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On This Date in WWF History (Apr. 30): Triple H makes his WWF Debut on Wrestling Challenge

After only having signed a one-year contract wrestling with WCW, the man we now know as The Game, jumped ship for a shot at a singles career with the WWF, debuting on Wrestling Challenge on this date in wrestling history back in 1995.

By June M. Williams
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It was on this date in WWF/E history, (Apr. 30) back in 1995, long before DX or The Game were household names, that the "Connecticut BlueBlood" debuted on the WWF Wrestling Challenge. The man we all know today as Triple H, or Hunter Hearst Helmsley, had left WCW just a few months earlier in Jan. 1995, after WCW denied his request to be a singles wrestler.

For those of you unfamiliar with Wrestling Challenge, per Wikipedia, the show was:

...syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1996, [premiering on September 7, 1986, replacing All-Star Wrestling]. The show became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match interviews, and occasionally, summarized weekly events in WWF programming. Matches primarily saw top tier and mid-level talent versus jobbers. At times, there was a "feature" match between main WWF talent. As with other syndicated WWF programming, the show promoted WWF event dates and house shows in local media markets.

Wrestlingchallenge_large

Following the show's debut, The Snake Pit, hosted by Jake "The Snake" Roberts, debuted as a feature of the show. The Snake Pit was an in-ring interview segment modeled after Roddy Piper's Piper's Pit, which aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling. Wrestling Challenge also featured the similarly formatted The Brother Love Show. This segment, which debuted in 1988, was later moved to Superstars of Wrestling. Additionally in 1991, The Barber Shop debuted with host Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, while The King's Court, hosted by Jerry Lawler debuted in 1993.

The Hunter Hearst Helmsley "Connecticut Blueblood" character was a continuation of his gimmick in WCW, where he had briefly appeared with a snooty brit in Lord Steven Regal, as one Mr. Jean-Paul Levesque (complete with a french accent). Incidentally, this was also when he first adapted his finishing move, the pedigree, while working the boorish gimmick to the best of his ability -- despite his inability to speak french.

Upon his arrival into the WWF Universe in early 1995, he initially only appeared in taped segments, talking up proper use of etiquette and mocking fellow wrestlers, while claiming to bring a touch of class to the ring. (Sound at all familiar?)

He was pushed via these promo vignettes right up until his WWF wrestling debut on that April 30, 1995 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge. After which he was heavily pushed in those first few months.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Check out his brief but now historical WWF Debut footage from the WWF Wrestling Challenge below:


Do any of you Cagesiders remember his transition from WCW to WWF back in the mid-nineties? Did you ever imagine back then that one day Paul Michael Levesque would be appearing as the COO of the E, or become Mr. Stephanie McMahon?

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And now, from the desk of our CSS Senior Editor; for your viewing pleasure we bring to you, additional posts dusted off from the --

30 - APRIL

CSS ARCHIVES

30 April 2012

30 April 2011

30 April 2010
  • Nothing was posted to the site on this date in 2010 under former site management.

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