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Cruiserweight Championship

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The NXT Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE . Before its retirement, it was defended across the NXT , NXT UK , and 205 Live brand divisions , which were developmental territories for WWE. During its short tenure, it was the promotion's only championship with a weight limit, wherein only wrestlers 205 lb (93 kg) and under—designated as cruiserweights —could compete for the title.

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125-457: Cruiserweight Championship may refer to: NXT Cruiserweight Championship List of cruiserweight boxing champions List of major cruiserweight professional wrestling championships A cruiserweight competition is a type of competitive running sport which takes place on sailing boats. Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

250-462: A ladder match to win his second Intercontinental Championship on August 30 at SummerSlam . He did not hold the title long, as he was sidelined with a legitimate knee injury. When The Rock won the WWF Championship on November 15 at Survivor Series , the rivalry between the two continued, as DX fought The Corporation stable of which The Rock was the main star and Triple H received a shot at

375-403: A mannequin in a casket ; Kane's tag team partner The Hurricane responded the following week by showing a video of Triple H (rather, someone wearing a Triple H series of masks) getting an enema . The angle was very unpopular with fans, and was de-emphasized before the title match. Triple H went on to defeat Kane at No Mercy on October 20, unifying the two titles. Triple H eventually lost

500-522: A world tag team champion by winning the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time at Backlash on April 29 when he and Austin defeated Kane and The Undertaker in a "Winner Take All" tag team match. As Triple H was still Intercontinental Champion, the win made him a double champion. In doing so, Triple H became the seventh Triple Crown winner and second Grand Slam winner in WWE history. During

625-447: A Cell match. During the match, DX embarrassed Vince by shoving his face in between Big Show's buttocks, and DX won when Triple H broke a sledgehammer over the shoulders of Mr. McMahon after Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music on him. At Cyber Sunday on November 5, during DX's feud with Rated-RKO ( Edge and Randy Orton ), special guest referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of

750-630: A Last Man Standing match on January 25, 2004, at the Royal Rumble to a double countout , so he retained the title as a result. Triple H lost the championship to Chris Benoit on March 14 at WrestleMania XX in a triple threat match also involving Michaels. Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on the March 22 episode of Raw and failed to capture the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero . Triple H

875-597: A Three Stages of Hell title match to Orton on June 28 at The Bash . At Night of Champions on July 26, he again lost a title match to Orton in a triple threat match involving John Cena. On the August 10 episode of Raw , Triple H met with Michaels at an office cafeteria in Texas where Michaels was working as a chef; throughout the show, Triple H tried to convince Michaels to return to WWE from hiatus. After several incidents (including grease grill burgers on fire and Michaels shouting at

1000-442: A WWF Championship opportunity. After failed attempts at winning the championship, Triple H and Mankind challenged then WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin to a triple threat match on August 22 at SummerSlam , which featured Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the special guest referee. Mankind won the match by pinning Austin. The following night on Raw Is War , Triple H defeated Mankind to win his first WWF Championship. He dropped

1125-429: A car window to prove that Michaels was weak. These events led to the beginning of a long storyline rivalry between the former partners and an eventual " Unsanctioned Street Fight " on August 25 at SummerSlam , in which Michaels came out of retirement to win. Triple H then attacked him with a sledgehammer and he was carried from the ring on a stretcher. Before September 2, 2002, WWE recognized only one world champion ,

1250-450: A challenge to Lesnar, requesting a rematch with him at WrestleMania 29 on April 7, which Lesnar accepted on the condition that he could choose the stipulation. The following week, after Triple H signed the contract and assaulted Heyman, the stipulation was revealed as No Holds Barred with Triple H's career on the line. Triple H defeated Lesnar after a Pedigree onto the steel steps. On May 19 at Extreme Rules , Triple H lost to Lesnar in

1375-540: A contract to face him for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania on April 3, Triple H lost the championship to Batista, and subsequently lost two rematches on May 1 at Backlash and on June 26 at Vengeance , where Batista became the first man to pin Triple H inside Hell in a Cell. After Vengeance, Triple H took a hiatus from WWE due to suffering from minor neck problems. After

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1500-469: A face on January 7, 2002, at Madison Square Garden . He won the Royal Rumble on January 20, receiving an Undisputed WWF Championship match on March 17 at WrestleMania X8 , where Triple H defeated Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship. After holding the title for a month, Triple H lost it to Hollywood Hulk Hogan on April 21 at Backlash . Triple H then became exclusive to

1625-537: A feud between the McMahons and Triple H. Shawn Michaels returned on the June 12 episode of Raw and reunited with Triple H to re-form D-Generation X, turning Triple H face for the first time since 2002. DX defeated The Spirit Squad on June 25 at Vengeance in a 5-on-2 handicap match. They continued their feud with Mr. McMahon, Shane McMahon and The Spirit Squad for several weeks. They then defeated The Spirit Squad again on

1750-493: A feud with Duke "The Dumpster" Droese following a loss during the Free for All at 1996 Royal Rumble . Up until that event, his angle included appearing on television each week with a different female valet (which included Playboy Playmates Shae Marks and Tylyn John ). It was during this time that Helmsley suffered his first loss in singles competition in WWF, against Bret Hart on

1875-625: A five-on-five tag team elimination match on November 23 at Survivor Series after Sting made his WWE debut to assist their opponents. However, The Authority were reinstated on the December 29 episode of Raw after Rollins coaxed Cena into reinstating them by holding Edge hostage. Back in power, Triple H began feuding with Sting, whom he defeated in a no disqualification match on March 29 at WrestleMania 31 after interference from D-Generation X. After his match with Sting, he and Stephanie McMahon were later confronted by The Rock and Ronda Rousey during

