My Mom's Basement - QUARANTINE MINI-POD: TRIPLE H

Episode Date: April 1, 2020

Triple H joins the From The Top Rope boys over the phone to discuss WrestleMania, the importance of entertainment in times like these, his favorite WrestleMania moments, staying grounded, and more.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

Hey My Mom's Basement listeners, you can find our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. This was one of those guys where when we first started From the Top Rope two years ago? Maybe more than that, maybe three, maybe close to three. I think it might have started in 17. 17 um this was because we started off red hot and if you don't know the history of from the top rope uh bob and i started wrestling podcast and we came out of the gates guns blazing with the guests and i think dave canceled we started the podcast after wrestlemania and got canceled before the royal rumble so we did zero podcast we did the off Rumble. So we did zero podcast during the season for you. Yeah, we did zero podcast during WrestleMania season.

But if you go back and look at that guest list, I would put it up against any other wrestling podcast in the world. Like it was top notch. And I figured we're building up to a point where, hey, we might be able to get Triple H someday. And that day came. That day was today. And we got to sit down with the game.

And I got to ask him one of the questions that I've been just dying to ask him. And, no, it was really cool. It was really cool. And also, Bob, it's a testament to your work ethic because, hey, listen, we got canceled and we still got the fucking interview. Yeah, we did. We got the game after we got canceled and we still got the fucking yeah we did we got the game after we got canceled yeah this was cool obviously it's under weird circumstances it was a phoner we're here in our own apartment still quarantined but we we made the best of it it's a fun interview we talked about wrestlemania we talked a little bit about nxt we talked about

how he stays in shape i mean he had a little little life advice when he started talking about the gym. I started wanting to fucking pump some iron. So without further ado, here is an interview with the game, the Cerebral Assassin, the Ass Kicker, the COO, Terror Rising. The King of Kings.

The King of Kings. Oh, I almost forgot that one. Can't forget that one. Triple H, how are you, man? I'm doing great. How are you guys? You getting along all right in this crazy moment in time? You know what, how are you, man? I'm doing great. How are you guys? You getting along all right in this crazy moment in time? You know what's helped me out, though?

The WWE Network. It's really been a lifesaver. I've been watching a lot of old-school pay-per-views. It's obviously been a huge lifesaver for us. But one of the big things that we wanted to talk about, obviously, is WrestleMania coming up. For you, behind the scenes, but also as a performer, what do you think the biggest takeaway is going to be moving forward

with planning WrestleMania in the future by having this be two nights? Look, I think that this moment in time where something like what's going on right now happens and everything changes, that if you're smart, you then begin to look at all of what you do differently. There's a saying that genius comes from chaos, and I think this is one of those moments I think

that while in some ways I don't think any part of the world will ever be the same after this I think that everything changes at this point people are saying well how long before we get back to normal I think normal is going to be different than normal was before but that said I think it gives you ways to look at everything you do with a fresh set of eyes, and this is one of those things. I think that WrestleMania being multiple days, there's a possibility that that stays in the future when we can go back to massive stadiums.

I think it's all on the docket, so to speak, of stuff that you have to look at going forward um you know this moment in time will change everything wrestlemania has always been and the wwe as a company in general a very much show must go on mentality how close did this come to not happening how close did you guys come to saying hey we have to close doors like everybody else and and halt this while everything's going on? It must be a chaotic time. Yeah, I think everybody is doing the best they can to get through this. We have been working with the local government where we are, listening to the CDC, obviously,

but also in Florida and just taking their advice on everything and trying to work within the parameters that they're giving us. But what we do feel, you know, in some ways you can look at this in different aspects of the show must go on for us. We truly believe that there is no greater time when entertainment becomes a necessity than times like we're in right now,

where people need that escape they need something you know you said it yourself when when we came on um the the the lifesaver of the network to be able to go back and have that entertainment but to be able to have something fresh to watch something new it's not going to be perfect it's not going to be exactly what you want it to be um But it's there. It's something. And if you can put your guard down and relax and just enjoy it, hopefully we can do what our intent is to do in the first place, which is just put a smile on your face. You know, we're an entertainment company.

