All language subtitles for wwe_untold_s03e04_i_am_the_game

There isn't anything in the world I
would have rather have done in that

than go to war with Mick Foley.

I knew that this was going to be one of
the biggest

matches of his career. I guess what I
didn't realize at the time was he might

have had maybe an ulterior motive.

Maybe.

Literally, I thought to myself, I could
lose an eye.

But think of the pop.

What if the floor doesn't give?

What if it does give? What if it gives
in a place it's not supposed to give?

know, all of that is going through my
mind as I'm watching these two human

beings on top of Hell in a Cell.

Hard to put into words how much those
two matches meant on solidifying Triple

as a main event player.

Take a good look at the future of the
World Wrestling Federation.

There's a new meaning of perfect, and
it's Triple H, Hunter,

Hurst, Helmsley.

As the attitude era was coming into full
steam, everything was so competitive.

This was at a moment in time for me when
I was trying to become the anti to what

The Rock and Austin were becoming.

That's where I felt like my place was in
the business, and I felt the need and

wanted to be that.

Coming from the things I'd done in the
past and the fun aspect of DX, I needed

that serious side of it to come out.

I always use the term marquee guy.

Top guy is one thing. A lot of top guys.

Somebody was to say, oh, hey, WWE's in
town. Oh, who's wrestling?

So -and -so. Oh, really? Who's he
fighting?

Marquee guys are different.

Hey, WWE's in town. Who's wrestling?
Rock. Ooh, I want to go. There's a few

that hit marquee status.

And I think that if you want to say that
for Triple H, then this was the moment

that got me there.

This is about me. I don't need to be in
a clique anymore.

I don't need to be in DX anymore.

This is about me. It's about me reaching
my goals. The game stemmed from an

interview where the character felt that
it was so invested in the business and

it was such a connected part of his life
that it literally was him. That there

was nothing else more to it than he was
the entire business.

What, you want me to shoot with this
interview? I'm gonna... Shoot with it.

going to tell you how I feel, whether
you like it or not.

I felt that this was me saying that this
entire industry should be mine because

it was me and because everything about
me was invested in being that. Every

I look at you guys, it makes me sick to
think what you did to me, holding me

back. To hell with The Rock, to hell
with Austin, to hell with The

own all their asses. That was a pre
-taped interview, so it was shot

with multiple cameras.

And when I said the line, it was all
done in one piece. But when I said the

line, I am the game, J .R.

It just came out that way. The passion
of it, it came out in that manner. And

when we got to the end of the take, I
remember thinking, we're going to do

again because of that. They had a camera
angle where you didn't necessarily, I

believe, see my mouth saying it. And
they were OK with beeping it out and

it made it even more powerful because it
was real in that moment.

You guys talk about being students of
the game.

I am the game, J .R.

There is nobody that eats, sleeps or
breathes this business more than me.

I don't know that it wasn't until the
next week. I

just can distinctly remember walking out
on that stage, seeing the signs and

thinking to myself.

Well, I just hit something gold.

I was an account executive in the New
York sales office. I was helping to sell

our media and sponsorship business,
really at a very entry level. I was

out of college. And I also at that time
became a character on our television

show. And it involves Stephanie.

I'd just like to add, you know, I've
known the Undertaker, too.

And it's like Dad said, you know, I
guess I just never really did know him.

it's interesting working with Steph when
we did all the stuff around the

wedding. Hey, get a nice shot of the
brand new Mr.

and Mrs.

Hutterhurst Helmholtz.

And. You know, my breaking up the
marriage with her test.

I know that you can only have one
question on your mind, dad.

Oh my God.

I hate you.

And that is. I hate you.

Not did we, but how many times did we
consummate the marriage?

And then the match with Vince.

She was.

So enamored with every aspect of the
business. Talk about student of the

right? Her passion for it was
infectious.

We always wear a lot of different hats
here at WWE to listen in on Vince

McMahon's creative sessions and to
listen to him brainstorm with top talent

to hear their ideas and concepts and why
something works and why it doesn't

work. And, you know, to really have the
benefit of being under the learning tree

with Triple H.

And to have him teaching me and giving
me the time to really explain why he's

doing certain things at the time that
he's doing it. Because it's all

It's all designed to get a reaction.

