WWE News: Triple H Set To Return To The Ring Before ‘WrestleMania’

Triple H’s schedule is hitting its peak just as the WWE is settling into WrestleMania season, unquestionably hailed as the most significant three months of the sports entertainment calendar. Triple H’s workload has varied in recent years regarding in-ring work and amount of matches he’s wrestled, but The Game has not missed a WrestleMania match since 2007 when he was out of action due to a quadriceps injury.

Before that, Triple H hadn’t missed a WrestleMania since signing with the company and his grand stage debut in 1996 at WrestleMania XII. This year’s event is slated to be Hunter’s 21st WrestleMania that he’s competed in. Slated to be involved in, because his plans remain slightly up in the air due to the injury suffered by Seth Rollins last month.

Triple H, of course, orchestrated the attack on Rollins, who was coming to face his former mentor in the ring for the first time since HHH cost his former protege the Universal Championship during an August episode of Monday Night RAW. Instead, Samoa Joe made his main-roster debut by blindsiding Rollins during the final segment of the show and legitimately injured Seth’s knee, resulting in a torn MCL.

The injury put the proposed WrestleMania match between Seth Rollins and Triple H in jeopardy for the second year in a row. The bout was on the books for WrestleMania 32 last year in Dallas before Rollins was badly hurt in a house show match with Kane. WWE officials changed plans and put Triple H in the main event where he lost the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns.

Fans will get more answers on Rollins’ health and availability tonight on RAW where he’s scheduled to appear in front of the live audience in Green Bay. Original plans called for Seth to face Samoa Joe at Fastlane which would then set up the showdown with Triple H at WrestleMania. Joe will now square off with Sami Zayn next Sunday while Triple H waits on word from WWE’s medical team in regards to The Architect.

For weeks following Rollins’ injury, we reported on discussions officials were having regarding backup plans for Triple H on April 2. The Game remained adamant about wrestling in a match because of the venue’s proximity to the NXT Performance Center and the exposure the brand would receive from its creator’s showcase. Those backup plans have included names like Shane McMahon, Samoa Joe, and a returning Finn Balor, but the hope remains that Rollins will be cleared in time.

Because Triple H is committed to performing in Orlando, he’ll be wrestling some warm-up matches to re-acclimate himself to the craft, according to a new report from Wrestling Inc. The Game has been added to two live events in March, a few weeks before WrestleMania. Triple H will be in action at the WWE live event on Friday, March 10 in Buffalo, New York where Brock Lesnar is also scheduled. The following night, it was announced that he would be in action in a six-man tag team main event at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

It was also announced Monday afternoon that Triple H has been announced for the March 26 WWE live event in White Plains, NY. Triple H will team with Samoa Joe and WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens (though not expected to have the title at that time) to take on Finn Balor, Sami Zayn and WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho that night.

As you recall, Triple H won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Royal Rumble match last year and held the title until WrestleMania. He wrestled three tune-up matches leading up to the big show inside AT&T Stadium in 2016. He defended the belt against Dean Ambrose on the WWE Network special, Roadblock, defeated Dolph Ziggler two nights later on RAW and then lost a tag team match alongside Sheamus against Ambrose and Reigns the week before ‘Mania.

Triple H also competed in a live event tag match with Kevin Owens against Ambrose and Sami Zayn in Spain after WrestleMania. It’s believed he was used on the card when the Undertaker withdrew from the tour and Roman Reigns wasn’t available. It’s unclear whether Hunter will wrestle on television at this point leading up to this year’s WrestleMania, but at the very least he’ll be in the ring the second and fourth week of March.

[Featured Image by WWE]