Sunday 19 November 2017 22:05, UK
Triple H fulfils one of his most recent ambitions this weekend when he steps into the ring to face Shinsuke Nakamura and make what he felt was “fantasy booking” become a reality.
The Game will form part of the Raw team for the traditional elimination match after pulling rank on the Red Team’s general manager Kurt Angle and insisting he remove his injured son Jason Jordan from the squad for Survivor Series, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
The addition of Triple H to the match has generated another layer of intriguing possibilities.
Already, there were potential confrontations which many WWE fans had spoken about as dream matches for years.
John Cena against Samoa Joe is one frequently cited but there are countless others; the ending of SmackDown this week generated some serious excitement about what the king of bump takers Shane McMahon will be able to do against the monstrous power of Braun Strowman, for example.
But most involve Triple H, and the man himself admitted he has been contemplating several of his possible opponents in the days and hours building up to a pay-per-view which could well turn out to be the wrestling event of the year.
“There’s this crazy part of me that goes through the past few years and thinks about stepping into the ring with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, someone who came through the development system when I was beginning to take it over,” he said in an interview with NBC Sports. “And then I think about Seth [Rollins] and now doing this at Survivor Series.
“I haven’t been in the ring with Kurt Angle in a long time. Same goes for Shane and even Cena.
“I think about the phone conversations with [Finn] Balor about coming in. It’s a crazy thing to think about and it’s something I’m very excited about. You go back to the whole having fun part of the job and this is just cool.
“Whenever I’m looking at talent, even when I’m developing NXT guys, I can’t help but look at it from a performer’s point of view.
“I did an interview a few years ago when Nakamura was first coming in and they asked me if there were guys I would like to wrestle and I was like yeah, I’d like to wrestle him.
“Am I planning to do it? No, but it would be awesome if I could just fantasy book it in my head. Now I’m going to be able to actually get in the ring with him.
“I’m going to get to step into the ring with Bobby [Roode], which I think for a lot of fans there could be some cool moments there, but I think there are also some cool moments for us.
“I have a bond with any of the guys and girls who came through our system and to be able to step into what we actually do with them is like a whole other level of cool.”
Triple H made his in-ring return on the recent WWE tours to South America and Europe, and received huge crowd ovations at every appearance.
He was paired with Rollins and Ambrose as a replacement for the ill Reigns and even donned the famous black Shield gear for a run of six-man tag matches. The crowds, needless to say, loved it.
That were the first in-ring action for The Game since WrestleMania six months earlier and while he admitted to feeling somewhat rusty he felt the absence of the television cameras helped smooth his transition back.
“When I went to Santiago, Chile to do the first show, I hadn’t stepped in the ring to do anything since WrestleMania,” he said.
“That’s a long time. You think that you remember how to do everything and in your mind, you’re the same as you were the last time you were there.
“Just taking that first bump in ring is jarring. It’s like riding a bike, you don’t really forget how to do it and if anything in your mind you go, ‘oh yeah, I still remember how to do this’ and then you get back into your groove.
“That’s not to say there isn’t rust, but the positive thing for me as opposed to some of the years when I haven’t done this for six, eight, 10 months and is that my first match back wasn’t at WrestleMania in front of the biggest audience that we’re going to have. That’s a whole different world of pressure.
“I’m not saying Santiago, Chile isn’t important, but it wasn’t a televised event. There’s a lot less pressure, so you can relax a bit and be yourself a little bit more. If the opportunity arises you can twerk, you can do whatever.”
You can book WWE Survivor Series by visiting this link: https://my.sky.com/orderboxoffice/ or by pressing the 'Box Office' button and following the on-screen instructions.
Viewers can also call 03442 410 888 to book the event, which is priced at £19.95 for UK customers, €24.95 for viewers in the Republic of Ireland.