2000-538: A forklift and flip the car onto its roof 10 feet high. A brutal Three Stages of Hell match between the two at No Way Out on February 25, 2001, saw Triple H defeat Austin 2–1, thus ending their feud. The Three Stages of Hell match received universal acclaim and is widely regarded as one of the most brutal and one of the best professional wrestling match of all times. Triple H also feuded with The Undertaker , who defeated him on April 1 at WrestleMania X-Seven . The night after WrestleMania, Triple H interfered in

2125-402: A four-month hiatus, Triple H returned to Raw on October 3, where he and Flair defeated Chris Masters and Carlito . After the match, Triple H turned on Flair by attacking him with a sledgehammer, sparking a feud between the duo. Flair defeated Triple H in a steel cage match on November 1 at Taboo Tuesday for Flair's Intercontinental Championship . Subsequently, Triple H defeated Flair in

2250-475: A little girl), Michaels agreed to team with Triple H to face The Legacy at SummerSlam , superkicked the girl, and quit his chef job. On the August 17 episode of Raw , Triple H and Michaels officially reunited as DX, but as they were in the process of their in-ring promo, The Legacy attacked them both. Their first match after reuniting was against The Legacy at SummerSlam on August 23, which they won. On September 13 at Breaking Point , they lost to The Legacy in

2375-623: A major element of the 1990s Attitude Era . Triple H won a number of championships in his career, and headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including its flagship annual event WrestleMania seven times ( 16 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 25 and 32 ). He has gained late-career praise for his behind-the-scenes work at WWE, which includes creating the developmental branch NXT , and has earned acknowledgment for his business acumen in professional wrestling. Outside of wrestling, Triple H has received media attention due to his marriage to Stephanie McMahon , daughter of former WWE chairman Vince McMahon . He

2500-461: A match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, which Triple H won. Also at WrestleMania, Michaels lost to The Undertaker and was forced to retire. While giving a farewell speech the next night, Sheamus attacked him and set up a rematch at Extreme Rules on April 25. Sheamus attacked Triple H at the start of the show, before later winning the match, after which Triple H took a long hiatus from the WWE. Triple H made an untelevised appearance on October 30 at

2625-499: A name to play with the first letters and management ultimately agreed to his suggestion of Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He appeared in taped vignettes , in which he talked about how to use proper etiquette, up until his wrestling debut on the April 30, 1995, episode of Wrestling Challenge defeating Buck Zumhofe . Helmsley made his WWF pay-per-view debut on August 27 at SummerSlam , defeating Bob Holly . Helmsley remained undefeated during

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2750-512: A non-title Last Man Standing match on November 27 at Survivor Series to end their feud. Triple H failed to win the Royal Rumble match on January 29, 2006, at the Royal Rumble , but another championship opportunity arose for him in the Road to WrestleMania Tournament , which he won, granting him a match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, where he lost to champion John Cena via submission . On April 30 at Backlash , Triple H

2875-503: A pinfall for CM Punk to win, John Cena's leg was on the ropes, which would break the pin. Regardless, Triple H's longtime friend Kevin Nash attacked Punk immediately after the match to allow Alberto Del Rio to become the new champion. Though Nash and Punk demanded a match against each other, Triple H fired Nash for insubordination and booked himself in a No Disqualification match on September 18 at Night of Champions with his position of COO on

3000-713: A professional wrestler at Killer Kowalski's school in Malden. His classmates included fellow future WWF wrestlers Chyna and Perry Saturn . He made his professional debut on March 24, 1992, in Kowalski's promotion , the International Wrestling Federation (IWF), under the name "Terra Ryzing", defeating Tony Roy. In July 1992, he defeated Mad Dog Richard to win the IWF Heavyweight Championship. Managed by John Rodeo, he wrestled for various promotions on

3125-457: A promo regarding the record crowd at the event. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship was vacated after Rollins suffered a legitimate severe knee injury in November 2015 and a tournament to determine a new champion was held at Survivor Series on November 22, which was won by Roman Reigns. Throughout the remainder of 2015, The Authority aligned with Sheamus, who successfully cashed in his Money in

3250-435: A result of the feud, an angle with Triple H and Stephanie began which carried the WWF throughout the next seventeen months; together they were known as The McMahon-Helmsley Faction. By January 2000, Triple H had nicknamed himself "The Game" after stating he was above the top of the wrestling world (as in not merely the "best in the game" but in fact "the game" itself) and was nicknamed "The Cerebral Assassin" by Jim Ross . On

3375-419: A sister named Lynn. His first experience of watching professional wrestling was seeing a match involving Chief Jay Strongbow as a young child. He attended Nashua High School , where he played baseball and basketball. Following his graduation in 1987, Levesque continued to enter bodybuilding competitions—having taken up bodybuilding at the age of 14 because he wanted to look like professional wrestlers—and won

3500-542: A sledgehammer and chasing them from the arena. At WrestleMania 25 on April 5, Triple H defeated Orton to retain the title. On the April 13 episode of Raw , Triple H was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 WWE draft . He teamed with Shane McMahon and Batista against Orton and The Legacy in a six-man tag match for the WWE Championship on April 26 at Backlash , which they lost after Orton pinned Triple H. He lost

3625-429: A stable known as Evolution with Ric Flair, Randy Orton , and Batista . The group was heavily pushed on Raw and the height of their dominance occurred after Armageddon , where every member of Evolution left the event holding a title. Triple H held the World Heavyweight Championship for most of 2003, successfully defending against Booker T on March 30 at WrestleMania XIX in an angle with racist undertones. He lost

3750-421: A steel cage match after interference from Heyman, and also injured his jaw. The next night on Raw , Triple H wrestled Heyman's newest client, Curtis Axel . He suffered a storyline concussion and was deemed to have forfeited. Despite being medically cleared to wrestle before the June 3 episode of Raw , Vince and Stephanie McMahon did not allow Triple H to wrestle Axel, citing concerns for his well-being and

