10 Times Triple H Was Actually As Good As He Said He Was

3. The Night After WrestleMania XIV

Triple H
WWE

You don't hear this sentiment a lot, but Triple H doesn't get enough credit for this.

One of the reasons is because this long but important promo featured the powerful return of Sean Waltman to the company. The other is because he over-delivered on measured expectations, which doesn't exactly suit the narrative that he was born a legend. There was a pressure to smash this promo out of the park (or, to use WWE's own metaphor in the piece, score a touchdown) because Hunter the Kliq baggage carrier had a lot of his own to shift.

Perceptions were as good as reality - he was serviceable in the ring but fortunate to have formed such a fierce friendship with Shawn Michaels. This was the promo that would divorce him from all of that once and for all. The DX brand would be his to reimagine and reshape, and he understood the intent from the off.

He called on just the right amount of the past with Waltman, but carefully foreshadowed the short and longterm future of the stable with his laments on fresh starts and new beginnings. A man that has often been called the guy that works with the guys that make the money had just cut a promo that ensured he'd be pretty quickly one of the top earners himself.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett