Triple H doesn’t have a match at WrestleMania for the first time in over a decade

When Triple H is healthy, he always has a match at WrestleMania. But a funny thing happened this year; Triple H was never even rumored for a specific match at WrestleMania 36.

WrestleMania 36 is less than 48 hours away. There are 16 matches advertised, and none of them include Triple H. This is the first time he does not have a match at WrestleMania since 2007, when he missed WrestleMania 23 due to a second quad tear.

His first match on the biggest show of the year took place in 1996 at WrestleMania 12 when he was squashed by the Ultimate Warrior. He has wrestled on every such event since, minus the 2007 iteration. Here is a full listing of his WrestleMania opponents each year:

• 1996: Ultimate Warrior
• 1997: Goldust
• 1998: Owen Hart
• 1999: Kane
• 2000: The Rock, Mick Foley, Big Show
• 2001: Undertaker
• 2002: Chris Jericho
• 2003: Booker T
• 2004: Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels
• 2005: Batista
• 2006: John Cena
• 2007:
• 2008: John Cena, Randy Orton
• 2009: Randy Orton
• 2010: Sheamus
• 2011: Undertaker
• 2012: Undertaker
• 2013: Brock Lesnar
• 2014: Daniel Bryan
• 2015: Sting
• 2016: Roman Reigns
• 2017: Seth Rollins
• 2018: Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle
• 2019: Batista

There’s the visual proof, in case you didn’t believe it. Triple H has only missed one WrestleMania event going all the way back to 1996.

It’s not a given that he won’t appear on the broadcast of WrestleMania 36 in some capacity, but it doesn’t look like it will be as an active wrestler. Unless of course he turns out to be the replacement for Roman Reigns against Goldberg. And I wouldn’t be shocked one bit if he books himself into another championship reign at Goldberg’s expense.

On the one hand, I’m not shy when it comes to expressing my thoughts on Triple H, so I welcome his absence at WrestleMania 36. On the other hand, this WrestleMania card looks like an impending disaster due to the lack of a live audience and several late changes. It’s almost like he somehow played the game and found a way to dodge this bullet, waiting for a big fight with a six minute entrance on a real WrestleMania card next year.

I should have known, Triple H always wins.