3875-471: A steel cage match between Austin (who had just won the WWF Championship) and The Rock where he joined forces with Austin and double teamed on The Rock, forming a tag team called The Two-Man Power Trip . Triple H then defeated Chris Jericho for his third Intercontinental Championship on the April 5 SmackDown! , and won it for a fourth time two weeks later by defeating Jeff Hardy . Triple H then became

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4000-459: A ten-month injury. At WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, Triple H lost, which extended The Undertaker's undefeated streak to 19–0 ; The Undertaker was carried from the ring on a stretcher whereas Triple H left on his own accord. At the end of the July 18 episode of Raw , Triple H returned on behalf of WWE's board of directors to relieve his father-in-law Vince McMahon of his duties. This was followed by

4125-520: A title unification match. Triple H Paul Michael Levesque ( / l ə ˈ v ɛ k / ) (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H , is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler . Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is the Chief Content Officer for WWE , a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings . Levesque began his wrestling career in 1992, debuting in

4250-399: A triple threat World Heavyweight title defense against Benoit and Edge on the November 29 episode of Raw , the World Heavyweight Championship became vacant for the first time. At New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, Triple H won an Elimination Chamber match to regain the World Heavyweight Championship after last eliminating Orton, then retained the title against him on January 30 at

4375-479: A triple threat elimination tag match, also involving The Straight Edge Society ( CM Punk and Luke Gallows ). On the March 1 episode of Raw , they lost a rematch for the titles in their last televised match before Michaels retired. On February 21, Triple H eliminated then WWE Champion Sheamus from the Elimination Chamber match, though he did not win the title. Sheamus attacked him weeks later, setting up

4500-461: A very brief time, Helmsley was accompanied by Mr. Hughes , who was his storyline bodyguard reminiscent of Ted DiBiase and Virgil . After losing the title, he feuded with Goldust , defeating him on March 23 at WrestleMania 13 . During their feud, Chyna debuted as his new bodyguard. Helmsley was being highlighted again in 1997, winning the 1997 King of the Ring tournament by defeating Mankind in

4625-426: A weapon to give Rated-RKO the win. On November 26 at Survivor Series , DX got their revenge when their team defeated Edge and Orton's team in a clean sweep during their five-on-five elimination match . At New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, DX and Rated-RKO fought to a no contest after Triple H suffered a legitimate torn right quadriceps (similar to the one he suffered in 2001 in his other leg) 15 minutes into

4750-503: A year off. While Triple H said he had done it in order to shield Austin from the WWF Championship and end his career in storyline, Austin's previous neck injuries started bothering him again in reality, forcing him to have surgery. At Survivor Series on November 19, Triple H and Austin had a match that ended when Triple H tried to trick Austin into coming into the parking lot to run him over again, only to have Austin lift his car up with

4875-600: Is the fifth shortest reign in WWE history, only lasting through the duration of the event. After winning the Raw Elimination Chamber match on February 17, 2008, at No Way Out , Triple H gained a WWE Championship match by outlasting five other men, last eliminating Jeff Hardy after a Pedigree on a steel chair. At WrestleMania XXIV on March 30, Orton retained the title in a triple threat match after punting Triple H and pinning John Cena following Triple H's Pedigree on Cena. On April 27 at Backlash , Triple H won

5000-585: The 2019 WWE Draft , he had made a talent exchange agreement with NXT General Manager William Regal , whereby NXT's cruiserweight wrestlers could also wrestle on 205 Live . With Jordan Devlin 's win at Worlds Collide on January 25, 2020, the title also became shared with the NXT UK brand. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland , reigning champion Jordan Devlin was unable to travel outside of his home country and defend

5125-637: The Intercontinental Championship for the first time on October 21, by defeating Marc Mero. When Mr. Perfect left the WWF, his departure was explained to be a result of Helmsley turning his back on his manager as soon as he won the Intercontinental Championship. Helmsley held the title for nearly four months before dropping it to Rocky Maivia on the February 13, 1997, special episode of Raw , called Thursday Raw Thursday . For

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5250-490: The International Wrestling Federation (IWF) under the ring name Terra Ryzing . In 1995, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and became better known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley , which was later shortened to Triple H, with peers often shortening his name to Hunter. In WWF, he gained fame as a member of The Kliq and co-founder of the influential D-Generation X (DX) stable , which became

5375-565: The Pedigree , Garner mistook the maneuver for a double underhook suplex and tried to jump up with the move, causing him to land squarely on top of his head and suffer neck damage. Garner reportedly sued the WWF, eventually settling out of court. However, in 2020, Garner affirmed there was no lawsuit. He was known backstage as one of the members of The Kliq , a stable of wrestlers including Shawn Michaels , Kevin Nash , Sean Waltman and Scott Hall , who were known for influencing Vince McMahon and

5500-416: The Royal Rumble to end their feud. That same night, his stablemate Batista won the Royal Rumble match , earning a world title match at WrestleMania 21 . Tension between the two began in the weeks leading up to the event as Triple H convinced Batista to challenge for the WWE Championship instead of his World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 21 episode of Raw , Batista turned on Triple H and signed

5625-510: The Slammy Awards . On December 18, he defeated Nash at TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in sledgehammer ladder match , after attacking him with a sledgehammer. Triple H returned on the January 30, 2012 episode of Raw SuperShow to evaluate Laurinaitis' performance as general manager. Before he could announce the decision, he was interrupted by the returning Undertaker. After initially refusing

5750-571: The SmackDown! roster due to the WWF draft lottery and continued to feud with Jericho, culminating in a Hell in a Cell match on May 19 at Judgment Day , which Triple H won. On the June 6 episode of SmackDown! , Triple H defeated Hogan in a #1 contender match for the WWE Undisputed Championship at King of the Ring against The Undertaker, but was unsuccessful at King of the Ring on June 23. In

5875-608: The WWE Cruiserweight Championship , it was first unveiled on September 14, 2016, as the award for the Cruiserweight Classic , which was won by T. J. Perkins . It was originally defended on Monday Night Raw as part of the Raw brand's cruiserweight division before the premiere of the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live in November 2016, after which, it was defended on both shows. Following WrestleMania 34 in 2018,

