Triple H: Greatest Hits

Triple H: Greatest Hits



Every wrestling fan seems to have an opinion on this man. Whether or not they're good or bad, I don't think anyone can deny that the King of Kings is one of the best of all time and one of the most successful superstars in wrestling history. This Greatest Hits list will range from his start as the blue blood, Hunter Hearst Helmsley all the way to being the head of the Authority.



HHH only has one match from WCW at Starrcade 94 that's on the Network, but it was a pretty bad match so I'm just gonna leave it out and focus on the WWE stuff. His time in WCW sucked anyway.



Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Fatu
From In Your House 4. Here we have HHH's PPV debut in the WWE. Good God there's gonna be a lot more. Fatu is of course also known as Rikishi and had a clean-cut Samoan gimmick at the time. His tights even said 'Just say no'. The match was pretty good. Not great but definitely not bad either and the crowd was really into it. **



Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Marc Mero
From IYH: Beware of Dog. Mero would end up being the one to give HHH his first singles Title in the WWE but that won't be on this list since it's a Raw match. These guys were given around seventeen minutes so they could try and give us a great match and that's exactly what they gave us. The arm psychology used on Mero was sound and Mero even showed some nice athleticism and gave us some cool high-flying moves. A great match overall. ***1/2



Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
From IYH: Buried Alive. A very early match between these two and of course they'd move on to bigger and better things. It was originally meant to be Austin vs Savio Vega but injuries prevented Vega from attending, so HHH was picked instead. The crowd loved Austin even though he was a heel. A good match that started slow and got better as it went on. A nice precursor to their future clashes. ***



Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Mankind
From King of the Ring 1997 and this is the final match of the tournament to crown a king. HHH was meant to win the 96 KOTR but the MSG incident involving the kliq put him in the dog house so he'd have to wait a year for another chance. This started off as pretty boring but when Mankind hit the flying elbow on the outside it did pick up a bit. The pedigree on the table looked awesome. A good match and big moment for HHH. ***



Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Mankind
From Canadian Stampede. This feud started four weeks previously at the King of the Ring PPV where Hunter beat Mankind to become the King. These guys have some amazing chemistry with each other, and they would only get better and better. A great opening contest that the crowd loved and Mankind was a great sympathetic babyface. The brawl that took place after the match and throughout the night was also awesome. The match combined with the brawl gets  ***3/4 from me.



Hunter Heart Helmsley vs Mankind : Steel Cage
From Summerslam 1997. I'm not sure if they had the Falls Count Anywhere match on Raw but this point but I do think that this is the culmination of their feud. It had been going on a while by this point and had never been boring. Mankind took his usual big bumps like an awesome elbow drop from the top of the cage and taking a sick looking shot from the cage door. Another great match between the two. HHH may have lost but he came out looking good. ***3/4



Triple H vs Owen Hart
From Wrestlemania XIV and the European Title is on the line. This was the first time that the European Title was defended at Mania. Why didn't they just ban Chyna from ringside? Wouldn't that have been easier than being handcuffed to someone she could easily take out? Anyway this match isn't really talked about, which is a shame as it's quite the underrated gem. These guys went back and forth and had a fun match until Chyna helped HHH retain the Title. ***3/4



Triple H vs The Rock : Ladder Match
From Summerslam 1998 and the IC Title on the line. Two years later this could have main evented any show in the WWE. These guys were still mid-carders, but this was the match that showed that they would one day become superstars. An exciting ladder match that was a ton of fun all the way through and the fans at MSG loved it too. A show stealing performance from both guys and a match that will go down in history as one of their best and one of the better ladder matches in history. ****1/2



Triple H & X-Pac vs Kane & Chyna
From IYH: St Valentine's Day Massacre. So after this Chyna joined HHH and X-Pac, then Chyna and HHH betray X-Pac who would go on to tag with Kane who I guess is kind of his enemy. Got all of that? Because I don't. I guess that's the Attitude Era for you. Anyway this was a fun tag team match that had some very good pacing to it. The crowd was really into is as well. Better than I thought it would be. ***1/2



Triple H vs The Rock : Strap Match
From Fully Loaded 1999 and a shot at the WWF Title is on the line. Thankfully this isn't the strap match where you have to touch corners. Instead it's just pinfalls count anywhere which is fine by me. They also had a match at the 1998 Fully Loaded but that one wasn't that good. The strap was used well as a weapon and as a way to take advantage of the opponent. A good brawl that went all over the place and gave HHH a pretty big win. ***



