In 1996, Triple H was punished for partaking in the controversial ‘Curtain Call,’ and Matt Hardy believes the incident changed Paul Levesque’s mindset about his career.
At a Madison Square Garden WWE live event in 1996, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall embraced in the middle of the ring following a match, breaking character while doing so. This event occurred because Nash and Hall were about to leave WWE and head over to its main competitor, WCW.
Hardy recalled the incident on the latest episode of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, stating that it was a “gutsy” moment for Triple H.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Triple H’s involvement in the moment: “It was gutsy for Trips to be involved in the Curtain Call… He ends up taking all the heat for it, and he was in the doghouse for so long. That’s almost like a defining point for Triple H… I know he held that deep.”
On how it changed Triple H: “That’s probably why he was such a driven political figure [backstage] once he gained that power. He was like, ‘No, I’ve been f***ed over, I will not get f***ed over again’… That’s probably a big motivating factor behind why he became who he became.”