10 Wrestlers Who Didn't Care About Kayfabe

8. Triple H

Joey Janela Kip Sabian
WWE.com

The thing some people tend not to like about Triple H - beyond of course working the same pattern and length of match for 25 years - is that he likes to have his cake and Pedigree it too, and then wait 23 seconds to make the cover to teach it a damn lesson about this business.

He's a staunch Harley Race acolyte, shaped in ring style and psychology by sacred traditions, but put a microphone in his hand and a promising midcard act across the ring from him and he will ruthlessly expose the fiction of it all to get himself "f*cking" over. Kofi Kingston used to have a Jamaican accent - and as awful as it was it was better then Triple H's French - but he wouldn't have dared point that out because, "you see," only Triple H may break kayfabe. In 2006, John Cena happened to "not be a very good pro wrestler," but he must have been, fans thought, since he was the WWE Champion.

But, "you see," Triple H was referring to Cena's perception within in-the-know circles to babyface himself as...the heel...

By the damn good standards of the 2000s, WrestleMania 22 drew a 4/10 buy rate.

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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!