Triple H vs Kane vs The British Bulldog vs The Big Show vs Mankind vs The Rock
From Unforgiven 1999 and the WWF Title is on the line. A hell of a lot of star power here as all six guys could be Hall of Famers someday (except for Mick as he's already in and obviously deserves it). The Title is vacant as Vince McMahon was the champ and decided to vacate the Title as he was an awful champion. This was a chaotic match and you couldn't really tell who were the legal men in the ring. Still this was a ton of fun with lots of action throughout and you could never tell who was going to win. Awesome stuff. ****



Triple H vs Cactus Jack : Street Fight
From Royal Rumble and the WWF Title is on the line. This is most definitely an easy contender for the best match of both of these guys' careers. HHH was made into a star thanks to Foley here, and unfortunately he let it go straight to his head and we're still suffering from it. Anyway this is still an all time classic featuring some brutal moments. There was a throwback to the 99 Rumble as HHH handcuffed Cactus and beat him with a chair. The pedigree onto the thumbtacks still looks absolutely insane, and I can't believe that anyone would take a bump like that. An all time great for sure. An absolute war and probably HHH's best match ever. *****



Triple H vs Cactus Jack : Hell in a Cell
From No Way Out 2000. If Cactus loses this match, his career must end. I don't think this is the five star classic match everyone calls it, but it's damn close and still an awesome match. Cactus falling through the cell will be an image that will live on forever. The stuff with the barbed wire bat was pretty damn cool as well. HHH wins with a pedigree. Foley started his career with Cactus Jack, and he ended it with Cactus Jack. Until he came back a couple of weeks later. ****1/2



The Rock vs Triple H
From Backlash 2000. This is probably the most memorable match from their awesome feud besides the Iron Man match. The odds were stacked against the Rock as HHH was basically running the company and Shane McMahon was the guest referee. The double Rock Bottom through the announce table looked awesome. The fans were already hot for this one but they just about blew the roof off when Austin returned. Fantastic match overall. ****1/4



Triple H vs The Rock : 60 Minute Iron Man Match
From Judgment Day 2000. Shawn Michaels was the ref for this match. For everyone who has heard so much about this match but has never seen it, you will not be disappointed. Every minute felt like it was adding to the match and it was never dull or boring, unlike some other Iron Man contests. The match ended 6-5 to HHH , as Undertaker made his goosebump-inducing return and got the Rock disqualified. Just brilliant and probably the best Iron Man match in WWE history. ****3/4



Triple H vs Chris Jericho : Last Man Standing
From Fully Loaded 2000. Jericho cost HHH a Title match and had been insulting Stephanie McMahon for weeks, so HHH was gonna get some payback. This is, without a doubt, Jericho's break out match and the one that made him a star. He may have came out as the loser, but that didn't matter as he'd put on an amazing performance against the Game. The story was incredible with Jericho giving everything he had to try and beat HHH, only to come up short at the end. The best Last Man Standing match ever and a career highlight for both athletes. Amazing stuff. ****3/4



Triple H vs Chris Benoit 
From No Mercy 2000. Benoit gave Stephanie McMahon a headbutt and is still a heel. If someone did that today they would be cheered more than Daniel Bryan. He also cost HHH the chance to face the Rock tonight, so this was personal. The psychology was very good in this match, with HHH going after Benoit's leg, and Benoit going after HHH's arm. Shocking for an HHH match I know. A fantastic match from both men and Benoit looked good in defeat. ****1/4



Triple H vs Stone Cold Steve Austin : 3 Stages of Hell
From No Way Out 2001. First match is a standard contest, second match is a street fight, and the final match is a steel cage. These guys had been feuding for ages and it was finally going to culminate here. HHH won the first fall which showed he was the better wrestler, while Austin won the second fall and showed that he was the better brawler. Both guys were exhausted by the time the third fall started. An absolutely fantastic match the lasted about forty minutes. Both guys came out looking like legends. I don't know why HHH was given the win since Austin was going to the main event of Mania. Maybe it was to fuel his heel turn. Still, an amazing match and one of the best ever. *****