It's what we do. in the everyday hustle and bustle of life, you get caught up, and a lot of people get caught up in the what it is, and they did this wrong, they did that wrong, this happened, this, you know, it's very easy to get there on every aspect of everything. But if you can just forget about it, and if we give you an escape for a couple of hours a few days a week to just sit back, relax, turn on your TV or your mobile device or whatever it is, and just tune out from all the crazy stuff going on around you and just be entertained by something that we've done our jobs. And it was worth everything, the stretch

for everybody. We're taking all the precautions we can. We're working with the cdc and medical and our our medical experts maroon and dr dugas and um really trying to take every safety precaution we can screening our athletes screening our crew and staff keeping them at limited numbers uh even even doing our shows as we do them in waves where you know know, certain talent come in, they do their performance, they leave, another group of talent come in, do their stuff, and they leave. And taking every precaution we can. And anybody that doesn't want to be a part of it doesn't have to with no ramifications or backlash.

It's really just us trying to go that extra mile to entertain people at a time when they really, really need it. And we really appreciate that. We know a ton of fans do as well. So let's move on. Let's talk about some fun stuff. WrestleMania itself. This year, there's a pretty decent amount of crossover

between NXT, Raw, SmackDown. We have some NXT roster members coming up and competing at WrestleMania. Is this what you originally envisioned for NXT or no? You know, I like NXT. It's a funny thing. I feel like there needs to be guidelines and rules of of all of them being their own entity raw being its own entity smackdown being its own entity with its own unique talent base and nxt as well but the opportunity where you have where we

did what is being done right now with charlotte and andrea Ripley with the NXT Women's Championship. I feel like those are the perfect moments and the perfect scenarios where you can blend the two. You can do them in a very unique and creative and meaningful manner and, so to speak, build like either dream matches or things that you never thought you would get to see to happen and make that be something bigger than what it could be individually. I think those are great. At some point in time when we develop this, sure, I mean, I hoped it would be as big as it could possibly be and, you know, on every level.

And in some ways it's there. You know, you see the talent that are moving in you see opportunities uh where you know you have an austin theory uh last second because of an injury uh getting called up and getting the spot in wrestlemania and and um you know he he'll he'll knock it out of the park he'll he'll do a great job and and it's um it's having that base and having them all be ready at all times to be able to step in. If you have a player go down, you have another player that can take their place and still deliver an amazing product. So I've always wondered this, especially the past few years.

And I obviously have never had the chance to ask you this question. Now that I do, I'm going to ask you this question now that i do i'm gonna ask it so with you be still being an in-ring performer like i see you come back for different like wrestlemania programs and your physique is still just as good if not better now than it was at certain points like 10 15 years ago and you just celebrated your 50th birthday last july there are guys in the company now where you look at their physique and it's like, dude, are you even trying? As a wrestling fan that has been watching wrestling for over

20 years, you see some of the guys today and it's like, are you actually putting in all the effort that you could be? And then you see a guy like yourself who's still behind the scenes, you're putting in crazy hours every single day, and then I see you doing your workouts at midnight if that's what it takes. Is there any part of you that is looking at some guys in the roster being like, hey, I'm trying to lead by example, but

you're not following? I don't think so. You know, to me, there's obviously a cosmetic aspect of the business. There's a physical aspect of the business and what what is right for you and healthy but i i'm a big believer in that it takes all types and and all styles and all manners you know for every um for every anthony joshua in boxing there's a a tyson fury that looks totally different um but it's still incredible at what he does it And Andy Ruiz, that's just in a completely different look, right? So I don't know that it necessarily correlates with them trying, not trying. For me, I grew up in a gym. It's a lifestyle for me.

