A Look Back: Triple H's Road to WrestleMania X8

Can you believe it? It's WrestleMania season already! The road to WrestleMania began with the Royal Rumble (as it often does) and it will continue until the weekend of April 2, when the two-night event takes place. Every year, numerous stars have interesting, nail-biting, and yes, emotional roads to that grand stage, and Triple H was no different, as 2002 marked a huge comeback for The Game. Here is the complete story of Triple H's road to WrestleMania in 2002.

Backstory: One day after WrestleMania X-Seven, Triple H actually aligned with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, with the alliance coming just months after they fought each other in a 3 Stages of Hell Match at No Way Out. That match was months in the making, as Triple H was revealed to be the mastermind of the hit-and-run attempt on Austin, with Rikishi as the wheelman. Austin actually turned heel at WrestleMania, when he aligned with Vince McMahon en route to capturing the WWF Championship against the Rock, and regarding the alliance, Triple H helped Austin beat down Rock in a steel cage.

The duo formed The Two-Man Power Trip, and afterwards, Triple H captured the Intercontinental Championship, and at Backlash, both he and Austin defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Kane and The Undertaker in a Winner Take All match, giving them all of the major Triple Crown titles. Their reign was cut short on May 21, 2001, when they were defeated by Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho, but more notably, that was the evening that Triple H suffered a devastating torn quad injury that would keep him out for the remainder of the calendar year.

The Return: Something I always think about; Triple H missed out on the entire Alliance angle that took over a good bit of 2001. Amazing. Anyway, after weeks of hype for his on-screen wife, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H made his return on January 7, 2002, after close to eight months on the proverbial shelf. The return occurred at Madison Square Garden, and in his first Raw appearance since that May, The Game announced his plans to enter the Royal Rumble Match, but he was interrupted by Kurt Angle, who made the same announcement and reminded Triple H that he defeated him at the 2001 event, prompting Triple H to deliver the Pedigree to the Olympic gold medalist.

Royal Rumble: The 2002 Royal Rumble event took place on January 20 of that year, and it was (as usual) a star studded event. One of the things that stood out was Maven (then a Tough Enough rookie) eliminating, of all people, The Undertaker. As for Triple H, he entered at #22 and actually faced off with the only man in the ring: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. When they weren't fighting each other, they would team up to get rid of any entrants before going back to business. The pair made up half of the match's final four with Kurt Angle and the returning Mr. Perfect, but after Austin and Perfect were out, it was down to Triple H and Angle. Angle vowed to win the Rumble on his first try, and it looked like he would when he tossed over The Game. However, The Game hung on and made it back over before tossing out Angle, winning the Rumble match.

Triple H won his first Rumble match that year, and 14 years later, he would win the same match again. He is one of seven wrestlers to have won multiple Rumbles. The others: Shawn Michaels (the first to do it), John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar (who won his second Rumble in 2022), and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (the only three-time winner).

Trouble in Paradise: The on-screen marriage between Triple H and Stephanie McMahon continued, but there were problems surfacing. The main reason: when Triple H returned, he did so as a babyface. Stephanie, however, remained a heel after The Game's injury, as she was one of the three heads of The Alliance in 2001, and even after that ended, Stephanie's heel persona remained intact. So naturally, there would be problems in the marriage. Triple H had two more problems: Kurt Angle and (especially) Vince McMahon. Apparently, Vince wasn't happy with The Game's choice word for him (he referred to Vince as an "asshole"), while Angle was bitter over losing the Rumble match. The day after the Rumble, after Angle attacked Triple H, he informed The Game that he went to Vince, and a match was made between the two for No Way Out. It wasn't just any match, however, as Angle announced that Triple H's title shot at WrestleMania was on the line. Oh man!

So Triple H had that over his head, along with Stephanie's clingy behavior, which included pleading with Triple H to renew their vows. The Game refused, but his mind was changed with the following announcement: Stephanie was pregnant! Triple H was overjoyed at the thought of becoming a father, and was present with Stephanie as a doctor confirmed her pregnancy. All was well in the McMahon-Helmsley marriage.

Until it wasn't.

A Treacherous Deception: On the night of the vow renewal, Triple H received a phone call from his mother-in-law, Linda McMahon, which revealed something quite damning: Stephanie wasn't pregnant. Not only that, but the "doctor" was an actor hired by Stephanie as part of the deception. Wow! So with that, the renewal took place, with Triple H smirking at both Stephanie and Vince; the look of someone who knew something that they didn't know. Stephanie professed her love for Triple H, and when it came to The Game, he would start out with that same sentiment, but would follow with my favorite words from the segment:

"Stephanie, as I look into your eyes tonight, I see you for what you truly are: a no-good, lying BITCH!"

Triple H let Stephanie really have it for her deception, and loudly announced that their marriage was over, after which The Game delivered a Pedigree to Vince. Triple H shoved down Stephanie, who gave her famous angry roar in response, but she wouldn't be done there. Three days later on SmackDown (Valentine's Day), Stephanie promised a huge surprise for Triple H at the end of the evening, and boy did she deliver! As Triple H was being beaten down, Stephanie revealed her surprise: she would be the guest referee in his match against Kurt Angle. Yikes!

