How Triple H Sabotaged Vince McMahon and King of the Ring

In 1997, Triple H was just starting to make noise as a solo act in WWE. Free of his punishment [...]

In 1997, Triple H was just starting to make noise as a solo act in WWE. Free of his punishment from the notorious "Curtain Call," The Game (the Hunter Hearst Helmsley) has re-climbed the ranks and earned the honor of winning the 1997 King of The Ring tournament.

One would think this was a proud moment for the up and coming wrestler, but it wasn't.

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In fact, Triple H loathed having to rock the "King" gimmick. Former WWE Executive, Bruce Prichard, tells the outrageous story on his podcast Something to Wrestle With:

"It was hilarious how many times and how many different scepters that we had for Triple H from the [King Of The Ring] that he destroyed. He hated wearing the crown, hated the scepter, hated the cape. So he would just tear them up any time they'd get him a new one. It was 'hey man you're the King Of The Ring, Vince wants you to wear the crown and the cape' — 'I don't wanna wear it.' And 'it's hokey, I'm not gonna wear that f*cking sh-t, it's a f*cking plastic crown, it looks like sh*t. I'm gonna f*cking destroy it every f*cking night"

But according to Prichard, WWE was not going to give up so easily:

"And so Vince said: 'alright, get him a bunch of crowns and scepters!' So Vince was determined on the other side. I'm gonna keep feeding him a crown every night until he wears the damn thing. And on the third one he finally — 'f*ck it! So yeah, it was probably three weeks worth of 'Hunter you need to wear the crown. You need to go out and be the king.' — 'I don't wanna be the king. I don't wanna wear the crown.' — 'You need to wear the crown' — 'I'm gonna f*cking bust it up, I'm gonna break it.' And somehow every match he would find some way to get the crown to either fall off his head, and accidentally get stepped on or used as a weapon."

More: Vince McMahon Originally Thought Triple H Was Just A Midcarder

This is a hilarious look into WWE's backstage. Triple H has been vindicated since as King of the Ring doesn't exist anymore. In fact it's last installment was so bland that the winner, Wade Barrett, is no longer with the company.

It all worked out as Triple H would go on to be 14x WWE Champion and marry Vince's daughter. It's highly possible that Vince gets Hunter a plastic crown and scepter each year for Christmas.

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