I guess what I didn't realize at the
time was he might have had maybe an

ulterior motive.

Maybe.

I think that the Steph relationship
storyline.

into the Foley matches.

If I had to pick like one time frame in
my life to say this is the moment that

the big shift happened, it's that
beginning of 2000.

I have to say there is nobody more
giving of their body and what they're

to do for our business than Mick.

He does it for our audience. He does it
for our fans.

Because he wants to over -deliver for
them in every way he possibly can.

Kill them!

Oh, my God!

They're falling!

Mick is one of the most unique
characters and performers that I've ever

the ring with because he is so skilled
and gifted at all the different bits and

pieces of our business.

He would do things that you would think,
how does a human being survive that and

make you, oh, my God, that is the
craziest thing I've ever seen. I got to

more about this guy. Right after he did
that, five minutes later, he's got Mr.

Sacco on or he's doing some straight up
comedy act.

Before the game, when I was still Hunter
Hearst Helmsley and he was mankind and

we were.

Shifting through things and finding our
way, I felt like we always just had this

chemistry right off the bat. Together,
he and I can create some magical things,

and the characters kind of gelled off of
each other really well. I loved

everything that we ever did together
pretty much was, I felt like, always

worked.

I had written some pretty large checks,
and my body was cashing them in

all at the same time.

I was having trouble getting around. I
didn't want to be seen doing less than I

was capable of, and it just seemed like
if I could ride off on a majestic steed

into the sunset.

that it would be the perfect time to
retire.

Keep in mind, I was one of the biggest
stars in the company.

I had a book out that had been number
one on the New York Times list, was

hanging in there on the list, and it
hung in for 26 weeks. So I was at my

as far as being an attraction for WWE,
and Mr. McMahon was willing to let me go

for the sake of my health.

And then the wild card was Stone Cold
Steve Austin's neck injury.

Will you come back if you can't be as
good as you were before?

No, there ain't no way but 100 % for me.
100 miles an hour, either you do it or

you don't. That's it. And if I come back
and everything goes right, you're damn

right. Stone Cold Steve Austin being
dangerous, son.

Because when Steve went down with that
injury, there was a sense that we all

to pull together for the good of the
team because we were without our number

attraction.

We knew that Rock was going to be a part
of the WrestleMania main event, but we

almost had to create a new top -tier
star.

Mr. McMahon had a meeting with me and
with Hunter, asked us what we thought

about the possibility of working
together to kind of fill in that gap.

And we were all for it. We'd had a
history of really working well together,

creating some amazing things, going back
to 1997.

Here he comes! Where is he?

Catch this jack!

He's back!

Somebody snipe me! I thought he was
dead! He's alive!

It may be the darkest day of your life,
because it's Madison Square Garden and

Mrs. Foley's little boy!

Bye -bye!

Bye -bye!

Foley had these unique characters, and
I'd worked with most of them, and it's

funny, I helped pull a lot of them out.

Triple H needed someone to prove that he
could hang and be a badass. He'd

already proven himself as a main event
commodity as part of D -Generation X.

I guess there was just that little
question mark. Can he hang at the top of

roster when it comes to singles
competitions and be a certifiable top

draw?

There is a thought out there that Triple
H needed me to get him to that next

level but I needed him.

I did not want to go out.

as the guy with the sock. Years later,
I've come to accept that I was the guy

with the sock. And I love the fact that
I was the guy with the sock. But I'm

looking at the very end of my career,
and I want to go down swinging.

Like, I want to go down doing the things
that I loved watching when I was a huge

WWE fan. I wanted to be that guy I had
been five years earlier.

I believe that I was able to turn Cactus
Jack into a WWE superstar.

It was Triple H who made him a part of
wrestling mythology.

When I stepped into that shower and I
let the cold water run down on my head

I looked down at the blood as it swirled
around that shower drain, I started

thinking a little bit about what mankind
was.

One thing mankind is not.

is ready to face you in a street fight
at the Royal Rumble in Madison Square

Garden.

But I think the WWF fans deserve a
substitute in that match.

A substitute?

He's chickening out? What I'm going to
do, Triple H, is I'm going to name him

right now. As a matter of fact, I think
you know the guy.

So the reveal comes quickly, and this is
a moment that still induces goosebumps.

