10 Times Vince McMahon Got Revenge
6. The Curtain Call
Once upon a time Triple H was Hunter Hearst Helmsely. He was a member of the Kliq, a backstage band of buddies including Trips, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Shawn Michaels. Shortly before Hall and Nash left to join WCW in one of the most significant angles in either company's history, the Kliq were at a Madison Square Gardens house show. At the end of the show the gang all celebrated in the ring together since it was the last time they would be in the same company.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley was supposed to be a heel, so it made no sense in kayfabe for him to be best friends with the rest of the Kliq. The 'Curtain Call' revealed that wrestlers were performers, not the characters they portrayed, in an era when kayfabe was still clinging to relevance.
And Vince was not happy.
Trips was instantly de-pushed, being yanked out of the 1996 King of the Ring finals and replaced by Steve Austin. It worked out okay, though, since Austin used the KotR win to begin his ascent to uberstardom and Trips ended up marrying Vince's daughter and running the company.
For a while, though, Vince used Triple H to remind the entire locker room that no one steps out of line.