Triple H

Paul Michael Levesque was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, on July 27, 1969. He has a sister named Lynn. Levesque watched his first wrestling match, involving Chief Jay Strongbow, when he was five years old. He attended Nashua South High School, where he played baseball and basketball. Following his graduation in 1987, Levesque continued to enter bodybuilding competitions—having taken up bodybuilding at the age of 14 because he wanted to look like the professional wrestlers he saw on television—and won the 1988 Mr. Teenage New Hampshire competition at the age of 19. While working as a manager of a gym in Nashua, he was introduced to world champion powerlifter Ted Arcidi, who was employed by WWE at the time. Eventually, after numerous attempts, Levesque persuaded Arcidi to introduce him to former wrestler Killer Kowalski, who ran a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts.

In early 1992, Levesque began to train as a professional wrestler at Killer Kowalski's school in Malden. His classmates included fellow future WWF wrestlers Chyna and Perry Saturn. Levesque made his professional debut on March 24, 1992 in Kowalski's promotion, the International Wrestling Federation (IWF), under the name Terra Ryzing. In the match, he defeated Tony Roy. In July 1992, he defeated Mad Dog Richard to win the IWF Heavyweight Championship. Levesque wrestled for various promotions on the East Coast independent circuit until 1994 and during this period he was managed by John Rodeo.

In early 1994, Levesque signed a one-year contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In his first televised match, Levesque debuted as a villain named Terror Risin', defeating Keith Cole. His ring name was soon modified to Terra Ryzing, which he used until mid-1994, when he was renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque. This gimmick referred to his surname's French origins and he was asked to speak with a French accent, as he could not speak French. During this time, he began using his finishing maneuver, the Pedigree. Lévesque had a brief feud with Alex Wright that ended at Starrcade with Wright pinning him. Between late 1994 and early 1995, Lévesque briefly teamed with Lord Steven Regal, whose upper class British persona was similar to Lévesque's character. However, the team was short-lived. Lévesque had previously met with Vince McMahon to discuss jumping to the World Wrestling Federation which did not result in his working for the company. However, after McMahon watched Lévesque's Starrcade match, an employment offer was made and Levesque left for the WWF in January 1995.

On June 1, 1996, Helmsley 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. Garner sued the WWF, eventually settling out of court and later discussed the incident in an appearance on The Montel Williams Show.

Levesque was known backstage as one of the members of The Kliq, a stable of wrestlers including; Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and Scott Hall, who were known for influencing Vince McMahon and the WWF creative team. It has been claimed that he was scheduled to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, but the victory was instead awarded to Stone Cold Steve Austin after the Madison Square Garden Incident, in which the Kliq broke character after a match to say goodbye to the departing Nash and Hall. Despite the punishment, Helmsley did have success following the MSG Incident. Mr. Perfect became his manager and he won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time on October 21, 1996, defeating Marc Mero. When Mr. Perfect left the WWF, his departure was explained to be a result of Helmsley turning his back on his manager as soon as he won the Intercontinental Championship. Helmsley held the title for nearly four months before dropping it to Rocky Maivia on the February 13, 1997 special episode of Monday Night Raw, called Thursday Raw Thursday. 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 Intercontinental title, he feuded with Goldust, defeating him at WrestleMania 13. During their feud, Chyna debuted as his new bodyguard.

From 1996 to 2000, Levesque was in a relationship with fellow wrestler Joan "Chyna" Laurer. They split up over her mental health problems and her disinterest in having children, with Chyna's sister stating that Levesque "was very good to Joanie" and that "they wouldn't have lasted whether Stephanie came into the picture or not". What began as an on-screen storyline marriage in 2000 became a real-life romance when Levesque began dating Stephanie McMahon. They were married in Sleepy Hollow, New York, on October 25, 2003. They have three daughters: Aurora Rose Levesque (born 2006), Murphy Claire Levesque (born 2008), and Vaughn Evelyn Levesque (born 2010).

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 (D-X). 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, even though he would still be referred for a while as Helmsley from time to time and Hunter for the rest of his career. Even after the D-X versus Hart Foundation storyline ended, he continued to feud with the sole remaining Hart family member Owen over the European Championship. This ended in a match between the two at WrestleMania XIV, with the stipulation that Chyna had to be handcuffed to then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Triple H won after Chyna threw powder into Slaughter's eyes, momentarily "blinding" him and allowing her to interfere in the match.

