Wrestlers Who Can't Stand Triple H

Triple H has been a controversial figure in WWE for most of his career. From his early days in the divisive group known as The Kliq, to marrying Stephanie McMahon, to rumors of him using his power to stay at the top of the card, it can be no surprise that "The Game" may have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. These days Triple H is a true fan-favorite, with his booking of "NXT" and modern WWE seeming to have won over most hardcore fans, but there are still many wrestlers who hold grudges against the multi-time World Champion.

There have been a litany of shoot interviews over the years by former WWE wrestlers who had less than kind things to say about Triple H. Some credit him with being the reason their own WWE careers didn't work out, some say they outwardly hate the man, while others assert that Triple H was simply never that good to being with. Over the years, there has been quite a few names who have said they cannot stand Triple H, and here's a rundown.

Heat between CM Punk and Triple H was pretty well known throughout CM Punk's career in WWE. In CM Punk's infamous "Art of Wrestling" podcast with Colt Cabana, Punk was critical of Triple H on a number of occasions. Punk says he even once barked at Triple H, "I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have." Punk is referring to the botched Summer of Punk angle, which started out great, but somehow ended with Triple H beating CM Punk clean at Night of Champions 2011.

In his final meeting with Triple H and Vince McMahon before leaving WWE forever, Punk said he told them, "You have shackled me, you have creatively stifled me, you have made this a very toxic environment, I no longer want to be here." In the same meeting, when Punk was offered the chance to face Triple H at WrestleMania 30, Punk said, "I don't need to wrestle him, he needs to wrestle me."

Mr. Kennedy had a pretty rollercoaster career in WWE. During certain points of his WWE run, it looked like Kennedy was being groomed for a huge main event push, with his natural charisma looking to be a perfect fit for WWE. Kennedy seemed to be on the brink of greatness on numerous occasions. He won Money In The Bank but was injured soon after, then he was all but confirmed to be Vince McMahon's (kayfabe) illegitimate child only to see that also cancelled when Kennedy got suspended for steroid use. Unfortunately, it never worked out for the future TNA World Champion.

Kennedy's problems backstage with Randy Orton were well known, with Randy Orton blaming Kennedy for supposedly being dangerous in the ring, however, Kennedy revealed in a TNA promo that he also had problems with Triple H. When Mr. Kennedy (or Mr. Anderson as he was known in TNA) finally won his first World Championship, he used the opportunity to mock WWE and more specifically Triple H. Kennedy stated that Triple H had turned Vince McMahon against him and did an impression of Triple H having a conversation with Vince McMahon, "I think Kenny might be a little too funny. I don't think he's ready for it," Kennedy said in a mocking Triple H voice.

Ken Shamrock revealed in an interview with Busted Open Radio (via WrestlingInc) that he would be open to a WWE return, but doesn't think it will happen for one specific reason, namely Triple H. When asked if he wanted to return Shamrock said, "In a heartbeat. The only problem with that is I don't think Triple H wants me there but it is what it is. It's sad because you got a big organization like that the fans would love to see me go back, love to have me in there and yet, I'm not allowed to go back there [and there's] nobody talking to me about going back to the organization."

Bret Hart claimed in an interview with "The 81 Podcast" that Triple H stabbed Shamrock in the back a lot during Shamrock's time in WWE. Hart said of Shamrock, "I always thought he was someone who could've been a way better pro wrestling star than what they allowed him to be. To be honest, I think Triple H didn't like him, mostly because he was connected to me. But Triple H I remember didn't like him, and I remember Triple H was working with him a lot, was always criticizing him and talking about him. I think that was one of the guys that stabbed him in the back a lot."

After leaving WWE in 2016, Del Rio was very critical of a lot of things in WWE, specifically Triple H. During a drunken Periscope stream (via Fightful), Del Rio said, "Everybody knows the way I feel about that company ... Everybody knows the way I feel about those p****** from WWE, and I'm gonna say it again. Those p****** from the WWE, especially, the one with the big nose. So, I said it again and I'm going to put it on the site, because I don't care anymore." In the same Periscope Del Rio would even threaten to go to Stamford and attack the "big nose with the small d***."