Triple H vs The Undertaker
From Wrestlemania X-Seven. Just like the Austin/Rock match at Mania 15, this is the first of three awesome matches and this is the worst of the three, even though it's still an awesome match. This was an entertaining brawl that went all the way into the crowd, where Taker would chokeslam HHH off the stage and that visual would be ruined by the cameraman showing the safety mat. The ref bump was ridiculously long too. Still it was a fun match overall, with an especially exciting finish. Taker's best match in years. ****



The 2002 Royal Rumble Match
I find it quite hard to rate a rumble match as a whole. I think the most memorable part of this match was Maven eliminating the Undertaker. It would have made him look quite good if Taker didn't immediately kick his ass afterwards. It was still pretty damn awesome though. Seeing Mr Perfect return was a nice moment too, and he hadn't changed a bit. It wasn't the worst rumble ever (that goes to the 1999 atrocity), but it certainly wasn't the best either. HHH got a nice moment out of it though as he won his first and only Rumble match to date. I'll go with  ***



Triple H vs Shawn Michaels : Unsanctioned Street Fight
From Summerslam 2002. I don't think anyone was expecting the quality of match that we received on this night. Shawn had been out for over four years with a major back injury, and everyone questioned whether or not he would be able to even go a full match. We needn't have worried. Shawn showed us that he was better than ever before and it seemed like he had never been gone and showed no signs of ring rust. Amazingly, Shawn would give us another eight years of classic matches and moments. The match itself is absolutely fantastic with HHH working on HBK's back most of the time and he looked like the biggest heel in the company. An all time classic and possibly the best Summerslam match ever. *****



Triple H vs Rob Van Dam
From Unforgiven 2002 and the World Title is on the line. This would be HHH's first defense of the new World Title as he was awarded the belt from Eric Bischoff as Brock Lesnar took the WWE Title to Smackdown. HHH made RVD look pretty damn good here and made him look like a real World Title contender. A good back and forth encounter that would end up sowing the seeds for Evolution as Ric Flair joined with HHH and helped him win the match. Great stuff here. ***1/2



Let's just pretend that the year 2003 never existed as I don't think we need to relive matches involving Scott Steiner and Kevin Nash.



Triple H vs Shawn Michaels : Last Man Standing Match
From Royal Rumble 2004 and check out the blade job for the match :

Yeah it was pretty gruesome. This one had a hard time living up to the classic match that these guys had on Raw in December, but that didn't stop it from being a great match. Usually when these two have a match involving no DQ (aside from their dull 3 Stages of Hell match) it ends up being great and this was no exception.  Even the double count-out finish was fine, since that ended up leading to the five star, Triple Threat match at Mania 20. It's not the best match they've ever had, but to me, it was a lot of fun. ***1/2




Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Benoit
From Wrestlemania XX and the World Title is on the line. The Wrestlemania match that WWE wishes they could forget about. Yes the emotional impact has been destroyed due to Benoit's tragic actions, but this, at least in my mind, is still one of the greatest matches of all time and easily the best triple threat ever. All three guys worked very hard to make this a memorable match, with HHH and HBK giving themselves brutal looking blade jobs to add to the drama. Benoit and Eddie Guerrero embracing after the match is still one of my favourite moments in wrestling history and the match is just amazing. One of the best. *****



Triple H vs Shawn Michaels : Hell in a Cell
From Bad Blood 2004. Finally this two year old feud was going to end in the most appropriate way possible: Hell in a Cell. At this point both guys were still undefeated in the cell, and this was Shawn's second time in there, as he had only been in the original match before. This is one of those love it or hate it matches. Some (like me) feel that it was a great feud-ender and had some great psychology, whereas others find it to be a huge bore and hate the fact that it went on for fifty minutes. In my opinion it's an excellent match. Watch it for yourself to see what you think of it. ****



Triple H vs Randy Orton vs Edge vs Chris Benoit vs Batista vs Chris Jericho : Elimination Chamber
From New Year's Revolution 2005 and the World Title is on the line. The World Title was vacant at this point so a new champ was guaranteed. Shawn Michaels was also the guest referee. Everyone looked like a potential winner which is kind of rare for these Chamber matches. This is definitely one of the better Chamber matches in history as there was not one dull moment to be had and it was very entertaining all the way through. It even showed some early signs of the Batista/HHH feud. A fantastic match as HHH regains his World Championship. ****1/2



