Q&A with Paul “Triple H” Levesque

From his first days training in Killer Kowalski’s school in Malden, Mass., Paul Levesque — the man destined to be known worldwide as World Wrestling Entertainment megastar “Triple H” — knew that professional wrestling was for him. He’d loved the genre of sports-entertainment ever since he watched with his father as a young boy, and all of the training and weightlifting that he’d tirelessly dedicated himself to throughout his teens was in preparation for this.

Twenty years and 23 championships later, Paul — now a husband (to WWE Creative VP Stephanie McMahon) and a father — has rededicated himself to an even bigger role as the executive vice president of Talent & Live events for World Wrestling Entertainment. Still wildly popular and relevant to the WWE fan base (his new DVD/Blu-Ray, “Thy Kingdom Come,” hits stores this month), can the legend formerly known as “The Game” take sports-entertainment to new heights?

Describe your early days growing up in Nashua.
I was just a typical kid. I played baseball and basketball. Nashua is a uniquely situated city … it’s close to the beaches, close to the mountains, and 45 minutes from Boston, so it was a great place to grow up.

How did you wind up getting into pro wrestling?
I got lucky and [former pro wrestler] Ted Arcidi walked into my gym one day. He and I became friends, and I would ask him about the business all the time. Ted would discourage me from it a lot, but I was persistent and eventually he gave me the number to [former pro wrestler and trainer] Killer Kowalski’s wrestling school in Massachusetts.

Did you have any idea what the training would be like?
I had no idea how physically demanding it was, but I like training and physicality — that part of it didn’t scare me. I watched a lot of guys walk in there wanting to be wrestlers and the first time they got slammed in that ring, you could see the look in their eyes like they were done.

Once you became an established WWE superstar, what put you on the eventual path to the executive level?
I’ve enjoyed the creative process [of pro wrestling] almost as much as I enjoy going out there and doing it. Vince [McMahon, WWE head] used to joke with me and say, “When are you going to stop rolling around in the dirt and come and do some real work at the office?” and that eventually became, “I want you to be in this position when I can’t do this anymore,” which was the most flattering thing anybody could say to me because he was the guy that created all of this.

You’ve been the subject of several DVDs in the past. What makes “Thy Kingdom Come” so unique?
This one is much more of a documentary, as opposed to just a compilation of my matches. It’s about me, but my parents are in it, a lot of talent are in it. Even [longtime WWE Superstar] the Undertaker asked to be in it. Plus, they came to the offices and interviewed some people. It covers a lot of “corporate” Triple H.

Now that you are a driving force behind World Wrestling Entertainment behind the scenes, what does the future hold for this company?
We are Disney. We are entertainment … not just one-dimensional. Just think: 10 years ago, Marvel was just the comic book guys. We are, and will continue to be, a growing global content provider for entertainment of all kinds.

source: nhmagazine.com

Now we know without a doubt why Shane McMahon left the WWE.