Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of his former ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He currently wrestles for the SmackDown brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is the reigning WWE Champion.
Before joining WWE, Levesque began his wrestling career with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993, wrestling under the ring name Terra Ryzing. He changed his ring name to Jean-Paul Lévesque before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1995. His initial on-screen persona was that of wealthy sophisticate Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He later changed his name to Triple H and adopted an alternative image in the group D-Generation X (DX), a stable. After the dissolution of DX, Triple H was pushed as a main-event wrestler, winning several singles championships. As part of a storyline, the scripted events in wrestling, Triple H married Stephanie McMahon, who later became his real-life spouse. In 2003, Triple H formed another stable known as Evolution, and in 2006, briefly reformed DX with Shawn Michaels.
Overall, Triple H is a twelve-time world champion: a seven-time and current WWE Champion, and a five-time World Heavyweight Champion. In addition, he won the 1997 King of the Ring, the 2002 Royal Rumble, and was the second Grand Slam Champion.
Outside wrestling, Levesque has made numerous guest appearances in film and on television. He is starring in the WWE Film, Journey of Death, which is due to release in 2009.