Triple H vs Randy Orton
From Royal Rumble 2005 and World Title is on the line. These guys had now been feuding since August 04 and this would be the final part of that particular feud since Orton would turn heel again soon after this. I think Orton was concussed during this as he really looked like the lights were on but no one was home. The leg work on Orton was pointless as he no sold it, but this was still a great back and forth contest and it even had some nice nearfalls. My favourite non-gimmick match between the two. ***1/2




Triple H vs Batista : Hell in a Cell
From Vengeance 2005 and the World Title is on the line. When it came to standard singles contests, these guys didn't have very good matches, but in this environment they excelled. Their feud had reached a boiling point and the HIAC was the only way for it to finally end. This was pretty brutal and they even ended up using a barbed wire steel chair which looked awesome. When Batista got the win, he looked like the top dog of the company. An amazing match overall. ****1/2



Triple H vs Ric Flair : Last Man Standing
From Survivor Series 2005. Why isn't the IC Title on the line? Oh yeah I forgot: HHH would never dream of holding a midcard Title. It's a shame as it could have given the Title a bit more prestige. The match is pretty damn brutal, and it's amazing that Flair was having these kind of matches this far into his career. Unbelievable that it took three pedigrees and a sledgehammer shot to put Flair down. Only Undertaker has survived through that. Flair looked like the ultimate underdog here and the crowd got right behind him because of it. One hell of a war. ****



John Cena vs Triple H
From Wrestlemania 22. For almost the entirety of 2005, Cena was treated like a huge star, but in my opinion this is the match that made him 'the man'. I think this was the first time that the crowd truly turned on Cena. He'd been booed before, but nothing on this scale with the fans chanting 'fuck you Cena'. Harsh. Still this was a great match that had a big match feel to it and was entertaining all the way through. Both guys came out looking good and HHH made yet another young guy look like a star at Wrestlemania. ****



DX vs The McMahons & The Big Show : Hell in a Cell
From Unforgiven 2006. I'm not sure if this feud really needed a HIAC match but it was a lot of fun anyway. This is another love it or hate it match and I'm one of the ones that really enjoyed it. There was a nice mix of comedy and brutality in this one. We got the comedy with all the low blows on Show and having Vince's head stuck on Show's ass, but there were some other sick moments in there too like the elbow drop on Shane while he had a chair around his neck and the sledgehammer breaking on Vince's back. A great match that's worth a look. ***1/2



Triple H vs Randy Orton : Last Man Standing
From No Mercy 2007. This is now HHH's third match of the night. He didn't have much of a chance after already facing Orton and Umaga. These guys have had three Last Man Standing matches together, and this is easily the best of the bunch. This is also probably the best HHH/Orton match, and believe me there have been plenty! HHH had a lot of sympathy from the fans after they had seen how exhausted he was from the earlier matches. A very well paced Last Man Standing match here, with even some great storytelling, as Orton tried to punt HHH like he had punted HBK, and HHH wouldn't end it like that! Awesome match. ****



Triple H vs Umaga : Street Fight
From Cyber Sunday 2007. I don't know why HHH didn't get his rematch for the WWE Title, but I'm guessing it had something to do with his feud with Vince. This one started off quickly with both guys beating the crap out of each other. The spear through the stage looked cool. A great match that felt like a war and made Umaga look like a great monster heel. His running splash through the announce table looked awesome too. HHH needed a sledgehammer to slay the beast. Great stuff. ***3/4



Triple H vs Randy Orton vs JBL vs John Cena
From Backlash 2008 and the WWE Title is on the line. Elimination rules apply in this match. JBL and Cena (surprisingly) didn't last very long in the match, but Orton and HHH were given enough time to have a little match of their own. Orton got the most offense in including his dreaded chinlocks, but the finish was exciting as you were just waiting on one guy to hit his finisher and win, and that turned out to be the Game. Another WWE Title win for the King of Kings. Fun match overall. ***1/2



Triple H vs John Cena 
From Night of Champions 2008. Their first singles match together since Wrestlemania 22, so this one was highly anticipated. This time HHH was the champ and both guys were faces. This had a big match feel throughout and it definitely lived up to the expectation with a classic main event-style match with nearfalls and false finishes. A great match that made both guys look great in the end and put the score at 1-1. ****



