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By Dave McCoy
MSN TV
I have interviewed a bunch of people in the past 19 years: movie stars and directors, rock bands, TV personalities. I write that not to brag (trust me: most aren't very interesting), but to put this interview into perspective. When I was offered the opportunity to interview 13-time WWE world champion Triple H (aka Hunter Hearst Helmsley, aka the Game, aka the Cerebral Assassin), I felt giddy. The 14-year-old boy in me resurfaced. See, if you're a wrestling fan, the chance to talk to Triple H is, well, an honor. A 15-year wrestling veteran, the Game is the Man in the WWE. In the ring, he, along with Ric Flair, is one of the most decorated champions in pro wrestling history. His presence is a mixture of intense showmanship and horrifying thuggish behavior (whether he is playing a hero -- i.e. baby face -- or a villain -- i.e. a heel) and has made him one of the most popular and/or hated figures ever in the WWE. Outside the ring, he is equally as interesting. Five years ago he married the boss's daughter, wedding WWE CEO Vince McMahon's "little girl" Stephanie, and the two now have two children. In addition, Triple H has been a huge part of the WWE creative team, coming up with angles and story lines that continue to enchant wrestling fans. Oh, and the dude wields a sledgehammer and enters the ring to a Motorhead tune. C'mon!
If you are a wrestling fan, right now is THE time of year. On Friday, on MyNetworkTV, "Friday Night SmackDown" celebrates its 500th episode (the fastest weekly episodic to reach that milestone). More importantly, in less than a month, on April 5, 2009, WrestleMania 25 explodes in Houston. It's the WWE's Super Bowl, and of course Triple H will be headlining the biggest event in sports entertainment, battling third-generation superstar Randy Orton in a grudge match that heated up after Orton attacked, well, the entire McMahon family (including his wife).
Recently, while getting ready to do a live event in College Station, Texas, the Cerebral Assassin took time out of his busy schedule (you have no idea how tough this interview was to nail down) to discuss, well ... the Game.
See also: "Friday Night SmackDown" gallery
MSN TV: You're a hard man to track down.
Triple H: We're hard people to locate. We're all over the place, you know.
Tell our readers, fans or not, how grueling a schedule you guys have.
Sometimes people say, "It's so rough, it's so rough." It's not that bad. It used to be a lot worse. But I have two kids and I am home three days a week. But when you do go on the road, it's hectic. You're in a different city every day. You fly in to a new town, you do a show, you go to the next town, you sleep, you wake up and do it again. It's basically just a series of transportation, to the gym, to the arena, to the plane.
It's like being in a band, except you beat the hell out of each other.
It's funny because I'll watch those VH1 "Behind the Music" shows and I'll hear these bands say, "After four months on the road, we're ready to crack. We're at each other's throats." I'm thinking, "Four months?" We don't have time when we don't tour. That's the thing that's a bit daunting about what we do. You know, we have WrestleMania 25 coming up and it's our Super Bowl. Once that Super Bowl is over, there is a party, but if you are a top guy you really don't want to go to the party too long because you have to get up the next morning. You have a live TV show the next night, a live "RAW," and it starts all over again. It's a never-ending cycle.
You've been wrestling for 15 years. You've headlined several WrestleManias, but you are about to headline WrestleMania 25. Did you ever imagine it, as a kid watching wrestling in Connecticut, that you'd be doing this?
I didn't think I'd be in one WrestleMania. It's a huge thrill. I was just the same as the kids that'll read this. I was a young kid that loved wrestling and had a pipe dream. It's worked out for me, and there a lot of guys who it didn't work out for.
So, "RAW" recently celebrated its 15-year anniversary. "SmackDown" is celebrating its 500th episode. The shows own their time slots. What has kept this business thriving so long? What is it about wrestling that keeps people coming back?
Entertainment. Sometimes I watch TV and I think, "Who watches this crap?" It's OK, but it's not exciting, it's not entertaining -- and I'm not saying we're everyone's cup of tea. I think there's a large section of our population -- more than people want to believe -- that know what we are, want to be entertained. It's like live comic books. You've got good guys and bad guys, good looking women and good looking men, music and pyro and you live out your fantasies with it. There's this big anti-aggression sentiment, but when you're a kid, that's what you think about. You don't think about picking daisies when you're a 12-year-old boy; you think about being Batman or Spider-man, or John Cena or Triple H. From there, the story lines meld that all together and keep people involved and interested. Sometimes people look at the stories we do and say they are wacky, but it's no more wacky than "Desperate Housewives." I remember when that show first came on and hearing all about it. My wife was watching it and I sat down to watch a few minutes. I was like, "Are you kidding? This is the big rage? And they give us at hard time?"
I'm asked why I like wrestling. Now you do have a female demo, but for us guys, it's a male soap opera.
Sure.
Speaking of story lines, you recently revealed wrestling's worst kept secret and wove it perfectly into a story line leading to your match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania: You are, in real life, married to Stephanie McMahon. Were you apprehensive about the decision to reveal this?
For story lines and business, we try to keep that stuff separate. But people knew and we joked about it when I was in DX [comic wrestling tag team formed with fellow superstar Shawn Michaels]. The only reason I was apprehensive is where do we go on the flip side of it. Look at it like this: There is the real world and the WWE Universe. So the cat is now out of the bag in the WWE Universe and it now exists there. So anything that has to do with me story-line-wise, you have to be conscious of the fact that I am married into the McMahon family. That throws a different curve into it. So my only concern was it tainting future story lines.
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