One Moment WWE Wants You To Forget From Every Year (1985 to 2026)

14. 2013 - Edge Quietly Gets His Revenge On Triple H

Edge Triple h
WWE.com

'The Game' was too shrewd a nickname for Triple H.

For approximately a year of his decades-long run, he was it, but the nickname only really stuck the worse he got. Everybody knew what sort of political game wrestling was, and he proved over and over again to be the best at playing it.

Even as he eased into retirement, he couldn't switch it off. 2013's WrestleMania 29 saw him defeat Brock Lesnar either side of two largely forgotten jobs at SummerSlam and Extreme Rules, tactically getting the better of 'The Beast' in such a commercially dismal fashion that WWE had to sacrifice The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak and John Cena's health and wellbeing just to salvage his aura. And it was during the endlessly reductive de-push of Daniel Bryan around this time the 'Cerebral Assassin' aimed for the minds of many to maintain his own legacy at the expense of everybody else's. It was during worked shoot in-character rant on an October Raw, that he listed Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho and Edge as Bryan-like "B+ Players" who were good, but never "the guy". Unlike him of course.

At that point relatively happily retired, Adam Copeland got wind and offered a rebuttal that left Hunter without possible recourse. Sticking the COO with a jab in the ribs on WWE.com, 'The Rated-R Superstar' said; "When you look back on WWE’s history, how many guys really were ‘the guy?’ There was Bruno Sammartino, then Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock and now John Cena. Then again, does Triple H like guys with long hair that are better looking and more athletic than him? Probably not. And I think the three of us fall into that category.”

A score draw, or 2-1 win to Copeland? Either way, kudos to them both for never thinking the WrestleMania main event was the best way to settle it. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 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 65,000,000 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 provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, 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.