20 years after the fact, there will be
people who put it up there as the best

thing I've ever done, and I can't
disagree with them, because if Triple H

out a dismissive laugh and tells a story
with his face, you're the same guy in a

different T -shirt.

This match is dead in the water. It goes
nowhere.

And instead, he reacts as if he's
literally seen a ghost.

It's one of the most effective ways of
advancing a character.

For those who remember Cactus Jack, he's
coming back stronger and better than

ever. And for those who have no clue who
this Cactus Jack guy is, we know he's

somebody, and we know he's somebody
Triple H does not want to tangle with.

built up this aura around that
character. It was the ultimate sadistic

destroyer. Mick Foley is more vicious,
more dangerous than ever, King!

And I get in that ring and I'm literally
moving faster than I've moved in years.

I remember literally going back and
looking through the video to see if it

been sped up because I can't believe I'm
moving that fast.

Triple H is there and he's taking a
beating and I'm hitting him with

I can on each one. And he's just, he's
bringing it out of me. Now I've got to

catch my breath because I have not moved
that fast in years.

There's two things responsible for that.
There's the adrenaline rush that comes

with the audience there.

And there's Triple H bringing out the
very best in me. So when people try to

judge the value of a performer or a
worker or a wrestler, you know, there

the move sets. There's all these
different things that you can tangibly

But one of the intangibles is, can you
bring out the best in your opponent? Can

you make that opponent better than he
ever felt he could be? And that's, you

know, the difference between being a
superstar and a legend.

So at the Royal Rumble, you're going to
make me bleed.

I've got some news for you.

It will not be the first time.

And it sure as hell will not be the last
because I've got an awful lot of blood

to give.

I will take what you hold dearest, your
cherished WWF championship belt.

I will take it.

and it will be mine, mine, all mine,
baby!

Madison Square Garden, it's where
everyone aspired to be. I mean, the

quote ever can be attributed to Mr.
McMahon's father, Vince McMahon Sr., and

simply said, Vinny, the garden will
always be the garden.

Madison Square Garden, and this ain't
Mrs.

Foley's baby boy.

I think both for Mick and I to know that
we were going into the garden, getting

the opportunity to main event the Royal
Rumble, a lot of pressure, but we were

hell -bent on delivering. We knew we
were going to deliver. We knew we were

about to make something special.

I remember

I walked Triple H out in the
entranceway, and he kissed me.

That was the first time he had ever
actually kissed me on the lips, and it

kind of took me back because I knew it
was in character, but was it really in

character? You know, I kind of had,
like, the butterfly moment.

And I knew that this was going to be one
of the biggest matches of his career.

But I don't know, that kid sent a bolt
of electricity through me.

Well, you know, look at it.

Walking into that type of

match with somebody like Foley, there's
a psych up here. There's an adrenaline

factor. There is a, you are going to
war.

But the talking has stopped.

No holds barred.

Anything is legal.

And you have to approach it with that
mentality.

You know, they must be wondering, what
am I going to have to do here tonight to

keep the Challenger down? Now cap this
deck. That's not a steel chair.

But there isn't anything in the world I
would have rather have done in that

moment than go to war with Mick Foley.

This

was

a proving ground.

We're just looking to do the best we
can. We're trying to have the best match

can. We're trying to create something.

We

do

have civilians all around us, and you
have to be conscious of them

on a certain level. And you also put
great faith in the WWE security team.

If I could go back in time, I probably
would not suplex Triple H on a

pallet that had a jagged shard of wood.

I don't think I actually realized that

the puncture wound in my leg from the
pallet was...

really bad until uh later but i remember
looking down and seeing a piece

of wood sticking out of my leg and
thinking like oh geez that's not good in

mind it was like a a sliver when i
pulled it out jesus that thing went in

really far i didn't really think about
it after that i do remember towards the

end of that match and not really knowing
why but thinking like one boot feels

super heavy but nothing more than that
it really was later when they pulled the

You know, my boot off when I was
backstage was pooling with blood and it

saturated the bottom of my boot and all
the leather.

Adrenaline is a magical, magical
substance.

I wasn't even aware that I made noises
throughout the entirety of my matches.

It just, I guess, came from my
subconscious.

I may be the most humble of wrestling
origins.

I dropped an elbow on Nasty Ned Brady in
Greensboro, North Carolina. I think it

was one day before I lost my two top
teeth in a car accident.

