Triple H

Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American professional wrestler, executive, and actor. He is currently signed to WWE and is the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development of WWE. He is also creator and executive producer of the WWE brand NXT.

Born and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, Triple H began his professional wrestling training from 1990 to 1991 and his career from 1992 to 1993 with the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) under the ring name Terra Ryzing. He joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1994 to 1995 and was repackaged as a French-Canadian aristocrat named Jean-Paul Lévesque, and was later repackaged in 1995 when he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), where he became Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and later, Triple H.

In WWF, Triple H gained industry fame after co-founding the influential D-Generation X stable, which became a major element of the "Attitude Era" in the 1990s. After winning his first WWF Championship in 1999, he became a fixture of the company's main event scene,and was widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers in North America by the turn of the millennium. Triple H has headlined several major WWE pay-per-view events, closing the company's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, on seven occasions.

Triple H has also won a number of championships in his career, being a five-time Intercontinental Champion, a three-time world tag team champion (two World Tag Team Championship reigns, and one Unified WWE Tag Team Championship reign), a two-time European Champion, and a fourteen-time world champion, making him the company's seventh Triple Crown Champion and second Grand Slam Champion. He is also a two-time Royal Rumble match winner, and a King of the Ring tournament winner. Later in his career, Triple H gained notability for his behind-the-scenes work at WWE, creating the developmental branch NXT, and gaining praise for his business acumen in professional wrestling.

Outside of wrestling, Triple H has been a figure of substantial media attention due to his marriage to Stephanie McMahon, daughter of Vince and Linda McMahon, who are majority owners of WWE. In 2019, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the D-Generation X group.

Early life

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 young. 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.

Professional wrestling career

Early career and training (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 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.[6] 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 1993 and during this period he was managed by John Rodeo.

World Championship Wrestling (1994–1995)

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.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. After McMahon watched Lévesque's Starrcade match, an employment offer was made and Levesque left for the WWF in January 1995.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE

Intercontinental Champion (1995–1997)

Helmsley wore a tailcoat suit and carried a traditional atomizer perfume bottle to highlight his extreme snobbishness

In a modified version of his gimmick in WCW, Levesque started his WWF career as a "Connecticut Blueblood".According to Levesque, J.J. Dillon originally gave him the name of Reginald DuPont Helmsley, but Levesque asked for a name to play with the first letters and management ultimately agreed to his suggestion of Hunter Hearst Helmsley. 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. Although technically still on a no-compete with WCW, Helmsley was allowed to compete in the opening bout against Ray Apollo at the WWF's last show held at the Boston Garden so that he had a chance to perform in front of his father. Helmsley made his WWF pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam, where he defeated Bob Holly. In the fall of 1995, Helmsley began a feud with the hog farmer Henry O. Godwinn, culminating in an infamous Hog Pen match at In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings, where Helmsley was victorious.

Although Helmsley was 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. Due to the stipulation of this loss, Helmsley was forced to enter the Royal Rumble match in the #1 position. He started off against former rival Henry Godwinn, lasting over 48 minutes before being eliminated by Diesel. 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). Sable was his valet at WrestleMania XII and after his loss to The Ultimate Warrior, 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, 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.[40] 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.

D-Generation X (1997–1999)

Main article: D-Generation X

Triple H and Chyna in April 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 (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, though he was still called 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.

After WrestleMania, Michaels was forced into temporary retirement due to a legitimate back injury sustained at the Royal Rumble, with Triple H taking over the leadership position in D-X, claiming that his now-former associate had "dropped the ball". He introduced the returning X-Pac the night after WrestleMania and joined forces with The New Age Outlaws. As 1998 went along, D-X 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 D-X 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.This storyline rivalry eventually led to a feud over the Intercontinental Championship, which Triple H won in a ladder match at SummerSlam. He did not hold the title long, as he was sidelined with a legitimate knee injury. When The Rock won the WWF Championship at Survivor Series,the rivalry between the two continued, as D-X 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. This began a new angle for Triple H, as Chyna betrayed him by attacking him after the match and joining The Corporation.

