Roller coaster night
CHICAGO -- Don't expect Triple H to complain about the unmerciful night he had at No Mercy. That's just not The Game's style.
The Game patiently sat in the trainer's room and watched the doctors sew up the gash in his head after his Last Man Standing Match with Randy Orton. His face was caked with blood and he was without the WWE Championship. Read the full story ...
Mr. McMahon truly had No Mercy on The Game Sunday night. This was not the way Triple H had envisioned his night ending, especially with the way it began. After the Legend Killer had been awarded the WWE Championship at the start of No Mercy, The Game shocked Orton and the world by challenging and defeating him for his 11th World Championship. Read the full story ...
It was a stunning culmination to the nine-month comeback from a career-threatening injury. Who would have thought that two months after returning to the ring at SummerSlam that The Game would claim the WWE Championship? The roar in the sold-out Allstate Arena was deafening. The rafters shook as our fans saluted The King of Kings, and The Cerebral Assassin thanked our fans for their undying support.
Those same fans gasped in amazement as they watched a vindictive Mr. McMahon throw challenge after challenge at the new WWE Champion. Triple H didn't have a chance to savor his victory. The Chairman, mindful of all the times The Game has made fun of him for having the diminutive Hornswoggle as an illegitimate child, made his scheduled match with Umaga a championship match.
The 348-pound beast from Samoa didn't need much motivation in his battle with Triple H. The snarling, chest-beating monster wanted his blood before No Mercy because of a sledgehammer attack The Game unleashed on him on Raw on Sept. 3. But somehow, Triple H withstood Umaga's onslaught and left with his championship intact. Read the full story ...
Still, The Game paid a heavy price. He was barely able to lift his arm in victory after the battle with Umaga. His body was wracked with pain and his ribs ached every time he took a breath. The Chairman -- and most importantly, Randy Orton -- noticed all this, and set the stage for his demise. The Legend Killer immediately exercised his rematch clause, and Mr. McMahon made their match a Last Man Standing Match.
Triple H could barely stand for his third match at No Mercy. But he never complained; he never bellyached. Proudly clutching his WWE Championship, he only warned Orton that he was in a "very dangerous match."
Orton and Triple H knew each other well from their days in Evolution, when The Game was the mentor and the Legend Killer was the student. They have never forgotten their wars over the World Heavyweight Championship from three years ago. They rekindled their rivalry when DX battled Orton and Edge (collectively known then as Rated-RKO) in 2006. Their years of hatred were unleashed in Orton and Triple H's battle to be the last man standing and once and for all, the WWE Champion.
As great as Triple H is, even he could not withstand the beatings he took from one match with Umaga and two with Orton. Even as his own blood partially blinded him, he refused to stay down. The Game only lost his championship after Orton flattened him with an RKO on the announcers' table -- and he barely missed beating the referee's 10-count.
In some ways, No Mercy reflected the various twists and turns and ups and downs of Triple H's history-making career. The Game has seen many highs and lows. He has known glorious victories, crushing defeats and several career-threatening injuries. And still, he has kept coming back.
As Triple H pulled his pain-wracked body and limped back to the locker room, our fans gave him a standing ovation. He didn't have the WWE Championship, but he was still The King of Kings in their eyes.
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