I dropped an elbow, and just the song
from the B -52s, a song that was popular

at the time called Love Shack, went
through my mind. I looked up at the

and I said, bang, bang, bang.

On the door, baby. So I never again used
the words, on the door, baby.

I'd say the more meaningful and the more
I believed in that gesture, the better

the match was going to be.

I was a big believer in using things
that were available to us. It's always

great to have something stashed away
underneath the ring. And that night, you

know, I believe we, you know, we did, we
had, I don't believe we did. We had

some goodies.

I

very

distinctly remember that barbed wire two
by four coming out for the first time.

The shifting of the crowd to a different
level of, oh, my God.

The only time I'd ever experienced that
type of in -the -moment shift

in a crowd was Undertaker and Shawn
Michaels in the first Hell in a Cell

I remember just getting goosebumps in
that moment as I was hearing the crowd.

I've talked a little bit at my one -man
shows about what I call the Foley risk

-reward ratio analysis.

And there are some things that are
genuinely risky that don't pay off in a

reaction, you know, that makes that risk
worth taking. And then there's the

barbed wire two -by -four.

There's not a lot of risk going on.

Nobody's likely to get too injured, a
couple puncture wounds, maybe.

Well, Hugo loved to be part of the
matches.

Hugo was the guy who dove out of the way
just in the nick of time during the

cell match with The Undertaker. So he
thrived on that stuff.

He's a

performer himself.

It was all in anticipation of upping the
ante to something that people would be

in awe of. This character, the Cactus
Jack character of this crazy, do

-anything, sadistic, no regard for
himself or his body or anything

else and would do anything.

They needed to live on that.

I had watched a lot of the Japanese
death matches, so to speak, even the

that Mick was involved in. I remember
asking Mick about those matches and him

saying, oh, my God, they're terrible.
Don't watch this.

I remember watching them and thinking,
like, oh, yeah, they are terrible.

The guy would just fall into a bed of
barbed wire or something for no apparent

reason.

And they were in front of like nobody.

Let's put that together in a way that we
can tell a story with it. So it all

builds.

We can tell the difference. You

know, when I say we, it's because I'm
pausing to say whether we're fans,

we're part of the universe. We can tell
when the emotions are real. Freak fight

rules mean these two men have a license
to maim. And that's exactly what we're

seeing here.

Triple H from limb to limb. He said he
was going to spill his blood.

My parents obviously very, very proud of
my career, everything like that. But I

believe this was like the first big,
really big, like me main eventing a pay

-per -view that I bring them to.

Triple H, a bloody mess on our table
here.

So they come to Madison Square Garden. I
get them set up with tickets, the whole

thing.

I don't believe I had given them any
forewarning other than to say, these

matches with Cactus Jack, it's probably
going to be pretty aggressive.

But I don't think I had given them any
more warning than that. My parents were

in the front row. After the barbed wire
came out, I am bleeding heavily.

There's a moment where Mick clotheslines
me over the top rope, go over the top

rope, land, and go sailing across the
floor. As I hit and I'm draped over the

guardrail, as I look up, I'm face -to
-face with my mom, who is blubbering,

horrible as a parent, funny.

As a son.

To hear her reactions was very poignant
to me. You know, to watch a mother react

to her child, you know, being in the
ring, one side of me, the personal side,

thought, you know, oh, my gosh, I felt
so bad. And then the entertainer side of

me was like, oh, my God, this is
awesome. He's so delivering.

And if it looks like I am overjoyed,
it's because I am.

I mean, it's coming back to life. I
can't physically do the things I did 20

years ago, but I get to relive it.

The

last

words Mr. McMahon said to me before I
stepped through the curtain were, no

thumbtacks. What is that?

The epic shift of him pouring those
thumbtacks out in that arena. You think

can't get them any higher, but wait,
there's more. This guy's sadistic. He

stop for anything.

Right hands by Captain Jack.

The game dangerously close to the
thousands of thumbtacks on the canvas.

Like, they're thumbtacks. It's not like
it's going to kill you.

It doesn't feel good, for sure.

You know a suplex on a concrete floor,
let alone a jagged pallet of

wood, is going to hurt. He's sick, JR.
He may enjoy it. I don't know.