Triple H vs Jeff Hardy
From No Mercy 2008. The last time these guys fought on PPV was at the 2007 Armageddon show where Hardy beat the Game, so his chances were looking good. On any other show this would have stolen the show, but the ladder match between Jericho and HBK did that on this night. Still these guys went out there and put on one hell of a match and Jeff Hardy looked as if he was so close to winning the Title but he just wasn't good enough to beat HHH. Awesome match. ****1/4



DX vs Legacy
From Summerslam 2009. This is DX's return match and their first match together since New Year's Revolution 2007. Their entrance here looked friggin' cool with the big army tank coming out. Legacy looked pretty damn good in this match, as if they could keep up with the legends. The match was quite long and I think Legacy's offense was a bit dull at times, but I still enjoyed the hell out of this and it had an exciting finish. A great return for DX. ***1/2



DX vs JeriShow : TLC Match
From TLC 2009 and the Unified Tag Titles are on the line. Is this the only two on two TLC match in history? Strange, I thought there were more of them. I don't think we'll ever see the Tag Title match main event a PPV again. This was a fun match that featured some cool moves with the weapons like DX double-suplexing a ladder onto Jericho, and using HBK as a battering ram to hit HHH who was hanging off of a ladder. Jericho landed very badly at the end of the match though. Still it was a great match. ***3/4



Triple H vs The Undertaker : No Holds Barred
From Wrestlemania XXVII and HHH's second shot at the legendary Streak. This one seems to have some split opinions with some people loving it and some people hating it, but I thought it was great. Yes it does have it's slow moments with both guys taking a while to get up, but the drama made up for it with HHH looking at Taker as if he was from another world and that nothing could take him down. HHH's tombstone was a close call for the Streak to end. Great stuff here. ****1/4



Triple H vs CM Punk : No DQ
From Night of Champions 2011. This was originally meant to be Punk vs Kevin Nash but Nash wasn't cleared to compete so we got HHH instead. Definitely the better option there. The booking of this match did suck as Punk should have won, but I guess the result made sense in HHH's head. They were having an awesome match until Awesome Truth decided to interfere and overbook the thing, but it was still a great match and Punk still did look good coming out of it. ***3/4



Undertaker vs Triple H : Hell in a Cell
From Wrestlemania XXVIII. The second HIAC match in WM history, and luckily nowhere near as bad as the first. I think a lot of people were worried that this would be a rehash of their No Holds Barred match, but fortunately it was so much better. This is one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history thanks to Shawn Michaels adding more drama, and the awesome nearfalls as well. The DX Special was especially good, and I thought the match was over for sure. All three guys embracing after the match was the icing on an already delicious cake. *****



Triple H vs Brock Lesnar : Steel Cage
From Extreme Rules 2013. The rubber match of this (way too long) feud. Both of their matches at Summerslam and Wrestlemania were pretty underwhelming so the expectations weren't high for this one which worked to its advantage. This is definitely the best match of their feud and they finally had an excellent contest. This one started quickly with HHH attacking Lesnar before the match even began. I think this took place during the time of Bret Hart bad mouthing HHH, and so HHH locking in the sharpshooter was a fun 'fuck you' moment. Overall an awesome cage match and a fitting end to the long feud. ****



Triple H vs Daniel Bryan
From Wrestlemania XXX. Can I just mention how absolutely badass HHH's entrance was? His best yet. Seeing almost the entire arena erupt in Yes! chants was a sight to behold. The match itself was awesome and delivered everything expected and more. The shoulder psychology was very well done and was used later on the night too which is cool. Everyone was worried that HHH would somehow bury Bryan again, but luckily he put the little goat over in grand fashion and got the show off to a fantastic start. Best Mania opener since Bret vs Owen. ****1/2



The Shield vs Evolution
From Extreme Rules 2014. I'm surprised that this one went on as early as it did and I thought that it would be the main event. I suppose this is a bit of a dream match with two of the biggest teams of the last ten years going at it. Every member of the Shield shined here and each of them had a memorable moment. Reign's took out all three members of Evolution, Ambrose ran across two tables to take out HHH and Orton, and Rollins had an awesome dive in the crowd area. An excellent six man tag that turned into absolute chaos by the end and it was amazing. Incredible stuff as the Shield gets the big victory. ****1/4