1 week Ago By Jonathan Pearson
The WWE are the kings of creating timeless characters. From 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin to Roman Reigns, the WWE has produced some of the greatest in-ring performers to date. However, the wrestling business has been known to create some awful gimmicks, with one Hall of Famer starting off his career in questionable fashion.
Becoming a WWE Superstar is the dream for many wrestlers around the globe. The standard-bearer of professional wrestling, to have the privilege of stepping in between the ropes inside a WWE ring is something that many icons of the business have done. From 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin to Hulk Hogan , the sacred WWE mat has felt the bumps and punches of some of wrestling's greatest characters .
However, for all the legendary gimmicks, the WWE has also masterminded some of the worst characters and storylines in the industry's history. A wrestler's character, more so in the WWE, is the be-all and end-all. It is all well and good being able to put on jaw-dropping matches, but the WWE Universe needs to emotionally connect to a character in order for the following encounters to matter.
Being saddled with a disastrous gimmick means it is nearly impossible to get over and succeed. A sink or swim moment for some, there are a few noteworthy names who have managed to defy the odds and carve out a thriving career for themselves, despite an originally dismal character. Set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2025, Triple H's illustrious career was en route to never existing following two horrendous gimmicks in WCW.
Wrestling has had countless teams containing best friends. However, one legendary tag team defied that, succeeding despite not getting on. Triple H's WCW Gimmicks The Game's association with the WWE started in 1995.
Now operating in a suit and tie, his tenure with the company has spanned four different decades. However, before the two-time Hall of Famer joined the Stamford-based giant, he had a quiet stint in WCW. A company famously remembered for being WWE's fiercest competitor in the '90s, they recorded a historic streak of 83 weeks on top during the Monday Night Wars.
Joining the brainchild of Ted Turner in 1994, the King of King's first contract in the business was a one-year deal. A rookie year that could have been spent learning the trade and fulfilling his potential was soon stifled, as Triple H was gifted a questionable name right off the bat. Dubbed Terror Risin', which was soon changed to Terra Ryzing, the name alone was enough to sink any promising talent.
"Like many people, I'm sure, I had the Farrah Fawcett poster when I was a kid, and it made an impact on me and I went with the hair. It goes to show that at any point in your life, no matter what you look like right now, you can overcome that." Donning long blonde locks, the Cerebral Assassin's name changed not soon after to Jean-Paul Levesque.
An adaption on his real-life surname, he revealed on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show that the hierarchy in WCW assumed he was French and thus wanted him to cut promos in French. Something he was unable to do, Hunter would instead shorten his iconic barnet and adopt a French accent. What are two horrible characters to be handed upon entry into the business, the Game will count his blessings that he persevered and went on to thrive in the WWE.
Reminiscing on his first steps in the wrestling business with Jimmy Fallon, Triple H also discussed his tenure as Jean-Paul Levesque. “They (WCW) said ‘We like your last name, it’s French, now go in the other room and cut promos in French’. I was like, there’s a big misunderstanding here, I don’t speak French at all and they were like ‘Great well go in the other room and speak in a French accent’.
” Triple H's Hall of Fame WWE Career Leaving WCW upon the expiry of his one-year deal, he would swiftly join WWE, entering the company as Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Spending his first two years in and around the mid-card scene, Hunter would soon start D-Generation X and shorten his name to Triple H. A move that benefitted his career immensely, the King of Kings never looked back.
A seven-time WrestleMania headliner , Triple H won 14 World Championships during his career, as well as a litany of other gold. From DX to Evolution to The Authority, he knew how to start a faction and make it work, and he knew how to back up his entertaining trash talk in the ring, with his bout against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 28 proving timeless . A WWE Legend in the ring and outside of it, no one could have quite predicted what Hunter would have gone on to do when he debuted in WCW with his terrorising name.
Proof that not all bad gimmicks are career-destroying, Triple H is one of the lucky ones whose talent helped him survive. Punk has a track record of taking away a newly-crowned champion's big moment..
