Relive The Greatest Crowd Reception Triple H Ever Got In Honor Of His Birthday Today
Happy Birthday to Mr. Paul Levesque - better known as Triple H, or Hunter Heart Hemsley - who turns 52 today! In honor of his birthday, I thought I'd share this clip showcasing his return-from-injury at Madison Square Garden in 2002, where he received the greatest crowd reaction of his career.
At this point in time, Triple H had been out for eight months rehabbing a career-threatening quad injury, and left as a villain - but had these amazing vignettes set to U2's 'Beautiful Day' that were really hyping everyone up for his comeback....
....and it was all leading up to this Madison Square Garden show, where he'd come out and announce that he was in the upcoming Royal Rumble match that year (and open a can of whoop ass on Kurt Angle).
Despite leaving as a heel, he returned to an all time babyface pop that only seemed to get louder and louder throughout his entrance. People in that crowd fucking LOVED having Triple H back, and in his autobiography - 'Making The Game' - HHH details how much he loved to be back himself....
"When my music hit, the building absolutely exploded. I gave Vince a look that if it could talk, would have said, “Holy shit! I can’t believe this!” The volume doubled when I walked out. It blew my mind.
I was so jazzed up through the whole performance. The atmosphere out there was electric. I couldn’t have been any higher emotionally. To be at Madison Square Garden—the most famous arena in the world—getting this type of reaction was absolutely mind-boggling to me. It was such an amazing rush that I almost couldn’t hold it together out there in the ring.
When I got back through the curtain and made sure I was out of sight, I lost it. I was bawling. Certainly not out of sadness. It was an appreciation. The whole ordeal was just so emotional for me—what I’d gone through, what I almost lost, the appreciation the fans showed me—it all just hit me at once and I lost it.
If I had busted my ass for ten months and everything I had gone through with my leg was just for that one moment, that one moment when I walked through that curtain and heard that crowd and it all shut off right there, it would have all been worth it. Just for that moment. That’s how much it meant to me.
To this day fans still come up to me to tell me they were there that night and usually say something like, “I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.” And neither have I. Thank you all for that."
Stories like that never fail to put goosebumps on my arms. Legendary stuff.
Happy Birthday Triple H!