Many had to fall for Triple H to rise. Steve Austin had a rare stare at the lights for him in October 1999, The Rock put him over every other week, and Vince McMahon even gave his body and his daughter to the cause. Mick Foley's masterful manipulation of the wrestling audience was the missing piece of the puzzle though.
In conclusively beating Foley - as Cactus Jack, no less - at his own game twice on back-to-back pay-per-views in January and February 2000, Hunter was finally established as the headliner he'd long believed himself to be. His work was sensational, his character was established and his push was assured. A heel of his stature had the perfect babyface foe too. The Rock had sped past him as early as 1998 on their shared race to the top, but new money was to be made with both on top.
'The Great One's Royal Rumble victory (via a billion twists and turns en route) saw him through to a WrestleMania main event and Backlash follow-up, but he wasn't the most over performer on WWE's first pay-per-view of the new millennium. On that historic Madison Square Garden show, to a small man went the biggest pop.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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
