Jim Ross shared his opinion on Triple H’s pay-per-view win/loss streak on the most recent episode of the ‘Grilling JR’ Podcast.
Discussing Survivor Series 2000, the main event of which saw Triple H face ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin in a No Disqualification Match, host Conrad Thompson noted that not only did the match end in a no contest, but Triple H hadn’t lost a singles bout on pay-per-view to anyone other than The Rock in 4 years.
Reading from The Observer, Thompson noted:
“The angle, largely to explain Triple H taking some time off to rest his back and hip injuries, kept Triple H’s unusual streak alive of having done no pin fall jobs in singles matches on pay-per-view to anyone other than The Rock since 1996, in a circumstance where normally everyone would have expected him to lose.”
Jim Ross acknowledged that he was unaware of this statistic, and although Triple H has been noted for his aversion to losing matches in the past, Ross himself never considered, ‘The Game’, to carry that mentality:
“I’ve never heard Triple H refusing to do a job for anybody. And he certainly would not tolerate that today, if he had talent in NXT or wherever that refused to put somebody over. He wouldn’t go along with it”
Triple H made his WWE pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam 1995, defeating Bob Holly with a Pedigree in singles competition. Transitioning from a ‘Connecticut Blueblood’ to leader of D-Generation X, during this period Hemsley would feud with such legends as Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, Goldust and perhaps most famously, The Rock.
SummerSlam 1998 saw Triple H face, ‘The Great One’, in a now iconic Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, in which Helmsley secured a victory with outside assistance from Chyna.
Eventually becoming the ‘King Of Kings’, Helmsley would go on to become a two time Royal Rumble winner, a King Of The Ring tournament winner, and a 14 time World Champion.
Although Triple H has many accolades, he notably he currently holds the record for most losses at WrestleMania, with 10 wins – 13 losses.
Though largely absent from in ring competition in modern day WWE, Triple H continues to play a pivotal role within the company as current Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development and mastermind behind NXT.
Triple H’s supposed reluctance to lose has sparked internet speculation amongst fans for many years, however, Jim Ross disparages these rumours, reflecting on his personal relationship with ‘The Game’:
“To my knowledge, and the years I worked with him, and again I signed him to his biggest contract, I believed in Triple H from early on. And I just don’t know, man. I don’t think that that was ever a huge issue. It worked out to where it could be the case and if you didn’t like Triple H, or you didn’t like his relationship with Vince and his relationship with Stephanie, now you’re getting into a whole different area, you really are. You really over analyse the personal side of this shit, and that’s unnecessary.”
You can hear the entire episode of Grilling Jr here.