At WrestleMania XV, Triple H lost to Kane after Chyna interfered on his behalf and she was thought to have rejoined D-X. Later on in the night, he betrayed his long-time friend and fellow D-X member X-Pac by helping Shane McMahon retain the European Championship and joined The Corporation. turning heel in the process. In April, he started to move away from his D-X look, taping his fists for matches, sporting new and shorter wrestling trunks and adopting a shorter hairstyle.His gimmick changed as he fought to earn a WWF Championship opportunity. After failed attempts at winning the championship, Triple H and Mankind challenged then WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin to a triple threat match at SummerSlam, which featured Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the special guest referee. Mankind won the match by pinning Austin. The following night on Raw Is War, Triple H defeated Mankind to win his first WWF Championship. He dropped the WWF Championship to Mr. McMahon on the September 16, 1999 episode of SmackDown! before regaining it at Unforgiven in a Six-Pack Challenge that included Davey Boy Smith, Big Show, Kane, The Rock and Mankind. He defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin at No Mercy before dropping the title to Big Show at Survivor Series. Triple H then continued his feud with Mr. McMahon by marrying his daughter Stephanie McMahon and defeating McMahon at Armageddon. As a result of the feud, an angle with Triple H and Stephanie began which carried the WWF throughout the next seventeen months; together they were known as The McMahon-Helmsley Faction.

McMahon–Helmsley Era (2000–2001)

Main article: The Power Trip

By January 2000, Triple H had dubbed 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") 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. Afterward, 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 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 at No Way Out in which Triple H defeated Austin 2–1. 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 seventh Triple Crown winner and second Grand Slam winner in WWE history.

During the May 21, 2001 episode of Raw Is War, he suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury. In the night's main event, 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, causing it to come completely off the bone. Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match. He even allowed Jericho to put him in the Walls of Jericho, a move that places considerable stress on the quadriceps. The tear required an operation, which was performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews. This injury brought an abrupt end to the McMahon-Helmsley Era, as the rigorous rehabilitation process kept Triple H out of action for over eight months, completely missing The Invasion storyline.

World Heavyweight Champion and Evolution (2002–2005)

Main article: Evolution

Triple H after he won the Undisputed WWF Championship at WrestleMania X8

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 King of the Ring.

In the interim, between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, the McMahon-Helmsley Faction was brought to an official on-screen conclusion. By the time he returned, Triple H's on-screen marriage to Stephanie McMahon was faltering, so Stephanie faked a pregnancy in order to get him back on her side. When he learned that it was fake, he dumped her publicly on Raw when they were supposed to renew their wedding vows. Stephanie aligned with Jericho afterward, but she was forced to leave after losing a triple threat match on the March 25 episode of Raw when she was pinned by Triple H. The divorce, and thus the storyline, was finalized 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 on July 22 he turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him during what was supposed to be a D-X 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" 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 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.[83] He went on to claim that, after Vick was killed in a car crash, Kane (the driver) raped her corpse. Triple H later threatened to show video footage of Kane committing the act in question; the footage that finally aired showed Triple H (dressed as Kane) simulating necrophilia with a mannequin in a casket;Kane's tag team partner The Hurricane responded the following week by showing a video of Triple H (rather, someone wearing a Triple H series of masks) getting an enema. The angle was very unpopular with fans, and was de-emphasized before the title match. Triple H went on to defeat Kane at No Mercy, unifying the two titles.

Triple H eventually lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Shawn Michaels in the first Elimination Chamber match 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, winning 2–1.

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.[87] 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 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 at Backlash, but came out unsuccessful.