To be honest, it's the foundation for me, to be honest, it's, um, it's, it's the foundation for me. It's kind of the anchor that, that keeps me stable. If I'm not training, if I, for whatever reason, things get chaotic and I don't get to train, um, nothing seems to go right. Right. Like I just, I have to have that in my life. And it's a lot of work when I get ready for WrestleMania and getting in shape. I wish I could get in shape like I could when I was 20. I don't now. It's a lot more work and a lot harder. But for me, it's just a different mindset.

And not everybody's going to have that. I understand that. But it is what it is. I enjoy that. And I enjoy that challenge of it. I always that. And I enjoy that challenge of it. I always have. Um, but I don't, you know, from a performance standpoint, some of our, I think performers that you might look at and say like, yeah, you're even trying, but they're incredible. So how can you, you know,

you can't question that ability. You can't question how good they are. You can't question how good they are on the mic. Um, so, uh, to me, it's, it's all in what works for you and, and for you as a performer. I mean, I grew up at Dusty Roach was one of my favorites and, and certainly wasn't a physique guy. So, yeah, no doubt. Um, yeah. And I mean, and we've seen that angle like play out before, but I mean, I, I don't even know what year it was. It was a while ago. You put out a workout book, and it was standard bodybuilder-type stuff. And then I've also watched some of the videos that you've done where you can see where some of the workouts that you're doing are less bodybuilder-type stuff. It's more like cardio and strength and endurance-type stuff.

So how much of an adjustment has it been for you, someone that you've grown up in the gym scene, like working at a gym and then doing the bodybuilder type stuff, to now doing this more, you're doing boxing type stuff. How much of an adjustment has it been for you to kind of get away from the traditional route and then get into these more athletic type workouts? So it's a funny thing to

me that the i i i have said this a lot in my life to people for me i feel like the gym teaches you everything you need to know about life and you know the harder you work the more you get out of it right if you don't put in the effort you're just cheating yourself um if you put in the effort the results will come um whether that's diet, whether that's training. But at the same point in time, it also teaches you that as things change, as time goes on, you're going to learn more and more. If you are still doing the same stuff that you were doing 10 years ago now, you probably wasted 10 years of your life because you didn't pay attention to all the changes that happened um for me there was a certain point in time where um in my career where yeah i could i could just go in there and lift and do bodybuilding things and and uh worry about the the physique side of it because everything else i was in the ring every night for 30 40 minutes every night uh you know

that was your cardio. Yeah, I didn't have to get on the stair climber because I was going that hard every single night. I didn't need to do functional training because I was functionally lifting up all these other guys. I was training twice a day instead of once. As I got older, that training needed to change. How you train, how you you diet all those things I needed to get much tighter with my diet I needed to change the athletic way that I trained um over that period of time and and you know you pay

attention to that and um there was a period of time where my injuries were mounting up you know it's funny people sometimes I'll see stuff where people post things at certain points in time in my career, and I look at it, I'm like, oh, my God, I look terrible right there. Because I had an injury, and I couldn't train, and I was still working, and, you know, I was trying to train around an injury, but, you know, I could work every night, but I couldn't go in the gym, I couldn't lift, I couldn't do the things that I wanted to do because I was trying to work around injuries. Those things all, you know, built up over time.

I functionally had to change how I trained. And I believe that's why, like right now where I see a lot of guys, same time frame as me, same career length or whatever, maybe even a similar style that are, you know, really having problems with knees or whatever it is, just functionally the wear and tear. And I don't have those problems. And I'll put my injuries up against anybody's. But I think that the functional training keeps you, keeps everything strong, keeps all the little muscles strong, keeps everything strong and just keeps you functional.

If you don't do it, you're a mess. If I don't train for a week, man, you know, getting out of bed is a lot harder. When I train all the time, everything stays strong and I can move, you know? Are you going crazy with the quarantine? I'm thinking of guys that are obsessed with training and being in the gym. I'm sure you have your own gym, so you're probably fine, but are you still being able to train the way that you normally would? Yeah, you know what's a thing for me is because of our schedules anyways,

like you mentioned earlier, training at midnight, our midnight workouts or whatever, at various points in time, my life is so busy that I would put a gym somewhere. You don't need a huge space, but you need to have a gym, to me, somewhere in your house for those reasons. Like if I needed to at midnight drive 30 minutes to the gym, then train for a length of time, then drive 30 minutes home, man, it's so much more difficult to be able to have it right there.