The love of God.

Triple X.

The penalty.

The penalty.

That's got to be over.

Kicking out of the pedigree was
something that was unheard of at the

I don't know if I was the first, but I
know when I kicked out, I mean, the roar

was deafening. And I mean, there was
just this feeling that the only way we

could take this up a notch was to do
that same move in thumbtacks.

And I knew we'd catch hell for it.

I just remember closing my right eye as
tightly as I could. And literally, I

thought to myself, I could lose an eye,
but think of the pop.

You know,

you do the pedigree and the text.

He lands. I'm covered. I could see them
sticking out of his face. If I remember

correctly, he had one in his eyebrow.

It doesn't get any better than that. I'm
a kid from Long Island. This is the

same venue that I used to hitchhike to
and take trains to.

Now I've lost the biggest match of my
career, and yet people are chanting my

name.

And at that point, I start thinking
about the physical toll that the match

taken on both of us.

Triple H took such a pounding in that
match. I mean, he just really took a

beating. I believe even after it was
over that my line, you know, the next

at Monday Night Raw was, it's not
whether you win or lose, it's how you

game. And he had been maimed, like, in a
way that we were not used to seeing in

WWE. Even if you've seen, like, some
bloody feuds, you were not ready for the

level of suffering that Triple H went
through.

Bobo. Yes, sir.

Go in the crowd and somebody tell my...
I'm all right. All right, I'm going out

there right now. Thanks. Did you cut
anywhere else?

Your forehead?

Just my head.

We get back and I get stitched up and
everything else. And I remember I had

to... I was having a hard time even with
the stitches getting my head to stop

bleeding. So I had like this gigantic
turban of gauze and I think I might have

even had a towel on there to try to keep
some weight on my head.

You know, of course, there he is, this
bloody mess, standing there sweating.

And all I could think about was how
worried I was about this man. And we

dating. We weren't together.

But, man,

I certainly was worried about him. And I
still was thinking about the kiss.

So in my mind, Royal Rumble is the last
match of my career.

And then there's been some injuries.
Eddie Guerrero dislocates his elbow in

most horrific way possible.

And I get a call from Mr. McMahon, hey,
pal, how about doing one more?

And, man, there's been an inference that
this could be my last match of the

Rumble, but now we're going to put a
sense of finality to it, that my career

on the line.

With Mick putting his career on the
line, which at that time was tough for

even digest, when Mick was telling me
about he was going to retire and he

to do it with me and he wanted to do it
in Hell in a Cell, the honor that he was

going to give me that rub, it's hard to
put words to that.

This has gone on too long.

It's time to finish it once and for all.

And no way out!

One more time, but this is it!

Your last shot at me, your last shot at
the WWF title.

What? But one stipulation.

You name it.

I want your career on the line.

Here's this guy, his last match, his
last moment.

He wanted to be everything that he can
be for him, his career, everything he's

gone through, what he's put himself
through, all that stuff. It was a very

emotional time.

The honor, all of it.

Trying to keep that all straight and
still be the pro and be the, you know,

doesn't bother you. You know, just
everything that you do when you're

make a name for yourself.

17 days until the biggest match of my
life.

At No Way Out, in hell, in a cell.

I think at that point in time, the hell
in the cell match, It was still almost

mythical.

Like you just would say the word, I want
it in Hell in a Cell.

And it was an audible gasp in the crowd,
like a shift.

You leave me with only one choice.

Hell in a Cell!

If you are in a storyline with somebody
and you get to the point where it just

cannot be settled in any other way, it's
gone as absolutely far as it can,

you've done everything possible with
each other, that the only way to settle

this issue is inside Hell in a Cell.

And if you had seen Cell matches prior
to that, I was there for the first one

with Taker and Sean. I'd never seen
anything like it, and it blew my mind.

And then you go to the Mick and Taker
one, and there was nothing ever like it,

or as there been since.

After what Mick and I just had gone
through at the Royal Rumble, to think

we were now going into Hell in a Cell,
like it just took it to a whole other

level. I was excited to get the call.

The chemistry with Triple H was there.

Royal Rumble had done a huge buy rate.
Mr. McMahon attributed it to the Rumble.

We had some words over what role Triple
H and I played in that. Believe me, we

had some words.

