Triple H's 14 Greatest WWE Title Defenses Ever

12. WWE Championship Match: Triple H Vs. Taka Michinoku (Raw, April 4 2000)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av9tKK2oadE During his height as a villain early in the new Millennium, Triple H excelled as an arrogant champion who often took everyone around him for granted, including his fellow competitors. On April 4, 2000, he squared off against €œquality challenger€ Taka Michinoku in a match that he likely figured would be a cakewalk. Instead, he found himself right in the middle of a surprisingly competitive match that could have ended in disaster for him and the dominant McMahon-Helmsley Era. The Game bumped around the ring like a madman for Taka, making the former WWE Light-Heavyweight Champion look like a legitimate threat to his title. He sold everything to perfection, and his timing when it came to the interference of Funaki and the APA was impeccable. Fans completely invested themselves in the match, truly believing that they may be witness to the biggest upset in wrestling history. The nearfalls were dramatic, the crowd molten-hot and the result was an underrated lost classic that wrongly goes unrecognised when discussing the best matches in Raw history. Triple H won (duh), but more importantly than the result was the fact that it represented just how extraordinary a performer The Game had become since ascending to the top of the card.