Triple H is now the man spearheading WWE’s creative direction, as he breaks barriers and records with the company Vince McMahon brought to power. The Game is a student of pro wrestling, but he wasn’t always under WWE’s roof. Once he was in WWE, Triple H stayed, but it took getting fired from WCW to get him there.
Why Triple H Was Fired From WCW
While speaking to Inside The Ropes, Eric Bischoff was questioned about letting so many people go like Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Triple H. He had all of them in WCW prior to their historic WWE runs, but Bischoff fired them all for different reasons.
Eric Bischoff commented on Triple H’s early career in WCW, noting that while he was good, it was challenging to foresee him becoming a star in 1993. Bischoff also acknowledged Triple H’s marriage to the boss’s daughter, emphasizing that he was a dedicated student of the game, a great performer, but not on the level of superstars like The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Although Eric Bischoff recognized Triple H as a reliable utility player who worked hard, studied wrestling, and maintained consistency, leading to his eventual breakthrough; that wasn’t enough to keep Terra Ryzing in World Championship Wrestling.
“Triple H. He was just starting out. He was good. But there’s nobody that’s going to be honest about it that could go back and look at Triple H in 1993 and go ‘Oh, he’s gonna be a star.’ He married the boss’s daughter. It is what it is folks. This isn’t gonna do me any good. I think Paul Levesque, Triple H, he’s a student. He really is a student of the game. He is a great performer. But he’s never been a Rock.”
“He’s never been an Austin. He’s never been a Cena. He’s been a great utility player at a certain level. He’s been around forever but he’s never been a superstar. In 1993 I don’t believe anybody that’s really being honest can say ‘Yeah, when I saw him in 1993, I knew he was going to be a big star.’ He just worked hard. He studied. He did the right things.”
“He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t do drugs. He just studies professional wrestling. He worked his way up to a point where he was able to break through because he was so consistent. He was so good and so consistent, but he was never great.”
Eric Bsichoff’s Role in the Monday Night Wars
The Monday Night Wars was a competition between WWE and WCW, primarily led by Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff, respectively. WWE’s Monday Night Raw and WCW’s Monday Nitro went head-to-head, battling for television ratings. Ted Turner, the owner of WCW, provided financial backing and support for Bischoff’s strategies, aiming to dethrone McMahon’s WWE.
Eric Bischoff, the mastermind behind WCW’s surge, implemented the strategy of giving away spoilers and live results to entice viewers to watch his show instead of WWE’s. This led to 83 weeks of domination for WCW, even though WWE was working hard to cultivate new stars on their own show, some that Eric Bischoff had fired along the way.
Vince McMahon responded by introducing edgier content, including the infamous Attitude Era, which featured stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley’s Mankind character, and Triple H.
The Monday Night Wars eventually came to an end when Vince McMahon bought his competition. Eric Bischoff had a deal worked up to purchase WCW before that, but it did not come with any television deal attached.
WWE, on the other hand, went on to book their Invasion storyline with whatever WCW talent they could bring in who weren’t under huge contracts with Ted Turner to sit at home and collect paychecks.