Bizarrely, Del Rio says Paige made him believe that Triple H was responsible for her sex tape leak and that was the reason he was angry at Triple H. A lot has been said about the toxic Paige and Alberto Del Rio relationship, with accusations of drug abuse and physical abuse being thrown by both parties, so what was actually happening during this time may never be known. Del Rio recently tweeted a picture of himself in a ring with Triple H when Del Rio was WWE Champion, and has implied he is returning to WWE, though Del Rio's behavior since leaving WWE makes that highly improbable.

Scott Steiner has been critical of Triple H ever since he left WWE in 2004 and especially due to their botched feud in 2003. Steiner blames Triple H for being the reason every WCW guy got buried upon their debut in WWE. On Dave Penzer's "Sitting Ringside" podcast, Steiner said, "Same thing that went wrong with everybody else that went there from WCW. Look at what everybody did. Triple H beat everybody. Kevin Nash went in and he did a DQ and then he got beat. Sting got treated worse, he had one match with them and he was done. That's the thing when a guy is a mark and he wants to beat everybody and who is a legitimate p****. Wikipedia don't like, seriously. Look at what he's done, nothing. Then he got into professional wrestling and that was his time to shine."

Steiner says Triple H took advantage of everything because he was "banging the boss' daughter" before saying he doesn't care about getting inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. That podcast was in 2020, yet in 2022 Scott Steiner did indeed accept his induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame along with his brother Rick Steiner. Any heat between Steiner and Triple H may have been squashed, but one never can tell when it comes to "Big Poppa Pump."

In a 2005 interview, The Ultimate Warrior was very critical of Triple H when speaking of the infamous squash match at WrestleMania 12. After a four year hiatus from WWE, The Ultimate Warrior made his return at WrestleMania 12 to face a young Hunter Hearst Helmsley. At the time, Triple H looked to be rising up the card, although he'd be in the doghouse two months later for taking part in the infamous Curtain Call and in the year that followed he was jobbed out to pretty much everybody. In the match at WrestleMania 12, Ultimate Warrior no sold all of Triple H's offense, including the Pedigree, and proceeded to beat Triple H in under two minutes.

Warrior said that Triple H had cried to Jerry Brisco about his problems with the match, rather than talking to Warrior directly. Warrior said the match was nothing personal against Triple H, Warrior was simply a bigger star than him at the time and it was just business, before ending by saying if Triple H wants to tell the story any other way, then he is just a "puny little bastard" and "puny little s***head." Warrior did of course eventually return to the WWE fold in order to join the Hall of Fame in 2014, not long before his untimely death.

Bret Hart has always been very critical of Triple H. In a 2013 interview with WrestleTalk, Hart said that while he did have some respect for Triple H, he didn't think Triple H was a great wrestler, he was a good wrestler, but not a great wrestler. Hart even criticized Triple H's critically acclaimed WrestleMania 28 match with the Undertaker, saying it was mediocre, a 3/10 or 4/10 at best. Hart also said he couldn't think of a good match Triple H had ever had.

In an interview with "The 81 Podcast," Hart went further, saying, "There's always some guys you know that no matter what they do with them, you always wonder how they got there. I never thought Triple H ever had an idea, original idea for anything. I always thought he was overrated. The reason people even know him or remember him today is because daddy or daddy-in-law put him over."

In an 2013 interview with Steve Gerweck, Paul London spoke of his disdain for Triple H. London would make some of the same criticisms that Bret Hart did, saying Triple H would have the same match every night and that newer talent like Bryan Danielson showed him up in the ring.

On the "The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling" podcast (via 411mania), Paul London also said that he was disgusted that Triple H inserted himself into Kevin Owens' big moment of winning the Universal Championship. "The thing that really kind of disgusts me is Kevin Steen (Owens) who is one of my favorite people in the world and it really disgusts me is to see Triple H with his phony, fat smile draping all over Kevin Steen and saying that I believed in this guy all along. You know the bodybuilder, "the game" himself, Mr. Arnold Classic, Mr. Shredded is now super endorsing this non bodybuilder and who is kind of the anti-pro wrestler if you think about it (and from an attitude standpoint Kevin is amazing) but from that ideal WWE body that they valued and cherished for decades, he doesn't fit the mold and I love that about him because cookie-cutter is boring ... I think Hunter just does that to keep himself relevant at these new guys expense. It is almost like he is trying to give himself a rub off of these guys and it disgusts me."

Infamously, London and his partner Brian Kendrick were randomly attacked and Pedigreed by Triple H after the tag team came to "The Game's" aid on an episode of "Raw" in 2007.

