The Rise Of Triple H | Wrestling Timelines

November 9, 1997 - Montreal

Triple H’s close friend and political ally Shawn Michaels wins his real-life battle with Bret Hart, who at Survivor Series is screwed out of a company that very quickly abandons any pretence of promoting family-friendly entertainment. The Kliq had urged Vince McMahon to realise that much of his audience had disappeared because they’d grown up. Vince - despite a panicked attempt to sign the Ultimate Warrior in December - finally gets it. Attitude runs amok in a new, crude WWF that reeks of every bodily fluid.

Two people came up with the idea of a deeply transgressive, super-rare double cross: Jim Cornette and Triple H.

Cornette says it out of exasperation. He is genuinely bored to tears of the endless, circular conversations held over how to get the WWF title off the WCW-bound Bret Hart.

Triple H actually pitches it. He says that if Bret doesn’t want to do business, “we’ll do business for him”. Vince McMahon evidently likes the idea - Bret gets screwed - and must be impressed by this young, ruthless operator. He might even see himself in him.

This is Levesque’s first power play, and, underscoring his cutthroat audacity, he makes his move shockingly early into his WWF run. He’s barely over without Shawn standing next to him, and he’s about to wrestle one of the most interminable duds in the history of pay-per-view against Sgt. Slaughter in a month’s time.