Matt Christensen: First thing's first, how'd you cultivate such an awesome man-stache?
Triple H: I'm actually pretty lazy about it. I woke up one day with a beard, shaved my chin, and it looked cool. When I get tired of this, it's handlebars. I'll curl the ends.
Matt Christensen: Whose deserves more respect, yours, or Miller Lite commercial co-star Burt Reynold's?
Triple H: Burt's, of course. It's a classic.
Matt Christensen: How does the original DX compare to the new DX?
Triple H: We were angrier back then. Shawn was rebelling against everything. He was a top guy, but was getting screwed every which way he turned. I felt like I'd yet to catch a break in the business, and I thought I deserved one. So we became the guys that would say the things everyone knew was going on, but were afraid to talk about. The things we did back then were entertaining, but there was a lot of anger behind it all.
Matt Christensen: Ever catch any crap?
Triple H: Shawn got fined $10,000 once. We always came back through the curtain and you would hear "You guys can't say that!" or "You can't do that on TV!" Like taking shots at WCW. They were the opposition, and it was absolutely forbidden to talk about the opposition. Well, we did. And ratings soared. And they kept putting us on TV.
Matt Christensen: What about the infamous "curtain call" incident?
Triple H: That incident was the cause of a lot of my anger toward the business. Shawn, myself, Scott Hall and Nash celebrated our last night together by hugging in the ring. Every person in the Garden knew what we were doing. The place went crazy. We put something out there that no one was suppose to see. We "broke character." The industry wasn't ready for it. But now, it happens all the time. Vince got so much pressure from the agents and other guys that he had to punish us...well, me.
Matt Christensen: How so?
Triple H: I went from the being the guy who was supposed to win the King Of The Ring in '96 and go into a feud with the Shawn for the title, to being the guy who got beat by Jake Roberts in the first round. You know you've got a rough road ahead when Vince McMahon calls you into his office and says, "Normally, in this situation I'd have to fire you."
Matt Christensen: Now he's your father in-law...
Triple H: When Steph and I first got together, her parents had us over for dinner. As you can imagine, Vince busted my balls the whole time. I felt like the 15-year-old kid, with my girlfriend's dad staring down the barrel of a shotgun at me. I bet he was laughing his ass off on the inside.
Matt Christensen: Once and for all, say something to the wrestling websites that claim you're nothing but a power-mad, backstage dictator.
Triple H: I haven't read a dirt sheet in 10 years. And that's the damn truth. Yes I'm in a top position. Yes I'm married to the boss's daughter. Yes I sit in production meetings. But, at the end of the day, there is only one person with stroke in this business. And that's Vince McMahon. If he doesn't like something, whether it's my idea or not, it's not going to happen. I want guys like John Cena around. I want to bring new guys up and help make them. People always accuse me of not wanting to drop the belt to a guy. That's complete crap. I didn't drop the belt to RVD because no one asked me to drop it to RVD. I've yet to see Hulk Hogan lose to anybody. He wrestles once every 6 months, and it doesn't matter if you're the biggest name in active competition today, he's not going to lose to you. There was supposed to be a Hogan/Michaels II, and Hogan was supposed to lose. All of a sudden his knee started "bugging" him.
Matt Christensen: Since you were poised for a big break, does your embarrassing lose to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 12 in 1996 still haunt you to this day?
Triple H: Do people really think I thought I was going to beat the Ultimate Warrior? The fact of the matter is that he was a completely unprofessional dipsh*t. (Shawn Michaels Interjects: Don't talk about me like that!) That's what pisses me off about the match, not the fact that I lost.
SPEED ROUND
TIPS FOR DATING THE BOSS' DAUGHTER...Whenever possible, drop a huge pile of crap on him. Also, make fun of his sexual preference and then get in real good with your mother-in-law.
TRUTH ABOUT US SUPERSTARS HAVING KIDS...This is a very family oriented business. Ninety-nine percent of the guys have been there for the birth of their kids. I didn't get special treatment just because I'm Triple H.
I BECAME...Pals with Ty Murray, the bull rider, on the set of the Miller Lite commercials.
ONE MORE THING FOR THE INTERNET HATERS.... It all stems from people who have opinions about a business they've never been involved in. And they're the same people waiting outside for my autograph after the show.
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