Triple H Reveals How Vince McMahon Became ‘Very Controlling of Things’

In an exclusive interview with the High Performance Podcast, Triple H opened up about his relationship with McMahon and the tensions that rose between them as the latter got older.

“He was much more controlling, especially as he got older, much more controlling. When I first came in, when we started DX, we were just doing our own thing. Nobody was scripting anything,” he said while talking about his first days at the wrestling stable with Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, and the New Age Outlaws . “We were doing our own thing, most times we were coming back, and he was mad at us and screaming at us, ‘We’re gonna get thrown off the air, god damn it, don’t do that again.’”

However, the team did not heed McMahon’s words and continued doing what they did best. But things took a turn when their ratings improved. Triple H revealed that McMahon started handing them scripts and dictating what he wanted them to say on screen. The team felt that the scripts were “terrible” and unlike anything that they’d actually say.

Triple H was relatively new then, so he did not argue with McMahon’s decision. Michaels, on the other hand, was a completely different story. In fact, it is said that he crumpled up the script and threw it at McMahon before walking out of his office.

“There were various points in time where he would become very controlling of things. Very specific to how he wanted it to be. It’s his prerogative; he’s the boss. We would all talk about it and be like, ‘It would be better if we did this.’ Even Pat Patterson would come to me, ‘Vince wants to do this thing, and it’s so stupid. Let’s do this instead,’” he added.

“I Wouldn’t Be Where I Am Without Vince”

Meanwhile, Triple H indeed credits McMahon for helping him reach the pinnacle of his career. In the same interview, he mentioned how his father-in-law was one of the first people to notice his creative flair.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without Vince … he saw something in me that I had an interest creatively and I think saw that I was pretty decent at it right,” he said, “From Taker to Shawn to Bret Hart, everybody that I worked with, I learned things from, but when you learn, especially from mentors, you learn what to do and then what not to do.”