Triple H in April 2005

He then ended his feud with Michaels, defeating him in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood, which became the longest Hell in a Cell match in history. He then resumed his feud with Benoit, facing him for the title at Vengeance and on the July 26 episode of Raw in a 60-Minute Iron Man match, losing both times after Eugene interfered and hit him with a steel chair. He went on to defeat Eugene at SummerSlam. The following night on Raw, Triple H turned on his protège Randy Orton (who became the youngest world champion in WWE history the night prior at SummerSlam), expressing jealousy over Orton's title victory. He then regained the championship from Orton at Unforgiven after interference from Evolution. At Taboo Tuesday, Shawn Michaels was voted by the fans to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, but Triple H retained after Edge interfered. He then led a team of himself, Batista, Edge, and Snitsky against Orton's team of Orton, Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Maven at Survivor Series in a traditional elimination tag team match, which they lost after Triple H was lastly eliminated by Orton. After a triple threat World Heavyweight Championship defense against Benoit and Edge on the November 29, 2004 episode of Raw ended in a draw, the World Heavyweight Championship became vacant for the first time. At New Year's Revolution, Triple H won an Elimination Chamber match to regain the World Heavyweight Championship after last eliminating Orton following interference from Evolution, then defeated Orton at the Royal Rumble to retain the title and end their feud. Also that same night, his stablemate Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble match, thus earning a world title match at WrestleMania 21. Tension between Triple H and Batista began in the weeks leading up to the pay-per view as Triple H tried to convince Batista to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 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, Triple H lost the championship to Batista, and subsequently lost two rematches at Backlash and Vengeance in a Hell in a Cell match at the latter event (where Batista became the first man to pin Triple H inside the 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, 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.

D-Generation X reunion (2006–2007)

D-X striking their signature pose

By this time Triple H started to act like a tweener, as he began to get cheers by live audience. Although Triple H failed to win the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, another championship opportunity arose for him in the Road to WrestleMania Tournament. He won the tournament, granting him a match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22, where Triple H and John Cena fought in the main event for the title, which Triple H lost via submission. In this match Cena was booed by the crowd, while Triple H got heavily cheered. Later that month 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 D-X 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.[citation needed]

Shawn Michaels returned on the June 12 episode of Raw and soon reunited with Triple H to re-form D-Generation X, turning Triple H face for the first time since 2002. D-X defeated The Spirit Squad 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 at SummerSlam, withstanding the attack of several wrestlers who assaulted them before the match as directed by Mr. McMahon. At Unforgiven, D-X then defeated the McMahons and ECW World Champion Big Show in a 3-on-2 handicap Hell in a Cell match. During the match, D-X embarrassed Vince by shoving his face in between Big Show's buttocks, and D-X won when Triple H broke a sledgehammer over the shoulders of Mr. McMahon after Michaels performed a Sweet Chin Music on him.

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.

Multiple WWE Championship reigns (2007–2009)

Triple H as WWE Champion in November 2008

Triple H made his return at SummerSlam, where he defeated King Booker.Two months later 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 his rivalry with Orton that had been interrupted following his injury. Triple H won the match, winning his eleventh world championship and sixth WWE Championship, and 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.Triple H's title reign at No Mercy is the fifth shortest reign in WWE history, only lasting through the duration of the event.After winning the Raw Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out, Triple H gained a WWE Championship match by outlasting five other men, last eliminating Jeff Hardy after a Pedigree on a steel chair. At WrestleMania XXIV, Orton retained the title in a triple threat match after punting Triple H and pinning John Cena following Triple H's Pedigree on Cena. A month later, 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 then retained the title against Orton at Judgment Day in a steel cage match and again at One Night Stand in a Last Man Standing match.Orton suffered a legitimate collarbone injury during the match, thus ending the feud prematurely.

On 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 at Night of Champions. He defended the championship over the summer by defeating the likes of Edge at The Great American Bash and The Great Khali at SummerSlam, and was the only champion to retain his title at Unforgiven's Championship Scramble matches. After this, he successfully defended it against Jeff Hardy both at No Mercy and Cyber Sunday.