Triple H was pretty incredible during 2000 and 2001 wasn't he? They really went to town on putting him over as the top man in the company, and he responded by raising his performances to the highest level. His feuds with Mick Foley, The Rock and Steve Austin cemented him at the top of the card, a position he still finds himself in today. He wasn't just booked well though, he really was the best in the world at this point. His violent battle with Austin at No Way Out in 2001 was a two-out-of-three falls match, or a Three Stages of Hell match to give it its official title. The first fall was contested under technical rules, the second was a street fight and the final fall (if required) would take place in a steel cage. Inevitably it was required, and for nearly 40 minutes these two beat the holy hell out of each other. This was a match that truly felt like it was defining a generation. Austin picked up the first fall following a stunner, but Helmsley soon levelled things up following a sledgehammer/pedigree combo. Once in the cage, Triple H went to town on Austin before the Texas Rattlesnake came back with that babyface fire that only he was capable of at the time. The crowd were going nuts at this point, and the fact that they were still so involved after all of the action is testament to the quality of the performances put in. The finish saw Triple H practically fall onto Austin following a sledgehammer shot (Austin hit Helmsley with a barbed wire 2x4 at the same time), and all involved were finally able to draw breath. This isn't just the best match in the history of WWE in February, but it is legitimately one of the best in company history.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