No Way Out: I've watched this match too many times to count, and the reasons why I loved this so much are many. For one, Stephanie--she was a vengeful villainess on a mission: to make Triple H suffer by any means necessary. Secondly, the comeback angle; Triple H was on a road to WrestleMania after coming back from injury, and as bumpy as that road was, No Way Out was the biggest speed bump. A third reason was the commentary of Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. They had me in stitches. King, of course, made every excuse in the book for Stephanie's actions, and they were mocked at every turn by JR. To no surprise, this match started with Stephanie throwing her weight around and doing all she could to make sure Kurt won, but she ended up being taken out of the equation when she was accidentally sent over the ropes.

It was the ultimate reprieve for The Game, as with Stephanie out, and Tim White in as official, Triple H only had Angle to focus on, and the officiating would be down the middle. Much like the McMahon-Helmsley marriage a month prior, all was well in this match...until it wasn't. Stephanie, still feeling the effects, managed to return to the ring and get in the way once again, and even after taking another tumble, she managed to attack Tim White as he was making the count in Triple H's favor. Stephanie, of course, allowed Angle to strike The Game with a chair, and one Angle Slam and a three count later, Triple H's dreams were shattered.

JR's emotional commentary, post-match, helped tell the story immensely. It was a story of a man who came back from a terrible injury and won the Royal Rumble, won a shot at the Undisputed Championship at WrestleMania, only for a petty Vince McMahon to forcibly put said title shot on the line. Even worse, an evil and vindictive Stephanie McMahon was inserted as the official, and she made sure that her ex-husband's dreams would go up in smoke, and she certainly succeeded.

Until she didn't.

Back in the Game: The following night's Raw saw WWF co-owner Ric Flair rectify what Vince had done: doing so by making a rematch with Angle's WrestleMania title shot on the line, with Stephanie banned from ringside. The lifeline allowed Triple H to defeat Angle to regain the title opportunity that he never should have lost, meaning that it would be Triple H challenging the Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho. The Game was back in the game, and this didn't set well with Stephanie, as not only was her ex-husband headed to WrestleMania, but Jericho's retention of the Undisputed Championship meant that no matter what, the title would be held by someone Stephanie despised--as Jericho had a history of trashing Stephanie.

However, as Triple H would find out the hard way, Jericho and Stephanie actually banded together against The Game; perhaps the unholiest alliance ever created. It was a crazy and weird tit for tat between Triple H and the Jericho/Stephanie duo, crazy to the point that Triple H's bulldog, Lucy, was even involved. After Lucy was met with an unfortunate "accident" (call it what you will), a livid Triple H looked for retribution, but the duo would take him down and damage that previously injured quad.

WrestleMania X8: WrestleMania X8 took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on March 17, 2002--the most recent WrestleMania to emanate from Canada. The Undisputed Championship contest served as the finale; the main event of WrestleMania, though an argument could be made that the match between The Rock and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan should have been in that slot. Triple H came out to Drowning Pool (yes, the same band who sang, "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor," the iconic theme for ECW) performing their version of "The Game," followed by Jericho and Stephanie entering together.

Similar to the Triple H/Kurt Angle bout at No Way Out, I watched this so many times, and mainly because of the story involved, and how JR and King helped tell it. This was the final chapter, the conclusion of Triple H's comeback, and it would see JR portray Triple H as someone who was looking to reach that ultimate goal, while also fighting the odds against him--namely a ruthless champion in Jericho, and a fiendish villainess in Stephanie. Of course, JR would also strike against King's various statements defending Stephanie, and regarding Triple H, that match would see him plagued by Stephanie several times, with The Game coming close to taking his ex-wife down, but Jericho would capitalize.

Finally, Triple H would catch Stephanie getting involved one time too many, and after two months of dealing with Stephanie's drama and vindictiveness, he finally delivered a Pedigree to his ex-wife. The Game finally turned the attention to Jericho, delivering a Pedigree to him and successfully capturing the Undisputed Championship.

Aftermath: At WrestleMania X8, Triple H won his fifth World Championship, and at the time, all of those reigns were with the WWF Championship. So Triple H accomplished that goal on that night, and eight days later on Raw, he accomplished another goal: getting Stephanie out of his life for good. Triple H actually retained the Undisputed Championship in a Triple Threat Match against Jericho and Stephanie, and because he pinned the latter, Stephanie was gone from the WWF (it wouldn't be for long; Stephanie returned to the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment as SmackDown's babyface General Manager). Triple H's run as Undisputed Champion wasn't a long one; he would lose the title to Hulk Hogan at Backlash, but would defeat Jericho inside Hell in a Cell at Judgment Day to end that feud.

Triple H's comeback road to WrestleMania in 2002 was quite interesting. It would see him go from a reviled antagonist to a sympathetic hero that fans could go for, and it definitely helped that he had a vicious antagonist in the form of Stephanie McMahon. It also served as the beginning of what would be an amazingly epic year for Triple H, but other details about Triple H's 2002, well, that can be saved for another story.

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