10 Most Effective Wrestling Blade Jobs Ever

8. Triple H Gets Made At Royal Rumble 2000

Austin McMahon
WWE Network

Triple H's recent retirement has inspired a reappraisal of his career: just how "that damn good" was he, really?

Think of literally any other name revered as a great by consensus - Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Kenta Kobashi, anyone in that esteemed sphere - and not a one of them has a big match record as uneven as Triple H's. Mitsuharu Misawa never worked matches as sh*tty as those H worked with Randy Orton, Roman Reigns or Batista - and that's just WrestleMania.

He was as good as anybody has ever been on January 23, 2000 - so good, in fact, that this, the start of his legendary 18 months, transformed him into an in-ring great across 26 minutes and 55 seconds.

Even in more lowkey moments, he was outstanding; after Cactus Jack brained him with a bin, he looked like the lights had gone out. The balance of his act was unreal; his light switch flat-back big bumps and flailing, convulsing selling never undermined his ability to beat the sh*t out of Foley like a monstrous warlord. Every gear change worked despite his flitting between the two extremes throughout a bloody saga of a WWE Title match.

This was the making of Triple H - who was so good in 2000 that the WWF barely missed Steve Austin - and his stricken, blood-soaked stretcher job was so phenomenal that it didn't even matter that the face is meant to bleed.

He deserved to eat the cake-uh that night.

 
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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!