35 Current WWE Stars And Their '90s Counterparts

6. Triple H/Paul Heyman

Triple H and Paul Heyman
WWE.com/Unknown

Whilst the IWC has loved to bash Triple H over the years, he’s been getting rather a lot of love from us keyboard warriors ever since NXT appeared in its most recent format; a small, intimate promotion full of stars with chips on their shoulders who want to prove that they belong on a bigger platform. Sound familiar?

Now whilst one may have been an almost conman-type promoter who had never even had a day in a wrestling school in his life, the other is a well-respected suit who has the reputation of an ass-kicking multiple world champion. That aside, late-‘90s’ Paul Heyman and 2015’s Paul Levesque have a lot in common.

Both Heyman and Hunter were/are seen as the proud parents of smaller scale promotions that are looking to show that they belong in the professional wrestling industry. They’ve both also been used as authority figures both on and off camera in their respective runs, and Triple H has many of the same naysayers as Heyman had during his time at the helm of ECW.

The big difference, obviously, is that Hunter has the backing of a larger, globally-dominant organisation, meaning NXT does have an added safety net that ECW never had.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.