Last out was Triple-H, who got a gigantic pop. Seconds after Grisham described Triple-H’s rivalry with Randy Orton as the most personal in WrestleMania history, Hunter was his usually jokester self, and kicked off the event by doing his “Are you ready?” shtick. He asked the fans, “Are you ready for WrestleMania.”
Triple H said he shared his colleagues’ passion for WrestleMania, but said, “It’s just a little bit different for me.” He said his first WrestleMania experience came at WrestleMania XI, just after he joined the company. Although he didn’t wrestle on the show, he said he “sat back and I watched the greatest spectacle that I had ever seen in my life take place before me.”
“And it was all run by this crazy, maniacal guy named Vince McMahon,” he said. “It’s hard for me to believe that 14 years later that crazy old man is my father-in-law.”
He added that Vince’s “crazy wife” is his mother-in-law, and “crazy” daughter his wife and mother of his children. He said WrestleMania was about more to him than just his career, but it was about his whole life. He said he considered all of WWE, including the fans, his family.
He joked about how Vince must have nine lives or be immortal because even after being blown up and having a gigantic rig fall on him just in the last couple years, “he is still just fine.”
He segued into a funny story about his trip to New York from the previous night’s Raw, where he went out with Vince and Shane and beat up legacy. He said a number of wrestlers, including Jericho, Edge, Show joined Shane, Vince and him on a flight to New York. He said Show was very “angry and agitated” because Edge was on the same flight. When the plane landed, Show said, “To hell with you guys, proceeded to get off the plane, slipped on the top step and fell all the way down to the ground below.”
“This is a true story,” Triple-H. It must have been, because Edge doubled over in laughter in his seat, and even Jericho, who was trying his best to stay in character, started giggling. Show said that Triple H betrayed him by telling the story.
Triple H said even Edge felt bad for Show. Hunter said that around the same time Show hit the floor, everyone noticed that Vince had disappeared. “Then very slowly a hand reached out from Big Show’s behind.”
He said a number of wrestlers pulled and pulled on the hand, “and Vince popped out. And he’s just fine.”
Triple H joked that it turned out Jericho was under Show too, “which explains his hair.” He was clearly trying to crack Jericho up again, but Jericho wasn’t biting. He just shook his head and snarled.
Hunter got serious and said he owed Vince for “everything I have in my life, from my career, to my job, to my wife, to my children, to all of you.”
Finally turning to his storyline, Hunter said his match with Orton had gone “way beyond” his world title and is “about my life.”
He said he will fight Orton for his father-in-law, for his brother-in-law, for his wife, for his kids, and for the fans.
“I will fight Randy Orton with every bit of who I am,” Triple-H said. “I will fight Randy Orton as if my life depends on it. Because it does.”