20 Original WWE Character Concepts You Won’t Believe

6. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Triple H
WWE

Vince McMahon knew exactly what he wanted in the original Hunter Hearst Helmsley gimmick, partially because he'd seen it already in WCW.

Jean-Paul Levesque was a french Steven Regal - McMahon simply transformed him into a Connecticut one that happened to have a knack for pro wrestling. Various props came and went alongside the act as he took the long road to superstardom in the mid-1990s, but the future 'Game' was clearly prepared to dig his custom-designed heels in to make a potentially worthless character mean something.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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