6000-498: The WWE Network . Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the independent circuit , including well known promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling , Progress Wrestling , and Evolve . Many cruiserweight wrestlers from around the world were given the chance to qualify for the 32-man single-elimination tournament , which took place over four dates: June 23, July 13, August 26, and September 14. The final of

6125-543: The 1988 Mr. Teenage New Hampshire competition at the age of 19. While working as a manager of a gym in Nashua, he was introduced to world champion powerlifter Ted Arcidi , who was employed by WWE at the time. Eventually, after numerous attempts, Levesque persuaded Arcidi to introduce him to former wrestler Killer Kowalski , who ran a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts . In early 1990, Levesque began to train as

6250-601: The April 18 episode of SmackDown , but Bryan remained champion due to The Shield turning on The Authority. Evolution subsequently lost back-to-back matches with The Shield on May 4 at Extreme Rules and on June 1 at Payback . Batista quit WWE on the Raw after Payback after Triple H refused to grant him his shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H then went to "Plan B", Seth Rollins, who turned on The Shield and rejoined The Authority. The Authority were briefly removed from power after losing

6375-518: The August 13 episode of Raw . Six days later at SummerSlam, Triple H lost to Lesnar after submitting to the Kimura Lock, breaking his arm again in storyline. Triple H returned on the February 25, 2013, episode of Raw , brawling with Brock Lesnar after he attempted to attack Mr. McMahon. The brawl resulted in Lesnar having his head split open and requiring 18 stitches. The following week, Triple H issued

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6500-593: The Cruiserweight Championship belt to reigning champion Angel Garza on January 25, 2020. The design was largely the same, except the WWE logo on the center plate was replaced with a vertical NXT logo and the purple strap was changed to a dark purple, almost black colored strap. The color of the slash under the WWE logo on the side plates was also changed to silver. Throughout the championship's 5 year, 3 month, and 22 day history, there were 20 reigns between 18 champions and one vacancy . The inaugural champion

6625-473: The Cruiserweight Classic came down to T. J. Perkins and Gran Metalik . Before the final match, WWE executive Triple H revealed that the winner would not only receive a trophy but would also become the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion for the revived cruiserweight division for the promotion's Raw brand . Perkins defeated Metalik to become the inaugural champion. Originally, the championship

6750-403: The December 22 episode of Raw is War . Triple H lost the title to Hart after The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust competed against Hart in a drag as Triple H on the January 22 episode of Raw is War . Triple H defeated Hart to win his second European Championship on the March 16 episode of Raw is War . At WrestleMania XIV on March 29, Triple H defended the title against Hart in a rematch, with

6875-492: The East Coast independent circuit until 1993. In early 1994, Levesque signed a one-year contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In his first televised match, Levesque debuted as a villain named Terror Risin', defeating Keith Cole . His ring name was soon modified to Terra Ryzing, which he used until mid-1994, when he was renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque. This gimmick referred to his surname's French origins and he

7000-486: The January 3 episode of Raw Is War , Triple H defeated Big Show to win his third WWF Championship. Triple H feuded with Mick Foley in early 2000. On January 23 at the Royal Rumble , he retained the WWF Championship in a Street Fight after performing two Pedigree s on Foley. The feud ended on February 27 at No Way Out inside Hell in a Cell , where Triple H retained the title and forced Foley to retire. Triple H pinned The Rock at WrestleMania 2000 on April 2 to retain

7125-455: The July 15, 2006, episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII in a 5-on-2 elimination match. They then again defeated the McMahons on August 20 at SummerSlam , withstanding the attack of several wrestlers who assaulted them before the match as directed by Mr. McMahon. At Unforgiven on September 17, DX defeated the McMahons and ECW World Champion Big Show in a 3-on-2 handicap Hell in

7250-417: The July 26 episode of Raw in a 60-Minute Iron Man match after interference from Eugene , whom he defeated on August 15 at SummerSlam . The following night on Raw , Triple H turned on his protège Randy Orton (who became the youngest world champion in WWE history at SummerSlam), expressing jealousy over Orton's title victory. He regained the championship from Orton on September 12 at Unforgiven . Following

7375-459: The March 4 episode of Raw . Sable would become Helmsley's valet at WrestleMania XII on March 31 and after his loss to The Ultimate Warrior , as part of the storyline, he took his aggressions out on her. The debuting Marc Mero – her real-life husband – came to her rescue, starting a feud between the two wrestlers. On June 1, 1996, Hunter appeared on an episode of Superstars in a match against Marty Garner . When he attempted to perform

7500-580: The May 27 tapings of NXT (aired June 3) where Fantasma defeated Maverick to become the interim champion; following the match, Triple H offered Maverick a new NXT contract, which he accepted. The following week, Fantasma turned heel on Maverick, unmasked himself, and changed his ring name to Santos Escobar. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship between WWE's brands. NXT , NXT UK When

7625-553: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match . On December 21, Triple H announced that Hornswoggle was the new DX mascot. This came about after Hornswoggle sued DX for emotional and physical distress due to them not allowing him to join DX. After being taken to court where they were ruled guilty by a jury and judge consisting of dwarves , Michaels told Triple H that Hornswoggle could be

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7750-495: The WWE Championship in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, setting the record for most reigns at eight. That record stood until 2011 when John Cena won his ninth WWE Championship. On the February 16 episode of Raw , Triple H made an appearance aiding Stephanie and Shane McMahon , after they were attacked by Randy Orton. On the February 20 episode of SmackDown , Triple H was interviewed by Jim Ross ; in

7875-518: The WWE Fan Appreciation Event and also at the 2010 Tribute to the Troops . On the February 21, 2011, episode of Raw , Triple H returned, interrupting the return of The Undertaker and challenging him to a match at WrestleMania XXVII , which later became a No Holds Barred match. A week later, he attacked Sheamus with a Pedigree through a broadcast table in retaliation for Sheamus giving him

