Bruce Prichard Recalls How "Devestated" Test Was By Triple H - Stephanie McMahon Angle

Andrew "Test" Martin seemed destined for super-stardom with the way WWE booked him at the beginning. Just months after the 23-year-old debuted, he was thrust into a relationship with Stephanie McMahon, and it's not like Vince McMahon's daughter is going to be a part of some trivial storyline.

But at some point, WWE reversed course and made Triple H Stephanie's new romantic partner leaving Test on the backburner. Test was promised one thing by WWE Creative, only for them to change their minds and Bruce Prichard revealed how that affected Test.

"Devastated," Prichard said on Something to Wrestle. "He was led to believe that this was going to be this big push for him where he was going to turn heel and have this big run, but obviously it didn't happen. He was devastated and hurt by it and probably more than anything a little confused. He would walk around like that hurt puppy dog, I think it took a s**t load of wind out of his sails, that's for sure."

"I liked Andrew Martin. I really did, but it's part of the business. He hadn't been part of the business for a long time, either. Here's a guy who had been around in the business for about a few years and he was promised these big things and then it's just yanked out in front of him... He wasn't ready for the position that he was put into, so yeah, I definitely encouraged him and told him to just get in there and every single day is another day of experience so learn as much as you can, keep your nose clean and get better every day and it will come. It is not going to happen overnight."

The idea to partner Triple H with Stephanie was, unsurprisingly, a pitch from Triple H himself. We all know that life ended up imitating art as the two are still married to this day, but there was definitely resentment from many at the time they became WWE's new power couple.

"First of all, there was no writing team to go through, that wasn't the structure at the time, it was just Vince McMahon," revealed Prichard. "That was the way Vince McMahon wanted it at the time; you come to me with your ideas and let's do it. That was an invitation from Vince himself, that was how that happened.

"However, the Triple H stuff, there was still a hangover from those who lived it from Shawn Michaels, and there was the rumblings of 'oh boy, this is going to be Shawn Michaels Part 2.' And of course, Triple H learned from Shawn Michaels and is going to get in Vince's ears and is going to run everything."

But unlike Shawn Michaels, many backstage didn't think Triple H had even reached the level where he was deserving to be in a main event storyline with the boss' daughter.

"There were definitely those rumblings at the time. Because people not in a million years, going from the first time Triple H won the championship, people were like, what the f***? If you had asked agents at the time if Triple H was worthy of holding the title at the time, people would say no," admitted Prichard. "But we did and it worked, so Hunter, by invitation of Vince said what do you got? Give it to me and he did.

"Vince has given that same speech with the same opportunity by a lot of guys, and if he likes them then by God you are in and he can take your ideas. He liked Triple H's ideas and he used it. There was a lot of jealousy and a lot of people backstage who thought that he worked himself into a position. Now he has put himself with the boss' daughter and is going to go to the top. There was definitely some jealousy with people talking about it in the back."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source: Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.