By January 2000, Triple H had dubbed himself "The Game", implying that he was on top of the wrestling world (as in not merely the "best in the game", but that he was in fact "the game") 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. They both fought at the Royal Rumble in a Street Fight Match for the WWF Championship, which Triple H won after performing two Pedigrees on Foley. The feud ended at No Way Out in a Hell in a Cell, where Triple H retained the title and forced Foley to retire. Triple H pinned The Rock at WrestleMania 2000 to retain the title, but lost it at Backlash to The Rock, thus ending his reign at 118 days. He regained it three weeks later, in an Iron Man match at Judgment Day, only to lose it back to The Rock 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 being recognized. Their feud culminated in a Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded which was won by Triple H. Afterwards, Triple H entered a feud 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 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, where Triple H defeated Angle with a Pedigree after a low blow from McMahon.

After a brief run as a face that saw him defeating Chris Benoit at No Mercy, 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 in the storyline Triple H said he had done it in order to shield Austin from the WWF Championship and end his career, in reality Austin's previous neck injuries started bothering him again, forcing him to have surgery. In November 2000, Triple H and Austin had a match at Survivor Series 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. Triple H returned a few weeks later to attack Austin, and their feud continued into 2001 and ended in a Three Stages of Hell match in which Triple H defeated Austin. In 2001, Triple H also feuded with The Undertaker, who defeated him 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 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 7th Triple Crown winner and 2nd Grand Slam winner in WWE history.

Triple H returned to Raw as a face on January 7, 2002 at Madison Square Garden. He won the Royal Rumble and received an Undisputed WWF Championship match at WrestleMania X8, where Triple H defeated Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship. After holding the title for a month, Triple H lost it to Hollywood Hulk Hogan at Backlash. Triple H then became exclusive to the SmackDown! roster due to the WWF draft lottery and continued to feud with Jericho, culminating in a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day, which Triple H won. On the June 6 episode of SmackDown!, Triple H defeated Hogan in a #1 contender match for the WWE Undisputed Championship at King of the Ring against The Undertaker, but was unsuccessful at the event.

In February 2003, Triple H formed a stable known as Evolution with Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista. Triple H and Flair challenged Rob Van Dam and Kane for the World Tag Team Championship, but they lost the match. The group was pushed on Raw from 2003 to 2004 and the height of their dominance occurred after Armageddon, where every member of Evolution left the pay-per-view holding a title. Triple H held the World Heavyweight Championship for most of 2003, successfully defending against Booker T at WrestleMania XIX in an angle with racist undertones. He lost the title after 280 days in September 2003 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 at Survivor Series, he finally regained the championship from Goldberg in a triple threat match at Armageddon which also involved Kane after interference from Evolution. On the December 29 episode of Raw, Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels, but the match ended in a double pinfall. The two met in a Last Man Standing rematch at the 2004 Royal Rumble, where both failed to answer the ten count, so Triple H retained the title as a result. Triple H lost the championship to Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XX in a triple threat match also involving Michaels. Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on March 22 episode of Raw and failed to capture the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero. Triple H was drafted 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 at Backlash, but came out unsuccessful.

In late 2004, Levesque released a book titled Making the Game: Triple H's Approach to a Better Body. It is mostly devoted to bodybuilding advice but also includes some autobiographical information, memoirs, and opinions.

After a four-month hiatus, Triple H returned to Raw on October 3, 2005 as part of WWE Homecoming. He teamed with fellow Evolution member Flair to defeat Chris Masters and Carlito. After the match, Triple H turned on Flair hitting Flair with a sledgehammer, sparking a feud between the duo. Flair defeated Triple H in a steel cage match at Taboo Tuesday for Flair's Intercontinental Championship. Subsequently, Triple H defeated Flair in a non-title Last Man Standing match at Survivor Series to end their feud.

At Cyber Sunday during D-X's feud with Rated-RKO, special guest referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a weapon to give Rated-RKO the win. At Survivor Series, D-X got their revenge when their team defeated Edge and Orton's team in a clean sweep during their five-on-five elimination match. In January 2007, at New Year's Revolution, D-X 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 on January 9, 2007 by Dr. James Andrews.