In the mid-2000s, The New Age Outlaws made headlines in TNA by reforming under the new name of the Voodoo Kin Mafia. As the Voodoo Kin Mafia, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn would constantly shoot on Triple H (and Shawn Michaels) on TNA TV, using every opportunity they had to bury their former stablemates. Road Dogg and Billy Gunn would conduct behind the scenes shoot interviews at the time, burying Triple H at every chance they got, Billy Gunn even said he blamed Triple H for his departure from WWE in 2004.

Speaking on Desert Island Graps, Trevor Murdoch revealed during this time that Triple H had heard rumors of Road Dogg and Billy Gunn planning to attack him when WWE was doing a house show in the same area Dogg and Gunn had an autograph signing. Triple H asked Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch to watch his back in case the Outlaws hit the ring during Triple H's match. They never showed up, but the fact that Triple H even asked showed the heat between the former stablemates was real.

Somewhere along the way, The New Age Outlaws and Triple H must have made amends as they would both return to WWE in later years, and would even win the WWE Tag Team Championships and manage to get powerful positions behind the scenes.

Rob Van Dam had a successful career in WWE, however according to RVD himself, if it wasn't for Triple H, he could have achieved much more. Rob Van Dam says he wasn't happy with how Triple H got to make big career-altering decisions just because he was with the boss' daughter. Speaking on the "Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling" podcast, Van Dam spoke about how Triple H would position himself backstage, "I mean, I wasn't happy about the situation at the time ... You don't look at it like, 'Hey, this guy is, not a CEO, but whatever his position was at the time, is qualified to make important decisions ... You look at it more like, It's not fair just because he's with the boss' daughter ... A lot of wrestlers don't grow enough to see the whole picture. So forever, their opinion will be like it is in the book they wrote where they're like, 'If it wasn't for him, I would have had a great career.'

Rob Van Dam doesn't appear to hold too much ill will towards Triple H these days however, and he admits he had some great matches with "The Game." RVD also regrets inadvertently injuring Triple H at Survivor Series 2002.

Triple H and the late Chyna met at Killer Kowalski's wrestling school in Massachusetts in the early '90s. The two began dating soon after and would continue to date in secret (as Chyna revealed in her autobiography "If They Only Knew") until Triple H began a high profile relationship with Stephanie McMahon. Chyna found out about Triple H and Stephanie's cheating when she found a love letter from Stephanie in Triple H's briefcase.

Chyna's former manager Anthony Anzaldo spoke about their breakup in an interview with WrestlingInc, "He never gave her a ring, but Triple H gave Stephanie a ring. But it was all part of the storyline, but it was real life. So that's when Chyna started to go 'is this real?' And he's like, 'Why are you saying that? Don't accuse me.' As few of times as they're actually home together in New Hampshire at their house over the course of 365 days, maybe eight days, she goes to his briefcase, and picked the lock, and found a letter from Stephanie professing her love, approaches Hunter and proceeds to get into 'World War 3.' When they had that encounter, let's just say it was loud, and there was issues. And he apologized, and that was the last time they spoke." Chyna's sister says Chyna was devastated after the breakup, saying she thought Triple H was the only man Chyna ever truly loved.

In a shoot video, "Macho Man" Randy Savage was apparently angered by the fact that Triple H had once called him a "dinosaur" in a magazine interview. Savage titled his shoot response, "Dinoasskickingasaurus" and said, "Triple H, I'll b**** slap you and then take your girl." In the video, Savage talks very disrespectfully towards Triple H, calling him a punk and is even more disrespectful to Stephanie McMahon, saying, "I'm gonna take Stephanie McMahon and take her a ride around the block and I might give her back but I may not!" This could have just been trash talk, however there have been long-standing rumors about Randy Savage and Stephanie McMahon having a secret affair ever since the '90s.

When Savage mysteriously left WWE in 1994, rumors began to swirl that the real reason he left, and a reason why he never came back to WWE, was because Savage had an inappropriate relationship with an, at the time, underage Stephanie McMahon. These rumors were never confirmed, although Dutch Mantell revealed on his podcast "Story Time With Dutch Mantell" that it was "accepted as fact" that Savage was told to stay away from a young Stephanie McMahon in the '90s. This shoot comment by Savage made many think there may have been some truth to the rumor and that it is a reason why he was so mad at Triple H.