Triple H founded the NXT brand and built it into one of the most popular promotions in the USA. Backed by Vince McMahon’s money, the WWE developmental brand signed the best indie talent the world over, joining a host of talented athletes just breaking into the industry.
Helped by the likes of William Regal and Matt Bloom, he helped develop talent into main roster wrestlers and sometimes Wrestlemania main eventers. Former NXT stars like Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins have all wrestled in the main event of Wrestlemania and are considered the backbone of the WWE roster, and started their WWE journey in the WWE.
They all wrestled brilliant matches in NXT that were revered the world over – but did Triple H wrestle in NXT?
Did Triple H Wrestle In NXT
No, Triple H did not wrestle in NXT at any point in his career. Despite founding the developmental brand in 2012 and bringing through numerous different talents up to the main roster over years, he never wrestled under the yellow brand before his retirement in 2022.
Triple H revealed why he never wrestled for NXT in an interview with TalkSport in 2019. This was prior to NXT Takeover: Cardiff and just 3 years before he would be forced to retire due to a life-threatening cardiac event that almost killed the 14 time world champion.
“To be honest? No. Obviously when I’m at those events and I can feel the passion and everything with the crowd [I want to], but I’m so busy into these other talents. And trust me, there’s almost a day that doesn’t go by where I don’t get a text from somebody on these rosters who go ‘what if…’ or ‘what if Shawn [Michales]…’ or ‘what if you…’ and that’s flattering, I understand that. Look, I watch what they do – I couldn’t hang! Not even in the ballpark anymore.
“[It’s] Flattering. Obviously the performer in you, anytime you hear a group of people going crazy with that much passion, you go like man, that’s awesome. I don’t know, I almost feel like I get more buzz, the adrenaline buzz, sitting and watching them succeed. They don’t need us, they don’t. And that’s what’s different about this brand. It’s not a need thing, it’s not like Raw or SmackDown ‘need’. The beautiful thing about our business is every now and again, Babe Ruth can come out and take a swing, you know what I mean?”
He has wrestled former NXT stars like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, but Triple H never actually had a match in an NXT ring. All of his matches against NXT stars came under the main roster banner, and now he has retired from wrestling we’ll never see The Game wrestle for the promotion which he grew into one of the most beloved in the world.