10 Definitive Levels To The Rock & Triple H's Epic Rivalry
5. Triple H Turns Heel To Catch Up
At Wrestlemania 15, Triple H turned on X-Pac and helped Shane McMahon defeat him, and aligned himself with The Corporation. As The Rock was headed for a face turn following Wrestlemania 15, and with Austin reigning as champion on the face side, HHH later said his entire reason for wanting to turn was to be on the other end, and "bring Darth Vader to this place."
Throughout 1999, Triple H cleaned out DX, and became a key cog in the Corporation and later, The Corporate Ministry while cutting his hair, and switching to shorter trunks to further enhance his main event look.
In the process, he became the most reviled man in WWE. We hadn't ever seen a champion cheating on that level, EVER. Using a reformed heel DX, as well as Stephanie McMahon's power, Triple H came off as one of the luckiest guys ever, who was equally as vicious.
The night after Summerslam 99, Triple H finally joined the elite winning his first WWE Championship from Mankind, and was around the championship for the next 12 months whether we liked it or not.
With Stone Cold Steve Austin going out of action in late '99, the battle for the year 2000 in WWE was down to two familiar men, The Rock and Triple H.