Triple H Details 'Bad Sign' Immediately Following WWE Curtain Call

Back in 1996, the wrestling landscape was a whole other ballgame. Kayfabe wasn't merely a suggestion, it was a code that wrestlers lived by. Heels wouldn't dare be seen in public mingling with babyfaces. 

One of the genre's first kayfabe-breaking moments happened when The Kliq – Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H – all embraced each other in the ring following a show at Madison Square Garden, as Nash and Hall were set to leave for WCW. 

Triple H speaks on "Flagrant" about the moment and its aftermath.

"This is like, an incredible, real-life moment. So, we do it. When we come back, everybody is gone, like everybody. Usually, there's people back there, like the agents, all this. So we come back there, everybody's gone, and I'm like, that's not a good sign. So Shawn goes and talks to Vince, and Vince says, well that was a lot different than what I thought it was going to be."

Levesque's suspicions were accurate, as he recounts the phone call he received the next day. 

"As soon as I get home, there's a message from Vince's secretary, saying Vince would like to see you first thing tomorrow morning, and I'm like, f***. This isn't going to be good," Triple H recalled. "This is the meeting where everybody is freaking out. ... He's like, I don't wanna fire you, but I gotta do something. So you were gonna win King of the Ring, that's gotta go away. You were gonna do this program with Shawn, that's gotta go away. You are gonna have to learn to eat platefuls of s***, and like the taste of it." 

Fortunately for "The Game," hs punishment didn't last long and he would go on to become a WWE Hall of Famer in 2025. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Flagrant" podcast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.