball causing the match to end in no-contest. In September 2021, Triple H suffered from
heart failure and an
ICD was installed in his chest. On April 3, he introduced the second night of
WrestleMania 38 as the COO of WWE, subsequently leaving a microphone and his wrestling boots in the ring to signify his official in-ring retirement. He later expressed a sense of being at peace with his forced retirement, stating that he "did everything [he] wanted to do and then some".
Post-retirement and corporate roles (2022–present) On September 6, 2022, WWE announced that Levesque had been promoted to
chief content officer of the company. Levesque maintained this role after WWE was
acquired by
Endeavor the following year. Since his retirement, he has continued to make appearances at post-show press conferences in his chief content officer role, and in storylines, typically acting as an
on-screen authority figure under his real name and ring name. ==Legacy in wrestling==