8000-758: The WWE Undisputed Champion, for both the Raw and SmackDown! brands. After SummerSlam, then WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar became exclusive to the SmackDown! brand, leaving the Raw brand without a world champion. Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff then awarded Triple H the World Heavyweight Championship , represented by the Big Gold Belt (which previously had been used to represent the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and WCW World Heavyweight Championship ), making him

8125-646: The WWF Championship against The Rock on August 27 at SummerSlam , but The Rock retained the title after Angle received a legit concussion during a botched Pedigree on a commentary table by Triple H. The feud culminated at Unforgiven on September 24, where Triple H defeated Angle with a Pedigree after a low blow from McMahon. After a brief run as a face that saw him defeat Chris Benoit on October 22 at No Mercy , Triple H reverted to his heel persona and restarted his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin when it emerged that Triple H had paid off Rikishi to run down Austin at Survivor Series , causing him to take

8250-408: The WWF Championship on the January 25, 1999 Raw is War in an "I Quit" match , but the match ended when Triple H was forced to quit or see his aide Chyna chokeslammed by Kane . This began a new angle for Triple H, as Chyna betrayed him by attacking him after the match and joining The Corporation. On March 28 at WrestleMania XV , Triple H lost to Kane after Chyna interfered on his behalf and she

8375-580: The WWF Championship to Mr. McMahon on the September 16, 1999, episode of SmackDown! before regaining it on September 26 at Unforgiven in a Six-Pack Challenge that included Davey Boy Smith, Big Show , Kane, The Rock and Mankind. He defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin on October 17 at No Mercy before dropping the title to Big Show on November 14 at Survivor Series . Triple H then continued his feud with Mr. McMahon by marrying his daughter Stephanie McMahon and defeating McMahon on December 12 at Armageddon . As

8500-615: The WWF creative team. It has been claimed that he was scheduled to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament , but the victory was instead awarded to Stone Cold Steve Austin after the Madison Square Garden Incident , in which the Kliq broke character after a match to say goodbye to the departing Nash and Hall. Despite the punishment, Helmsley did have success following the MSG Incident. Mr. Perfect became his manager and he won

8625-419: The World Heavyweight Championship to Shawn Michaels in the first Elimination Chamber match on November 17 at Survivor Series . He defeated Van Dam on the December 2 episode of Raw to earn a title shot at Armageddon with Michaels as the special guest referee . He regained the title from Michaels in a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon on December 15, winning 2–1. In February 2003, Triple H formed

8750-414: The announcement that he had been assigned to take over as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the WWE. This was during a storyline where CM Punk had won the WWE Championship and left the company. Though a new champion was crowned, Triple H helped re-sign Punk and upheld both championship reigns. He announced he would referee a match to unify both WWE Championships on August 14 at SummerSlam . Although he counted

8875-474: The ball". He introduced the returning X-Pac the night after WrestleMania and joined forces with The New Age Outlaws . As 1998 went along, DX became more popular, turning the group from villains to fan favorites . During this time, he adopted an entrance gimmick of asking the crowd "Are you ready? I said, are you ready?", followed by a parody of rival promotion WCW's ring announcer Michael Buffer 's famous catch-phrase, "Let's get ready to rumble", substituting

9000-668: The bone. Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match. He even allowed Jericho to put him in the Walls of Jericho , a move that places considerable stress on the quadriceps. The tear required an operation, which was performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews . This injury brought an abrupt end to the McMahon-Helmsley Era, as the rigorous rehabilitation process kept Triple H out of action for over eight months, completely missing The Invasion storyline. Triple H returned to Raw as

9125-421: The championship was introduced, the irregularly shaped center plate of the belt largely featured a globe with the WWE logo over the top of it. Above the globe was a banner that read "Cruiserweight" and below the globe was one that read "Champion". Ornamentation filled out the rest of the plate. In what became a prominent feature of WWE's championship belts, the side plates featured removable center sections, allowing

9250-581: The championship. On the January 30 episode of 205 Live , Drake Maverick (formerly known as Rockstar Spud in Impact Wrestling ) was appointed as the 205 Live General Manager. Maverick announced that there would be a 16-man single elimination tournament to crown a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, with the finals to occur on the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff pre-show. The tournament came down to Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali , where Alexander defeated Ali to win

9375-633: The cruiserweight wrestlers. It was then reported that the NXT Creative Team would be in charge of 205 Live. The following month, the title was renamed to the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, becoming part of the NXT brand, and started being defended on the NXT show. On October 18, 2019, Drake Maverick – who himself was drafted to SmackDown but remained as the General Manager of 205 Live – announced that following

9500-480: The early months of his career, suffering his first pinfall at the hands of The Undertaker in a Survivor Series match at the namesake event . In the fall of 1995, Helmsley began a feud with the hog farmer Henry O. Godwinn , culminating in an infamous Hog Pen match on December 17 at In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings , where Helmsley was victorious. After being highly promoted in the first few months after his debut, his career stalled during 1996, starting off with

9625-400: The event, Escobar defeated Devlin to become the undisputed champion, ending Devlin's reign at 439 days while continuing Escobar's. Although the championship was established exclusively for cruiserweight wrestlers, this ruling was lifted once for a match at NXT WarGames on December 5, 2021. Joe Gacy , who weighed 245 lbs, felt that the championship weight shamed wrestlers who were above

9750-489: The feud. On the June 23 episode of Raw , Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown brand as a part of the 2008 WWE draft , in the process making the WWE Championship exclusive to SmackDown . Triple H then went on to defeat John Cena cleanly to retain the WWE Championship on June 29 at Night of Champions . He defended the championship over the summer by defeating the likes of Edge on July 20 at The Great American Bash and The Great Khali on August 17 at SummerSlam , and

