Triple H made an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of WWE’s The Bump to discuss a wide range of topics.
During it, he talked about the Royal Rumble. Here are some of the highlights:
His return from injury at Royal Rumble 2002:
“It was great. You know, it’s hard to put into words the journey that I was on at this point in time because there was a high probability that I would never wrestle again with the injury that I had, and they kind of let me know that. So, coming back, having the return that I did and having the opportunity to do that at Madison Square Garden, and the reaction and everything was incredible. But then, what do you do with that and how do you capitalize on that and that was the challenge. So, to come back at the Royal Rumble, which one of the biggest PPV events of the year, and Rumble has changed over the years, but always has been since its inception been the kickoff toward the Road to WrestleMania. The winner getting the title shot, that whole thing. So, it was a massive moment but really sort of that moment of the Rumble all the way through to WrestleMania was kind of like the validation of, ‘Yes, I returned, but can I still do this, and can I do it where I was doing it before?’ So, that aspect of it, these moments being in the ring, they’re just so much meaning there, just not only from a performer’s standpoint, just from an athlete’s standpoint of the validation of being able to do this still.”
His favorite Royal Rumble moment:
“It was my first Royal Rumble, and I was in there for a very long period of time. And Dory Funk Jr. came into the ring, and I don’t remember how long I had been in there at some point, but I remember Dory just coming in there and grabbing me in the center of the ring and putting me in the corner and going, ‘Get yourself a breather, kid,’ and he just started working with me. And that was a guy that I just grew up a legend watching and him and Harley [Race] and everybody else. So, for me to have that moment with Dory Jr., he probably doesn’t even remember, but for me, it was the coolest thing of all time.”
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