Wrestler snapshot: Triple H - stats and bio - Brief Article

Wrestling Digest, August, 2002

* Triple H stands 6'4" and weighs 280 pounds. He was born on July 27, 1969, in New Hampshire and now lives in Greenwich, Conn.

* Triple H's real name is Jean-Paul Michael Levesque. The moniker Triple H is short for Hunter Hearst Hemsley, Levesque's previous WWE character. His previous nicknames also included Terra Ryzing and Jean Paul LeVesque.

* Triple H's finishing movie is dubbed the Pedigree.

* Triple H also goes by the nickname "the Game."

* Among Triple H's belts are four WWE rifles, four intercontinental championships, a tag-team championship, two European championships, and the 1997 King of the Ring title.

* Triple H trained at Killer Kowalski's wrestling school in Reading, Mass. He made his professional debut as Terra Ryzing in the Independent Wrestling Federation, quickly winning the championship in the Kowlaski-affiliated promotion.

* Triple H moved to WCW in January of 1994, again as Terra Ryzing. In his very first televised match, he defeated Brian Armstrong, who years later would ally himself with Triple H as a member of the D-Generation X as the Road Dogg.

* In the summer of 1994, Terra Ryzing disappeared and in his place appeared French-Canadian blueblood Jean Paul LeVesque.

* The highlight of Triple H's WCW tenure was a 1994 Starrcade match vs. Alex Wright

* Triple H made his WWE debut in May 1995 as Hunter Hearst Hemsley a Connecticut blueblood. He was always accompanied to the ring by a beautiful valet. He began to rise in the federation as a heel.

* On May 21, 2001, Triple H tore his left quadriceps muscle in a tag-team match, forcing him to miss eight months of action in the ring. He made his triumphant WWE return on January 7, 2002.

* Triple H's most famous gimmick was his tumultuous marriage to Vince McMahon's daughter, Stephanie. It began with Triple H breaking up McMahon's marriage to Test, when Triple H revealed that he was actually married to Stephanie. The storyline was finally resolved this year at Wrestlemania.

* Triple H actually dated Joanie Lauer (a.k.a. Chyna) for four years, breaking up in 2000.

* Along with Shawn Michaels and Chyna, Triple H started the D-Generation X faction in 1997.

* After Michaels left the WWE, Triple H took over the D-Generation X, adding X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws (the Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) to its roster.

* Triple H is the only wrestler in WWE history to be a Grand Slam champion and to have won King of the Ring and the Royal Rumble.

* Triple H left D-Generation X following Wrestlemania XV.

* Away from the ting, Triple H enjoys watching VHi's "Behind the Music" and drawing. His favorite actor is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

* Triple H won the WWE championship at this year's Wrestlemania in Toronto, defeating Chris Jericho.

* Triple H once worked as a health club manager.

* In interviews, Triple H has likened winning the WWE championship to winning the Oscar for best actor.

* Don't go looking for Triple H info at www.tripleh.com. The Web site is owned by the Triple H Specialty Company, an industrial concern.

* One of Triple H's heroes growing up was Ric Flair.

* At presstime, the fifth-best selling item at WWE.com was the Triple H "Screw the Rules" t-shirt. Among the other Triple H items for sale are Triple H wristbands, bobbleheads, and basketball jerseys.