Why Is Triple H Called Hunter?

Triple H, aka The King of Kings, is arguably one of the best wrestlers that the world has seen in the past 30 years. The man has done it all inside the squared circle and is now helping nurture the upcoming talents in the industry.

However, this road to success was never easy for the future WWE Hall of Famer. From working as Terra Ryzing in his earlier days to portraying a ‘Connecticut Blueblood’, HHH has experienced it all.

The reason Triple H is called ‘Hunter’ is that back when he first debuted for WWE, he used the name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. However, there’s an interesting story about how Hunter became The Game.

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When did Hunter Hearst Helmsley become Triple H (HHH)?

Triple H started his WWE career as the ‘Connecticut Blueblood’ named Hunter Hearst Helmsley. This was a heel run as whenever HHH made his way out to the ring, he would do such in sophisticated mannerisms.

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He even cut promos wearing sophisticated clothes and living his ‘Blueblood’ gimmick. However, this gimmick had hit its saturation point and the WWE Universe got bored.

However, during the late 90s, Hunter’s best friend Shawn Michaels started referring to him as ‘HHH’, shortening the big name to a more catchy one. The backstage authorities really liked this idea, and they gave it a green light.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley then fully transformed from the ‘Connecticut Blueblood’ to a brash behaving, rebel HHH. Soon, he and Shawn Michaels alongside Chyna formed one of the most iconic factions of this industry, D-Generation X.

Where did Hunter Hearst Helmsley come from?

Before stepping foot in Vince McMahon’s company in 1995, HHH used to wrestle for McMahon’s arch-nemesis Ted Turner’s WCW. In WCW, Triple H was packaged as a French-Canadian aristocrat named Jean-Paul Levesque.

However, his run in WCW limited him to the mid-card and nothing more. It was this time when he used his now-iconic finisher, Pedigree, for the first time.

Levesque worked in WCW for a year before Shawn Michaels from WWE saw his accolades in the ring and pitched to Vince McMahon to hire him, and the rest is history.

How did the name ‘Triple H’ originate?

As noted, it was HHH‘s best friend, Shawn Michaels, who first started referring to Hunter Hearst Helmsley as HHH. This name change also marked a gimmick change for Triple H.

And this gimmick change became the sole reason why he became a living legend inside the squared circle. His ‘The Game’ moniker came when he switched to ‘HHH’ in the late 90s.

How many other wrestlers have shortened wrestling names?

Nowadays, shortening names happens quite a lot in WWE. And most of the time it is not the wrestler’s first choice, it happens because WWE chairman Vince McMahon wants things in a certain way.

For example, the former WWE champion Big E was referred to as Big E Langston on NXT before making his debut on the main roster. When Big E made his debut as the bodyguard of Dolph Ziggler, he was referred to as ‘Big E Langston’ before the management cut his name to Big E.

Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville was called ‘Adrian Neville’ back in NXT; however, when he moved up to the main roster, he lost his first name and was simply named Neville

There are umpteen other superstars whose names were cut short in WWE. However, no one became as iconic as the ‘Cerebral Assassin’.

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