9875-486: The final champion. The title was distinct from the previous WWE Cruiserweight Championship that originated in World Championship Wrestling and was retired in 2007. The two titles had shared the same name, but did not share the same title history. In mid-2016, WWE held the Cruiserweight Classic , a tournament for wrestlers 205 lb (93 kg) and under, billed as cruiserweights , that aired on

10000-520: The finals. Later that year, Shawn Michaels, Helmsley, Chyna and Rick Rude formed D-Generation X (DX). This stable became known for pushing the envelope , as Michaels and Helmsley made risqué promos—using the catchphrase "Suck It" and a "crotch chop" hand motion —and sarcastically derided Bret Hart and Canada. By that point, Helmsley had all but dropped the "blueblood snob" gimmick, appearing in T-shirts and leather jackets. During this period, his ring name

10125-400: The first World Heavyweight Champion. Triple H retained his title against Rob Van Dam on September 22 at Unforgiven when Ric Flair hit Van Dam with a sledgehammer. In October, Triple H began a controversial feud with Kane, leading to a match at No Mercy in which both Kane's Intercontinental Championship and Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship were at stake. In the weeks preceding

10250-441: The first ever Submissions Count Anywhere match in WWE history. At Hell in a Cell on October 4, DX defeated The Legacy in a Hell in a Cell match. DX unsuccessfully challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship in a triple threat match on November 22 at Survivor Series , after which they remained friends and partners. On December 13 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs , DX defeated Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and Big Show) to win

10375-487: The holder's personal logo to be added to the championship belt; the default side plates showed silver and purple world maps with the WWE logo over them. The plates were on a purple strap. During Neville 's first reign, the color of the slash under the WWE logo on the center plate and default side plates was changed from purple to orange. After the title was renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Triple H and NXT General Manager William Regal presented an updated version of

10500-587: The interim, between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, the McMahon-Helmsley Faction was brought to an official on-screen conclusion. By the time he returned, Triple H's on-screen marriage to Stephanie McMahon was faltering, so Stephanie faked a pregnancy in order to get him back on her side. When he learned that it was fake, he dumped her publicly on Raw when they were supposed to renew their wedding vows. Stephanie aligned with Jericho afterward, but she

10625-545: The interview, footage was shown highlighting the events that occurred on the February 16 episode of Raw . Ross asked Triple H how he felt seeing that footage, in response, he broke character (after 5 years of marriage) by admitting that Vince McMahon is his father-in-law, that Shane is his brother-in-law, and that Stephanie is his wife, creating a rivalry between Triple H and Orton. On the February 23 episode of Raw , Triple H confronted Orton, before attacking him, Ted DiBiase , and Cody Rhodes (a group known as The Legacy ) with

10750-506: The line. Triple H defeated Punk at Night of Champions despite interference from John Laurinaitis , Nash, The Miz and R-Truth . After repeated attacks from these wrestlers in various matches, the majority of WWE's on-screen staff gave Triple H a vote of no confidence. Mr. McMahon returned to relieve him of his duties on the October 10 episode of Raw SuperShow , though he remained the COO. Laurinaitis

10875-545: The main event of the May 21, 2001 episode of Raw Is War , he suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury. He and Austin were defending the WWF Tag Team Championship against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit . At one point, Jericho had Austin trapped in the Walls of Jericho and Triple H ran in to break it up, but just as he did, he suffered a tear in his left quadriceps muscle , causing it to come completely off

11000-513: The mascot. Triple H agreed to it only if the charges were dropped, which Hornswoggle agreed to. On the January 11, 2010, episode of Raw , Mike Tyson, who was the Raw guest host for the night, teamed with Jericho to face DX; at the end of the bout, Tyson turned on Jericho and aligned himself with Triple H and Michaels. On the February 8 episode of Raw , DX lost the Unified Tag Team Championship to ShoMiz ( The Miz and Big Show) in

11125-462: The match, SmackDown general manager Vickie Guerrero announced that Edge had returned and introduced him into the contest. Hardy interfered and hit Triple H with a steel chair meant for Edge, costing him the title after a 210-day reign. After failing to regain the title on December 14 at Armageddon , Triple H entered seventh in the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2009, but was last eliminated by Randy Orton. At No Way Out on February 15, Triple H won

11250-414: The match, Triple H claimed that, several years earlier, Kane had an unrequited relationship with a woman named Katie Vick. He went on to claim that, after Vick was killed in a car crash , Kane (the driver) raped her corpse. Triple H later threatened to show video footage of Kane committing the act in question; the footage that finally aired showed Triple H (dressed as Kane) simulating necrophilia with

11375-412: The match, winning his eleventh world championship and sixth WWE Championship, then defended his title against Umaga in his regularly scheduled match after Mr. McMahon declared the match to be for the WWE title. After that, McMahon gave Orton a rematch against Triple H in a Last Man Standing match in the main event, and Triple H lost after an RKO on a broadcast table. Triple H's title reign at No Mercy

11500-432: The match. Surgery was successfully performed two days later by Dr. James Andrews. At SummerSlam on August 26, he defeated King Booker in his return match. On October 7 at No Mercy , Triple H was originally scheduled to face Umaga in a singles match. At the start of the night, Triple H challenged newly named WWE Champion Randy Orton, reigniting their feud that had been interrupted following his injury. Triple H won

11625-542: The nWo following several backstage complications and brought in Eric Bischoff as the Raw general manager . One of Bischoff's first intentions was to follow up on the nWo's plan and bring Triple H over to the Raw roster. Triple H moved to the Raw brand at Vengeance, reuniting with Michaels, but he turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him during what was supposed to be a DX reunion, turning heel once again. The following week, Triple H smashed Michaels' face into