But I said, okay, okay, let us take that
ball and run with it as far as we can

and do the very best we can to not only
meet up with what we did at Royal

Rumble, but top it.

I remember going to a warehouse in
Brooklyn where we had the cell

and talking through some of what these
guys were going to be doing in the ring.

I remember looking at the cell itself
and having the chance to really picture

and envision, you know, what this was
going to look like when you were live.

you guys are going to do what?

The Harper Civic Center has been sold
out for weeks in anticipation.

When you're in that moment,

you know, everybody talks about you walk
through that curtain, it's all real.

You have to have that mindset.

I don't know. I always feel like I can
tell when a performer, and I say it even

at NXT a lot or the Performance Center a
lot, I say to the talent, I still feel

like you're playing wrestling.

You don't believe this. You don't buy
it. You're just playing a character.

You're not the guy. You're the guy
playing the role.

To me, what separates the ones that are
great from the ones that are pretty

good?

Well, it's quite a task to get ready for
something like Hell in a Cell.

I more or less have to metamorphosize
into a different human being.

Kind -hearted, benevolent guys don't
fare well inside the cell.

And so I have to become somebody who can
fare well inside that cell.

Somebody's going to walk out of here
with a WWF title.

I know Triple H has got to be concerned
about one thing. There have been

promises fulfilled.

Having the perfect opponent certainly
does not hurt.

And we also heard Cactus Jack promise
that he was going to jump off the top of

this cage onto Triple H.

Will that come through, JR?

Generally,

I needed just some type of jolt.

Once I got out there, I like to start
the matches with something big.

And once there was a big move, I would
be jolted into that alternative reality

of becoming Cactus Jack, Mankind,
whatever the situation might call for.

It was a mental game for me.

Physically, I couldn't do a fraction of
what the other guys in the roster could

do.

If I could wrap my mind around a concept

and see it in my mind, then I was going
to give it a try. And if it

worked out the way I hoped it would,
that was great.

If it didn't, sometimes that was even
better.

Look at Cactus. They're just sitting
inside him. They won't let him lose.

This is his night.

Cactus, he baited Triple H in.

Oh, hello.

Well, the nut shot is an art form.

That's somewhat of a barbaric birth
control.

Because what you're trying to do is not
get hit in the nuts.

So usually there's a moment in time when
you're doing a nut shot, when you are

thinking to yourself, like, I got to
really sell that big because it's a nut

shot. And then you end up really selling
it big because it was a nut shot.

And you end up thinking like, holy cow,
I hope he lets me sell this for a while

because I really need time to recover
from an actual nut shot.

There really is no art to it.

It's pretty much just trying to avoid
getting hit in the nuts.

It can be difficult to get your
signature moves into a match that has a

structure around that ring.

And so one of your signature moves is
that you fly through the air

with an elbow.

And you realize you don't have the space
you usually do to complete that move.

You have to improvise. And so I went up
higher. I went up to the second rope. I

did it with a chair tucked underneath my
arm. But because of the way I had to

position my body in order to drop that
elbow, I ended up hitting my own face on

my own chair and broke my nose in the
process.

And in ordinary circumstances, a broken
nose, you know, would be a cause for a

timeout. It's not in our business,
though.

There's this one oddity in the sense
that nothing we're doing as far as

go. is eliciting much of a response.

And it wasn't until I threw the stairs
at Triple H, he ducks out of the way,

they go through the cell structure, and
now this building comes alive.

I

immediately

think back.

all of the times I've stressed that I
will ascend that cell one more time.

And now, with the benefit of previous
failure, that

failure being Hell in a Cell 1998 with
The Undertaker, where I was having a

of a time ascending that structure, WWE
has put in some convenient footholds for

me and every superstar that follows.

Stephanie's contributions to that
rivalry cannot be understated.

Stephanie was great.

I was

standing

on the outside and I missed the time in
the match when they start the climb. And

I just remember being so worried.

Barbed wire, thumbtack, all those
things. You know, what's the art form?

isn't.

Rubbing barbed wire, rubbing the cage.

Sometimes the hitting with the barbed
wire is bad. It's the pulling off of the

barbed wire that is worse. It just
doesn't feel real comfortable.

Well,

there is no art to taking that. Well,
you either do it or you don't do it.

I've got this chair.

