10 WWE Champions Who Weren't Ready For The Belt

3. Triple H

bray wyatt
WWE.com

Triple H was no joke in 1999, but he did invite a certain scorn-uh, in his guise as a proto-uh meme-uh, because he couldn't stop saying-uh the word-uh uh.

Why he did this is anybody's guess. Perhaps Triple H was too over-zealous in his pursuit to repackage himself as a badass, and this manifested as a really weird, gruff delivery that aimed for hyper-masculinity but translated as this bizarre porno noise. It wasn't just the voice; Triple H's entire look felt a checklist of aspirational cool dude cliché, complete with his leather jacket and an early, mercifully abandoned leather bandana thing. Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were effortlessly cool; in stark, revealing contrast, Triple H tried way too hard to join their ranks.

Austin himself detected the desperation and, feeling that Triple H wasn't as ready as he said (/shouted incessantly) he was, refused to put him over clean in the middle at SummerSlam. He took the fall to 24-hour transitional champion Mankind.

Triple H wasn't ready, but he was close-uh; after Rock's legendary assassination, Triple H, always very, very savvy, tweaked his act to remove the on-the-nose overtones, and repackaged himself to become both formidable ring general and cathartic big bumper - or, plainly, the best wrestler on the planet just months lat-uh.

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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!