11750-447: The other three members of their respective group. The wrestlers with the best record in each group then competed to determine the interim champion. Any ties were broken by head-to-head results. Group A consisted of Kushida , Tony Nese , Jake Atlas , and former 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick, while Group B consisted of Isaiah "Swerve" Scott , El Hijo del Fantasma, Akira Tozawa , and Gentleman Jack Gallagher . Although Maverick

11875-614: The rematch as he did not want to tarnish The Undertaker's legacy, Triple H accepted the challenge after being called a coward who lives in Shawn Michaels' shadow, on the condition their rematch be contested inside Hell in a Cell. Triple H went on to lose this match on April 1 at WrestleMania XXVIII . Triple H returned on the April 30 episode of Raw SuperShow , when he refused to give in to Brock Lesnar 's unreasonable contract demands, resulting in Lesnar attacking him and storyline breaking his arm. Upon his return two weeks later, Triple H

12000-455: The safety of his children. In response, Triple H stormed out the arena and vowed to return to the ring the next week on Raw . On August 18 at SummerSlam , Triple H served as the special guest referee for the WWE Championship match between champion John Cena and Daniel Bryan . After Bryan won the match, Triple H attacked him, allowing Randy Orton to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and win

12125-445: The show. Following WrestleMania 34 , 205 Live became its own brand where the title became exclusively defended. Although the title became exclusive to 205 Live, it was still defended on WWE's main pay-per-views alongside Raw and SmackDown . After then-champion Enzo Amore was released from WWE on January 23, 2018, and the title was vacated, it was announced that a general manager would be appointed for 205 Live and would address

12250-482: The stipulation that Chyna had to be handcuffed to then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter . Triple H won after Chyna threw powder into Slaughter's eyes, momentarily "blinding" him and allowing her to interfere in the match. After WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels was forced into temporary retirement due to a legitimate back injury sustained in January at the Royal Rumble , with Triple H taking over the leadership position in DX, claiming that his now-former associate had "dropped

12375-526: The title Cruiserweight Championship . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cruiserweight_Championship&oldid=922743980 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages NXT Cruiserweight Championship Originally established as

12500-421: The title after 280 days on September 21 at Unforgiven to Goldberg , in a match with the stipulation that had Goldberg lost, he would have to retire. After failing to win back the title from Goldberg in a rematch on November 16 at Survivor Series , he finally regained the championship from Goldberg in a triple threat match at Armageddon on December 14, which also involved Kane. Triple H fought Shawn Michaels in

12625-497: The title became exclusively defended on the 205 Live brand. In October 2019, 205 Live merged under NXT and the title was renamed NXT Cruiserweight Championship, and the title's contendership was extended to NXT UK in January 2020. On January 4, 2022, at New Year's Evil , the title was unified into the NXT North American Championship , officially retiring the title in the process, with Carmelo Hayes recognized as

12750-416: The title in a fatal four-way elimination match against Orton, Cena, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield , tying the record for most WWE Championship reigns with The Rock. Triple H retained the title against Orton on May 18 at Judgment Day in a steel cage match and again on June 1 at One Night Stand in a Last Man Standing match. Orton suffered a legitimate collarbone injury during the match, prematurely ending

12875-403: The title was returned to Triple H because of a fast count made by referee Earl Hebner , and Jericho's reign is not recognized. Their feud culminated in a Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded on July 23 which Triple H won. He feuded with Kurt Angle , initially over the WWF Championship, but then as a love triangle between himself, Angle, and Stephanie. Both Triple H and Angle wrestled for

13000-412: The title, but lost it on April 30 at Backlash to The Rock, ending his reign at 118 days. He regained it three weeks later, in an Iron Man match on May 21 at Judgment Day , only to lose it back to The Rock on June 25 at King of the Ring . Triple H then entered a storyline with Chris Jericho , who upset Triple H by defeating him for the WWF Championship on the April 17 episode of Raw Is War before

13125-653: The title, turning heel for the first time since 2006. Along with his wife Stephanie, they subsequently created The Authority , with The Shield ( Seth Rollins , Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose ) as his enforcers, Kane as the Director of Operations and Orton as their hand-picked WWE Champion. At WrestleMania XXX on April 6, 2014, Triple H lost to Bryan, thereby granting Bryan a part in the subsequent WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Batista and Orton, which Bryan ultimately won. In order to end Bryan's title reign, Triple H re-formed Evolution with Orton and Batista on

13250-519: The title. On April 8, 2020, NXT General Manager William Regal announced a tournament to crown an interim champion in the United States which would begin on the April 15 episode of NXT . Devlin responded by stating that whoever won was a fraud, and that he would prove that he was the only true NXT Cruiserweight Champion upon his return. The interim championship tournament was won by Santos Escobar , who used his prior persona El Hijo del Fantasma during

13375-410: The titles with Hayes recognized as the final champion and going forward as North American Champion. A round-robin tournament began on April 15, 2020, to determine the interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion after Jordan Devlin was deemed unable to defend the title due to COVID-19 pandemic -related travel restrictions. Eight wrestlers were split into two groups of four, where each wrestler competed against

13500-410: The tournament. After the travel ban was lifted, Devlin made his return to the U.S. on the March 17, 2021, episode of NXT and confronted Escobar over who the real champion was. Escobar then challenged Devlin to a match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver to determine the undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion. The match was subsequently scheduled as a ladder match on Night 2 of the event on April 8. At

13625-485: The vacant championship. Prior to NXT moving to the USA Network in September 2019, NXT head Triple H spoke with Newsweek and said that "You'll start to see 205 [Live] begin to become part of NXT". He said that 205 Live's talent would start moving towards NXT, that 205 Live had "become lost in [the] limbo", and that the Cruiserweight Championship would have more meaning on NXT where it could create more opportunities for

13750-539: The weight limit. Reigning NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong allowed Gacy to challenge for the title at WarGames, with Gacy proclaiming that if he won the title, he would make it an all-inclusive championship. At the event, however, Strong retained. In January 2022, the championship was unified into the NXT North American Championship . At the special New Year's Evil episode of NXT 2.0 on January 4, 2022, North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defeated reigning Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify

13875-555: The word "rumble" with the DX slogan, "suck it". Also during this time, Triple H began a feud with the leader of the Nation of Domination and rising WWF villain , The Rock . This storyline rivalry eventually led to a feud over the Intercontinental Championship. As part of the feud, Triple H lost the European Championship to Rock's Nation teammate D-Lo Brown on the July 20 episode of Raw is War . Triple H eventually defeated Rock in

14000-428: Was T. J. Perkins. The oldest champion was Roderick Strong, winning the title at 38 years old, while the youngest champion was Lio Rush when he won it at 24. Neville and Enzo Amore were tied for the most reigns at two. Jordan Devlin's sole reign was the longest reign at 439 days, while final champion Carmelo Hayes' singular reign was the shortest at less than a minute as the title was immediately retired after he won it in

14125-486: Was asked to speak with a French accent , as he could not speak French . During this time, he began using his finishing maneuver, the Pedigree . Levesque had a brief feud with Alex Wright that ended on December 27 at Starrcade with Wright pinning him. Between late 1994 and early 1995, Lévesque briefly teamed with Lord Steven Regal , whose upper class British persona was similar to Lévesque's character. The team

14250-565: Was confronted by Lesnar's legal representative, Paul Heyman , who announced Lesnar was filing a lawsuit against WWE for breach of contract. After he accosted Heyman, Heyman threatened another lawsuit against Triple H for assault and battery. At No Way Out on June 17, Triple H challenged a non-present Lesnar to a match at SummerSlam , which Heyman refused on Lesnar's behalf the following night on Raw SuperShow . At Raw 1000 , Stephanie McMahon goaded Heyman into Triple H's challenge against Lesnar. To anger Triple H, Lesnar broke Michaels's arm on

14375-533: Was defended exclusively on Monday Night Raw . On November 29, 2016, a cruiserweight-exclusive show entitled 205 Live premiered on the WWE Network. On the premiere episode, Rich Swann defeated The Brian Kendrick to win the championship. The title then became defended on both Raw and 205 Live . In early 2018, Triple H was given creative control over 205 Live , as he had with the NXT brand, and began restructuring

14500-474: Was forced to leave after losing a triple threat match on the March 25 episode of Raw when she was pinned by Triple H. The divorce, and thus the storyline, was finalized on July 21 at Vengeance . Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels had made his return to WWE and joined the New World Order (nWo). Michaels and Kevin Nash planned to bring Triple H over to Raw in order to put him into the group. Mr. McMahon disbanded

14625-513: Was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame 's 2019 class as part of D-Generation X. After suffering from heart failure in September 2021, which resulted in a 15-hour surgery and required the implementation of an ICD , he announced his retirement in March 2022 before officially retiring from in-ring competition in April 2022. Paul Michael Levesque was born in Nashua, New Hampshire , on July 27, 1969. He has

14750-413: Was involved in another WWE Championship match, fighting Edge and Cena in a triple threat match, where he lost again. Angered at his loss, a bloodied Triple H used his sledgehammer to attack both Edge and Cena and then performed a number of DX crotch chops. Triple H unsuccessfully attempted to win the WWE title from Cena on numerous occasions, blaming his shortcomings on Vince McMahon, which eventually led to

14875-475: Was named interim general manager of Raw , and booked him and Punk in a tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth on October 23 at Vengeance . During the match, Nash once again attacked him (costing Triple H and Punk the match) and did so the following night on the October 24 episode of Raw SuperShow , hospitalizing him (kayfabe). WWE later announced that Triple H had sustained a fractured vertebra, and would be out of action. He returned on December 12, as part of

15000-512: Was released from WWE on April 15, he confirmed via Twitter that he would still be competing in the tournament; at the time, he had stated they would be his last matches in the company. As a result of a tie in Group A, Maverick, Kushida, and Atlas faced each other in a triple threat match on the May 27 episode of NXT to determine the winner of the group; Maverick won to advance to the final against Group B's winner, Fantasma. The final occurred during

15125-516: Was short-lived, however, as Levesque left for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in January 1995 after WCW and Levesque could not come to terms on a new contract. In a modified version of his gimmick in WCW, Levesque started his WWF career as a " Connecticut Blueblood ". According to Levesque, J. J. Dillon originally gave him the name of Reginald DuPont Helmsley, but Levesque asked for

15250-462: Was shortened to simply Triple H, though he was still called Helmsley from time to time and Hunter for the rest of his career. Even after the DX versus Hart Foundation storyline ended, he continued to feud with the sole remaining Hart family member Owen over the European Championship , which Helmsley won by "defeating" Michaels after Michaels laid down for him on December 11, which aired on

15375-428: Was the only champion to retain his title at Unforgiven 's Championship Scramble matches on September 7. He successfully defended it against Jeff Hardy both on October 5 at No Mercy and Cyber Sunday on October 26. At Survivor Series on November 23, Triple H was scheduled to defend the title against Vladimir Kozlov and Jeff Hardy, but Hardy was kept out of the match after a scripted attack and injury. During

15500-429: Was thought to have rejoined DX. Later on in the night, he betrayed his long-time friend and fellow DX member X-Pac by helping Shane McMahon retain the European Championship and joined The Corporation, turning heel in the process. In April, he started to move away from his DX look, taping his fists for matches, sporting shorter wrestling trunks, and adopting a shorter hairstyle. His gimmick changed as he fought to earn

15625-479: Was traded back to Raw without competing on SmackDown! and tried to reclaim the World Heavyweight title from Benoit in a WrestleMania rematch against Benoit and Michaels on April 18 at Backlash , but was unsuccessful. At Bad Blood on June 13, Triple H defeated Michaels in the longest Hell in a Cell match in history, ending their feud. He failed to win the title from Benoit on July 11 at Vengeance and on

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