Triple H was pretty close to hitting moves outta nowhere.
This week’s episode of The Bump featured Triple H as a guest in honor of his 25th anniversary in WWE. “The Game” was asked by the panel about how he ultimately landed The Pedigree as a finishing maneuver. A clip from the April 30, 1995 episode of Wrestling Challenge was played, showing Triple H hitting the cutter move made famous by DDP and now associated with Randy Orton.
Triple H explained that the move didn’t have a name yet but he had been doing it on the indies, but when he got to WWE he was asked about coming up with something different. He went on to explain that he was also using the Indian Deathlock as a finisher but noted it was a hard move to apply to bigger opponents.
“Not that I was thinking I was going to be putting the [hold] on Yokozuna anytime soon, but there were a lot of big guys and sometimes that’s a hard move to put on guys with bigger legs, it can be difficult. I said ‘I use the Indian deathlock sometimes but it’s hard to get on bigger guys. I sometimes use this finish…’ and it didn’t have a name yet so I explained it to them and they were [interested] and said ‘we think we saw this one guy using that’—I think it was [DDP] at the time and someone suggested giving that a try.
But that was in the beginning phases out people trying to do the RKO, the Diamond Cutter, whatever you want to call it. People were still trying to figure ways in and out of it. Most times when you asked enhancement talents to take it they had no idea how to take the move and how to get it done. I had never done it before and it just wasn’t comfortable. Every now and then I’d hit it on one guy, because back then you’d do [WWF] Superstars or [Wrestling] Challenge and you’d do five enhancement matches in one day, so you’d get to try it quite a few times.
Two would be great, one would be terrible and the others would be OK. I remember Chief Jay Strongbow coming to me and saying ‘Hey kiddo, that finish… whaddya think?’ And I said, ‘Whether it’s me doing it or them taking it, it’s hard to get right.’”
Strongbow asked if he had any other moves in mind so Triple H showed him the double underhook slam and it was well-received. Strongbow asked why he wasn’t using the move—now well-known as a trademark maneuver of “The Game”—and he said it was turned down initially. He went on to add the Pedigree to his moveset and noted Michael Hayes was actually the man who coined the name.
Check out Triple H’s full appearance on The Bump in the video at the top of the page.
If you use any portion of this transcription, please credit Wrestlezone.com
Related: SmackDown To Celebrate 25 Years of Triple H, Money In The Bank Qualifiers Set