At Survivor Series, Triple H was scheduled to defend the championship 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, thus costing him the title after a 210 days reign and resulting in Edge winning his sixth world title. After failing to regain the title at Armageddon, Triple H entered seventh in the 2009 Royal Rumble, but was last eliminated by Randy Orton. In February at No Way Out, 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 December 21, Triple H announced that Hornswoggle was the new D-X mascot. This came about after Hornswoggle sued D-X for emotional and physical distress due to them not allowing him to join D-X. After being taken to court where they were ruled guilty by a jury and judge consisting of dwarves, Michaels told Triple H that Hornswoggle could be the mascot. Triple H agreed to it only if the charges were dropped, which Hornswoggle agreed to. On January 11, 2010 episode of Raw, Mike Tyson, who was the Raw guest host for the night, teamed with Jericho to face D-X; however, at the end of the bout, Tyson turned on Jericho and aligned himself with Triple H and Michaels. On the February 8 episode of Raw, D-X 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 title. This was their last televised match before Michaels retired.

In 2010, Levesque's role as an Executive Senior Advisor was officially formalized as he was given an office at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Levesque was named Executive Vice President, Talent and Live Events in 2011, and Vice President, Global Talent Strategy & Development in 2020. In this role he oversees the talent relations and talent development departments, training of performers and management of worldwide recruitment. Levesque's role within the company has been under much criticism since 2003, as many fans and some wrestlers view it as a way to keep him on top on-screen and to give him more television time. Levesque has spoken against this criticism and has denied all of it. Additionally, Levesque has been credited by many for losing in high-profile matches that helped elevate the careers of younger wrestlers including John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Jeff Hardy, Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns.

Triple H has been named as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. In 2011, Pro Wrestling Torch stated he was "widely regarded as the best wrestler in North America by the turn of the millennium". He has garnered most of his acclaim for his work as a villain throughout his career, but has been criticized for some of his overall wrestling work since the mid-to-late 2010s. After his match against Undertaker and Kane at Crown Jewel in 2018, at which point he was 49 years old, Dave Meltzer wrote that "when Ric (Flair) was 48, he was a lot better than Triple H". Wade Keller from Pro Wrestling Torch wrote that Triple H "moves like the trees in Wizard of Oz". Jason Powell from Prowrestling.net stated that wrestlers like Triple H (alongside Undertaker and Kane) "need to accept their limitations, stop pretending they belong in main events, and stop acting like being in these main events isn't stealing the spotlight (from newer talent)".

As the founder of NXT since its inception in 2012, Levesque has been widely praised for helping cultivate the brand, recruiting fresh new talent, and helping guide the brand to various levels of success including sold-out shows, increased respect for women's wrestling, and international expansion.

In 2013, his title was elevated to Executive Vice-president of Talent, Live Events and Creative where he also works with WWE creative direction and storylines of WWE's programming.

In 2013, Levesque earned a combined salary of just over $1.5 million (U.S.) from his front office job and as a wrestler. He also owns just over $1.5 million (U.S.) in WWE stock.

In 2014, Levesque and his wife Stephanie created the Connor's Cure cancer fund in honor of Connor "The Crusher" Michalek, a WWE fan who died of cancer at the age of eight.

Throughout 2015, Triple H maintained his role as the leader of The Authority, and was involved in mediating issues between Seth Rollins and Kane. Over the summer, Triple H began to test Rollins by having him defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Sting.

Levesque has been teetotal for his entire life, which led to him automatically being the designated driver in the 1990s when partying with wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash, who were well known for their drinking and drug use at the time. He is a fan of English metal band Motörhead, who performed three different entrance themes for him over his career, and was good friends with lead singer Lemmy until Lemmy's death in December 2015. He sported Lemmy-inspired facial hair during a large portion of his career, and spoke at Lemmy's funeral on January 9, 2016. Levesque has said that he is a supporter of West Ham United FC. He is also close friends with NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

During the early years of his career, Levesque used an Indian deathlock and a cutter as finishing moves. When he came to WWE, however, he stopped using both moves, since the former was difficult to use on heavier wrestlers and the latter was already used as a finisher by DDP. Instead, he adopted a double underhook facebuster called the Pedigree as his finishing move. In 2016, Fox Sports selected the Pedigree as the ninth greatest finisher in wrestling history.