WWE’s Triple H Wrestled All Over Massachusetts to Start His Hall of Fame Career

World Wrestling Entertainment Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque – known from his wrestling days as Triple H – was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Tuesday to promote Wrestlemania 41 and his own upcoming WWE Hall of Fame induction.

During the segment, Fallon brought up some of Levesque’s previous pro wrestling “gimmicks” (the industry word for “characters”) before he found his ultimate success as Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the then-WWF in the late 1990s.

When Levesque first broke into the business while under the tutelage of wrestling legend “Killer” Kowalski, he went by the name Terra Ryzing, a play on the word “terrorizing” – something he would do to his opponents in the ring. He attended Kowalski’s school in Malden, Massachusetts and competed in his International Wrestling Federation in the early 90s.

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Terra Ryzing Rises Through the Ranks

As Terra Ryzing, Levesque – a Nashua, New Hampshire native – also wrestled all over Massachusetts, reportedly including bouts in New Bedford and Fall River, as he honed his craft.

Fallon held up a photo of Levesque in his Terra Ryzing days, although it was likely more from when Levesque arrived in World Championship Wrestling in 1994 on a one-year deal. WCW first changed the spelling to “Terror Risin’” before reverting to the original “Terra Ryzing.”

From Fearsome to French

Even that was short-lived, as the promotion soon rebranded him as “Jean-Paul Levesque," as a play on his real name.

He related to Fallon in the clip how they first asked him to speak French, which he didn’t know, before then telling him to use a French accent.

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Bringing the Attitude to WWF/WWE

Levesque remained with WCW through 1994, but then jumped ship to the World Wrestling Federation in 1995 when his WCW contract expired. He was packaged as the “Connecticut Blueblood” Hunter Hearst Helmsley, but then later shortened that to Triple H when he joined up with his best friend Shawn Michaels to form Degeneration X.

The two then led the WWF into its “Attitude Era” alongside other stars such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Undertaker and The Rock, which was the company’s most successful period in its history to that point.

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However, that success has now been eclipsed with the current World Wrestling Entertainment product, which after a sale to TKO in 2023 has risen to new heights with Levesque at the helm of the company’s creative direction.

Levesque will be inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame on Friday, April 18, on the eve of Wrestlemania 41 – the final Wrestlemania for another wrestling icon with Massachusetts roots, West Newbury native John Cena, who is on his retirement tour this year.

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Cena’s father John Cena, Sr. is also no stranger to the SouthCoast, having served as commissioner of House of Bricks Pro Wrestling in New Bedford and making numerous other appearances at wrestling events in the area.

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