Trips to Win

The weather forecast was terrible, a huge storm was on its way and we needed to leave Yakima as soon as possible. If we did not leave soon then we were in jeopardy of not making it to Seattle for Monday Night Raw the next day. However, as they say in entertainment, “The show must go on.” The treachery that was The White Pass would be waiting for us. The question was just how bad would it be?

The White Pass is Highway I-12 between Seattle and Yakima, and for five months a year it is a hellacious mountain thrill-ride of blanketing snow, severely icy conditions and blinding wind and rains. If we started the show 15 minutes early and only did two hours we had a fighters chance of making it to Seattle, even though it would be brutal and dangerous. The Road Agents and the always-reliable Tim White monitored the situation during the show, instructing everyone to leave as soon as their matches were complete. The main-event that included Evolution was not in question in any way, but there could be no “ha-ha” antics and no major histrionics that they were famous for, especially at house shows. And Batista couldn’t take his usual hour and a half shower. I knew right there I was in trouble, as I was always the last to leave the building.

We were getting into our respective cars in the secure parking lot, Orton, Flair, Batista and Triple H into their Escalade or Navigator, me into my Malibu, and said goodbye. Then Trips got out of the drivers seat and walked towards my car.

“You gonna be okay?” he asked.

“Sure Bro, I’ll be fine.”

“Take my number, if you get stuck I will come back and get you. Have a safe trip. Call me.”

That was the nicest thing anyone had said to me in my seven years with the company, a simple gesture that spoke volumes about the classiest act in wrestling, Paul Levesque. He was a leader, a friend, a gentleman, a champion and a compassionate co-worker. I will never forget that.



Another time we were in Roanoke, training in the same gym. He was riding with Kane, while I was alone, as usual.

“Glenn has an appearance, can I ride with you for a few hours?”

We went to Outback for steak, tanned and then went to the building early for the show. He told stories, really great stuff about the likes of The Ultimate Warrior and his showing up at some airports in his Warrior gimmick replete with bicep tassels. He talked about Goldberg from his WCW days, Owen Hart and his great “ribs”…but never about a current wrestler. He never gossiped about the current roster, guys I knew, guys he knew a lot about and could possibly bury with innuendo or tales to make them look bad or weak. And if I mentioned anyone on the roster he always put them over big-time. Never a bad word about his co-workers, nothing but niceties about everyone.

And then there was Japan. Hunter, Michaels and me took a taxi to the gym almost a half hour from the Tokyo Dome Hotel. During his leg workout, a woman, an American actually, went over to the leg press he was using, took all twelve 45 pound plates off, replaced them with a pair of 25′s and proceeded to jump in and basically interrupt his workout. He didn’t flinch, get mad, roll his eyes and move on, pissed off that someone disrespected a WWE Superstar in the gym. He waited until she was done, ate a protein bar, smiled at her when she completed her task, and reloaded a 600-pound rack. Class, all class. A class act like no other.

Almost two years ago I heard some rumblings about some changes within the company that were about to take place. A very reliable source shared with me that Vince had been approached by the Board of Directors to name a successor, and that it might be Trips. Shane probably would have been the natural choice had he not left a couple of years earlier, but for some reason Triple H made so much sense. Stephanie was already well into beautiful Motherhood and Linda was now a Politician. HHH was now, officially, The Game.

Vince will always, up until the day he sees his Father Vince and Gorilla Monsoon and Owen and Eddie on the steps to wrestling immortality, be in charge. But for now, Hunter will be the keeper of the flame and the leader of the entertainment juggernaut that is WWE. And of course the face of WWE. I watched for the first time in years the last two weeks, and he is brilliant. This is a brilliant move.

He is a 13-time World Champion, been a top performer for at least 16 years, has credibility, charisma and smarts, an incredible sense of humor and great ideas. He is an old-school worker of the highest order and can teach ring psychology with the best of them. Someone needed to step up, and even though I am not a wrestling fan, I am happy for other fans, as I see great things on the horizon.

Paul Levesque, Terra Rizing, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Triple H…I applaud you. When I saw you at Over-The-Limit in Detroit last year backstage, you took 20 minutes of your time to greet me, ask me about my life, and treat me like an old friend. Thank you for that. This might be a storyline that even I could get behind, so maybe WWE will have a new fan. Probably not, but if anyone can do it…it’s you.

source: kinglennie.com