What I don't realize is that the
audience is there. You cannot have a

goes backwards, right? And I no longer
have the gas in the tank to do it.

I try it two or three times. I really
want that chair up on top with me. And

once I realize it's not meant to be, I
start making that climb.

It did hit me.

Everything that we did in Royal Rumble,
how do you get it to another level?

Oh, look at this jacket.

But how do you get there in a way that
tells the right story? And then how do

you get there where you don't see the
setup coming?

We've had an exciting match.

One that I think has come close to
living up to the standards we set.

A month earlier, and we just have to
find a way to create a memory.

Jack this Jack has got the two by four
and the barbed wire again. And what

be worse than a two by four wrapped in
barbed wire?

I don't know. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. That's two by four. The
barbed wire is burning.

At one point in time, there was a
conversation had about fire.

And then it came up that maybe that.

that moment of fire would be the perfect
distract.

Captus has a dream, and it's coming true
tonight.

Oh, my God, Hunter, he's got the bed.

He's got the cool intention for you.

He's got a pile driving on the fire. I
think that's what Captus was signaling,

the pile driving.

Get that?

Hold that.

It's just such a crazy image of him on
top of that cage with this barbed wire

two by four and getting it lit. And then
him standing there with this crowd

behind him and just in its epic. I would
never forget it, but it did

exactly what it needed to do when
everybody was so obsessed with.

Oh, my God, there is this barbed wire
2x4 that is on fire.

What's going to happen? And the next
thing you know, he's getting backdropped

and going through a cage and falling
through.

It created an incredible moment.

And then when you went down the decision
to have him then begin to come out of

that hole, like he's unstoppable, you
know, in some manner.

Crazy son of a bitch is moving.

Cactus' lifelong dream of main eventing
at WrestleMania is keeping him in the

hunt.

My God, this will finish it.

Let's go for the victory.

No dream has worked for me.

That's got to be it.

No dream has worked this. Kick out. Kick
out, Cactus.

The idea, if you would have sat either
me or Triple H down and said, you'll be

talking about this match 20 years from
now, I would have thought you were

You only have a handful of special
moments in this business as a performer,

things that really stick out.

I wish I could have appreciated it more
for what it was, but looking back on it,

man, have I been lucky.

You know, it's said a lot that, you
know, there are moments in time when you

things happen that kind of elevate a
talent to the next level.

For me, there's nothing more in my
career that elevated me to a different

than those two matches, the Royal Rumble
and the Hell in a Cell match with Mick

Foley in 2000.

Hard to put into words how much those
two matches meant on solidifying Triple

as a main event player.

And now the main event at WrestleMania
will be a fatal four -way elimination

match. What? Turns out I did come back.

You, Triple H, will defend the World
Wrestling Federation Championship

against Big Show, against The Rock, and

against this man, Mick Foley.

One of the ways we promoted WrestleMania
was by appearing on Saturday Night

Live. And I remember Big Show going, do
you think there's something going on

between Stephanie and Triple H?

Absolutely not. I just thought she was a
very talented and very motivated

manager at his side. I didn't realize
that it bled over into real life.

It's hard to say a particular moment.

Where I thought, oh my God, you know,
Steph is the one.

Because, you know, it was so, so
ridiculously

against all intelligent choices.

You know, we just, we were goofy around
each other. Even just saying hello, we

would go to give each other a hug and it
was super awkward. And, you know, try

to have a conversation and, you know,
you walk away thinking like, God, I

sounded so... Stupid. Like, why did I
say that? We were just constantly around

each other.

Constantly. Didn't necessarily have to
have a reason, but we're just constantly

finding ourselves in the same places.
Anytime I was next to him or I would

be around him, I would have this, like,
my heart would race.

And it still does.

You know, I'm actually more in love with
him every single day. And we have three

beautiful daughters. And he's an
incredible father.

He is...

He is my knight in shining armor. He is
the man that I dreamed of my entire

life.

You know, it's a funny thing for me. All
my friends, my best friends in life, my

relationships that have lasted my whole
life, my in -laws, just all of it,

everything in my life stems in some way
from WWE in some manner.

But to me, it's not the defining
characteristic of who I am. By far, my

girls.

Steph and all of that is the most
important thing in my life by far. And

rest of it all went away, I'd be okay as
long as I still had that.