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Triple H won 21 singles titles during a WWE in-ring career spanning 24 years. The Game recently admitted he was particularly upset about losing a title to The Rock early on in his career.
On February 13, 1997, The Rock's polarizing Rocky Maivia character won the Intercontinental Championship from Triple H on RAW. At the time, The Great One had backstage heat with other wrestlers due to his underwhelming persona and immediate title push.
Triple H said on the latest episode of A&E's WWE Rivals that he and The Rock were destined to cross paths:
"There was talk almost right when he very first came in of Rock being a guy that was gonna be headed to the Intercontinental title. Of course, that conversation came a lot towards me because I was the one holding it."
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Triple H also recalled how he reacted negatively when former WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon told him about his title loss:
"I had the Intercontinental title, Lowell, Massachusetts, Vince came to me. He said, 'We want you to drop that title to the new kid Rocky Maivia tonight.' I was p****d."
As a result of the title change, the WWE Chief Content Officer's first reign with a singles championship ended after 115 days. He previously won the Intercontinental title from Marc Mero on the October 21, 1996, episode of RAW.
Triple H did not interact with The Rock behind the scenes
Although they have since become good friends, the legendary rivals did not get along backstage in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Triple H added that everyone in WWE wanted to become the company's top star, meaning friendships were sometimes difficult to find:
"None of us wanted to accept that anybody was gonna be in a spot above us. The Rock, there was such a rivalry between us that there was always a wedge there (…) I never traveled with him, I never went to dinner with him, I never hung out with him, but we had some incredible chemistry with each other."
In the same episode, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart gave his thoughts on how The Game acted toward The Rock during an overseas trip.
What do you make of the WWE Chief Content Officer's remarks? Let us know in the comments section.
Please credit A&E's WWE Rivals and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
