Triple H belongs to an elite class of wrestlers in WWE. He is one of the few men to have won the Royal Rumble more than once. The Game won his first Rumble in 2002, and when on to main event WrestleMania X8 against Chris Jericho. His second win came in 2016 where he became the WWE Champion and headlined WrestleMania 32 as the champ.

Triple H reflects on his 2002 Royal Rumble win

The Game appeared on the recent episode of WWE’s The Bump where he reflected on his first Royal Rumble win. At the 2002 Royal Rumble, Triple H made his triumphant return from a terrible torn quad injury. He entered at #22 and eliminated Kurt Angle to win the match.

“It was great, you know. It’s hard to sort of put into words the journey that you’re on at this point in time, or that I was on at this point. So I, because, there was a high probability that I might never wrestle again, right? With the injury that I had, and they’d kind of let me know that.”

Triple H suffered a torn quad during a tag-team match on Monday Night RAW in 2001 where he teamed up with Stone Cold Steve Austin against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit.

The injury put him out for seven months. “So coming back, having the return that I did and having the opportunity to do that, Madison Square Garden, and the reaction, and everything was incredible.”

The Game talks about the pressure after winning the Rumble

Winning the Royal Rumble is undoubtedly a great accolade for any wrestler. However, the pressure of going to WrestleMania and wrestling in the main event spot is very pressurizing for a Superstar. For a wrestler just returning from injury, it is a tough challenge to make it to the Show of Shows and still be as big of a deal as he/she was when they won the Rumble.

“So to come back at the Royal Rumble, which, [is] one of the biggest pay-per-view events of the year. And you know, the Rumble has changed over the years, but always sort of has been since its inception. The sort of kickoff to the road towards WrestleMania, the winner getting the title shot, that whole thing.”

Triple H described it as validation for returning. For him to return at the Rumble and head to WrestleMania was proof that he could still go at the level he previously used to. Returning and being put in the spot that every wrestler wants is an envious position, but it also takes a lot out of a Superstar from both an athletic and performance standpoint.