Despite its ability to be unpredictable and flow, professional wrestling has a few constants. One of them is we rarely witness when one of our favorites actually debuts. It’s not uncommon, as the WWE is the center of the wrestling world for most, but it’s still fun to see our favorites when they started out. In this case, it’s Triple H’s WCW debut in 1994.
As was the case with many future WWE greats, many got their start in WCW before eventually shifting to the WWE for whatever reason. The cool thing is, whether it was WCW, ECW, the NWA, or any other promotion, someone saw something with the talent to give them a chance.
In this case, not only did he get a chance, but he won and got a job. Gotta love his story starting on the right foot.
Triple H steps up
With just a handful of minutes given to him, Triple H, debuting as Terra Ryzing, had one chance to show what he could do.
What’s really cool about this is Ric Flair inspired Triple H to get into professional wrestling, and this look was his way of paying homage to the champ. Out of all the wrestlers he could’ve chosen as an idol, Ric Flair is probably the top choice.
Between his looks and charisma, Flair reached the top of the industry and stayed there, and that’s another way Triple H has emulated him. Despite the rumors and mutterings about how he got to be one of the top people in WWE, there really is no arguing against Triple H’s work ethic and desire paved the way and gave him every opportunity he’s had.
(I’d like to thanks @awrestlinghistorian for the transcripts contained in this article. If you haven’t yet, check him out. You won’t be disappointed.)
Eric Bischoff spoke about Triple H in the WCW on his podcast, 83 Weeks:
“I’ve never talked to Paul about this. Truth is, Paul Levesque was in WCW for a cup of coffee. He wasn’t a high-profile guy so there’s just not a lot of concrete stories or relationships or conversations or issues or negotiations or anything that I can really talk about because he was just there for a brief period of time. What I have heard, second hand and third hand, so I don’t know if it’s true at all, is that Paul’s original intention was to come to WCW to try to get on the WWF’s radar, and that makes sense to me. Paul is a very smart guy.”
There’s no denying Triple H’s intelligence, but what’s the start of a Hall of Fame career without a story about how he got his name, Terra Ryzing.
What’s behind a name?
“I go to (wrestling) school one day and I need a name. ‘So, you are going to be The Terrorizer.’ (Said Walter Kowalski) And I was like ‘Geez, The Terrorizer?’ It was just so generic, like, can I just have a name? ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘Like, you know, a first name and a last name? Or can I just have something like that?’
“And he literally had written Terrorizer on a piece of cardboard like off the back of a pizza box to show me what my name’s going to be. ‘You want a name? A first and last?’ and I said. ‘Yeah.’ and then he drew a line between the terro and the rizer. ‘Now you are Terro-Rizer. How’s that? First and last name. There you go.’ then he left. You can’t argue with him right? Somehow that then got transferred to Terra Ryzing.” – Triple H Thy Kingdom Come 2013 documentary
Nothing like a fun story about Triple H’s WCW debut, right? Love him or hate him, Triple H has carved out his niche in professional wrestling for generations to come.
Thank you for joining me, and I’ll see you tomorrow for our next This Day in Wrestling History and This Week in Wrestling History to close the week out.
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