As long as you're disciplined and the weight bench doesn't become a coat rack, then you're good. So I have a gym. I just make myself – you make yourself go do it every day, and it's a mindset, and it's a discipline. And that's never been – I guess maybe because I've been doing it since I was 14, it's never been an issue for me. If I say, okay, I'm going to start dieting for something, it's a switch. I flip it, and then I just stop doing what I don't need to do.

If it's, I'm going to train in this manner, or here's what I'm going to train, I just flip the switch and I just go do it. So that's been the discipline for me. But it's out of necessity, too, because, like I said, without that training, I'd be a mess. All right, you've competed in so many amazing, legendary WrestleMania matches, and I wanted to ask one more question about WrestleMania before we got you out of here.

When you look back at your entire history at the show of shows, the Showcase of the Immortals, which memory is the fondest for you? Which match, which event do you look back on and say, man, that was awesome? So, you know, there's a lot of them. And I was lucky to have, you know, I was in a period of time where there were some of the greatest performers in the business in that time. And I got to share the ring with a lot of them. So, you know, I certainly wouldn't want to take away from any of those. And me having the opportunity to be in the ring with all those guys is what made my career. But for me, there were so many special moments.

Sharing the ring with Steph a couple of years ago for the first time at WrestleMania was incredible. But if I had to pick one that stands out, it's the last match between Undertaker and myself. Shawn Michaels was a referee. They call it the end of an era match. And for us all to be in the ring together that kind of one last time from our generation and share that unique experience in that stadium with those people,

there's a moment where we all walked out together with our arm around each other and stood on the top of that ramp and looked out over that crowd. And that's as real as it gets. I made a a frame each of us have it uh that photo in our house uh with bits you know from from that match in in the frame and and uh i know it means as much to them as it does to me is that moment in time to me was about as real as it gets and and that's etched in my brain i will never leave that That's amazing. Yeah, I'll never forget that match. One quick question before we let you go,

because we know you're busy with your schedule today. I've always wanted to know this as well. When you take a Stone Cold stunner, and he gets in your face and says a bunch of things, can you even hear or make out what he's saying? And if you can, what is he actually saying? It's drunken gibberish. That's what he's saying and if you can what is he actually saying it's drunken gibberish it's funny depending on where you are uh depends on what's being said right if it was uh uh a moment on a monday night raw that was live and uh the hot angle or we were at a pay-per-view,

it might be very serious and probably heavily laden with things that wouldn't be very PG friendly at this moment in time. If it was after the show and we were messing around after we were off the air in that time during the attitude era where we would just, I'd take 30 stunners and even drink a cooler full of beer and I'd be covered in it. And we just, it would be us laughing and saying funny stuff to each other and just try to make each other laugh in a way.

And, and that's, that's the fun of the business. And I think when, when we as performers are out there having fun, whether that's tearing the house down, whether that's, you know, in a serious angle or whether that's us just goofing around and having fun with each other, that's when it's the best for fans.

And those to me are, you talk about memorable moments. There's so many moments that I have that are memorable to me with guys like Steve or Rock or Taker that happened after the show or at some live event somewhere where we were all just having fun. And those are so memorable to me. They're things I'll never forget because it was just such a – we're all together every day. It's like your family. And it was so much fun being around all those guys. We were just having a blast. All right.

Thank you so much for the time once again. Don't forget, NXT airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. on USA Network. It airs tonight. Also, next week, there's a massive show as well. And WrestleMania, of course, will be live Saturday, April 4th, and Sunday, April 5th at 7 p.m. on the WWE Network. Triple H, thank you. Thank you very much for the time, man.