Every Triple H WWE World Title Reign Ranked

There was a certain point in time where Triple H was firmly embedded in the world title picture. From 1999 to 2016, The Game won either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship 14 times.

Today, we’re going to find out which title reigns were worthy of the The King of Kings and which ones he should have told to “Suck it!”.

This is every Triple H WWE world championship reign ranked from worst to best.

14. WWE Championship - October 7, 2007

No Mercy 2007 was a rather strange evening. The show was supposed to feature John Cena defending the WWE Championship against Randy Orton, but the Doctor of Thuganomics got hurt in the days leading up to the event.

This led to Mr. McMahon simply gifting the belt to Orton, who was then promptly beaten for the title by Triple H. The Game then defended the championship against Umaga, before dropping it back to Orton in the night’s main event.

So why didn’t they just make a match of Triple H vs. Orton for the vacant title and have Randy win? That is anyone’s guess.

A reign coming in at less than three hours for Triple H makes it the bottom entry on this list.

13. WWE Championship - August 23, 1999 to September 14, 1999

You might think that a big star like Triple H would have won his first world championship at one of WWE’s major pay-per-views.

Well, think again, because Hunter’s maiden WWE title run began the night after SummerSlam 1999. Trips, who had been part of the main event the night before, beat Mankind on Raw to reach the mountaintop for the first time.

Did he then reign for many months, having classic matches in the process? No! He held the belt for just over three weeks before dropping it to Vince McMahon. The Genetic Jackhammer booked himself to win his own top championship from his own future son-in-law.

Triple H’s first go at being world champion was a total flop, but luckily things would improve over time.

12. WWE Championship - September 26 to November 14, 1999

Not only did Vince McMahon win his own world title, but he vacated it before anyone could beat him for it. That makes him one of only a handful of undefeated world champions in the history of professional wrestling.

After The Chairman gave up the gold, a six-pack challenge for the vacant championship was set for Unforgiven 1999. The winner of that match was… Triple H! The guy who was the champion in the first place!

The King of Kings fared a little better this time around, managing to reign for 49 days before dropping the belt at Survivor Series to the Big Show, who was a last-minute replacement after Steve Austin got hit by a car.

11. WWE Championship - May 21 to June 25, 2000

The WWE title was all over the place in 2000, bouncing between Triple H and The Rock four times between January and June.

At Judgment Day 2000, The Game defeated The Great One in their legendary Iron Man Match. It was legendary because The Undertaker turned up on his motorcycle right at the end and ruined everything by costing Rock the title.

The good times wouldn’t last for the Cerebral Assassin, as he would drop the strap back to The Rock at King of the Ring.

How did he lose it, I hear you ask? In a six-man tag team match where Rocky pinned Vince McMahon to win the title.

10. World Heavyweight Championship - September 12 to December 6, 2004

Few wrestlers are as synonymous with a championship as Triple H was with the World Heavyweight title between 2002 and 2005.

Not only was Hunter the first-ever holder of the new belt, but he also reigned with it five different times.

Trips won his fourth big shiny belt at Unforgiven, beating his former Evolution buddy Randy Orton for the honour. Not only did he win the title, but he also single-handedly crushed any chance Orton had of getting over as a hot new babyface.

This run lasted for 85 days before a double fall in a triple-threat match on Raw forced the title to be vacated. Quite the lame ending then, but at least the reign was a decent length.

9. WWE Championship - March 17 to April 21, 2002

You’d think that a world title reign that began in the main event of WrestleMania would be higher up this list, but Triple H’s fifth WWE title run had a lot working against it.

Firstly, his main event match with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania X8 was massively overshadowed by Hulk Hogan vs The Rock from earlier in the night.

Secondly, his stint with the gold only lasted a miserable 35 days, which only took him to the next pay-per-view.

And thirdly, the man he lost the championship to was a 48-year-old Hulkster! This time spare a thought for poor Triple H as his big comeback story following a torn quad was sidelined for one last world title reign for Hulk Hogan.

8. WWE Championship - February 15 until April 26, 2009

Another Triple H main event at WrestleMania, another non-title match lower down the card overshadowing it.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Triple H was defending the WWE title he had won at No Way Out against Randy Orton in the main event of Mania 25. The match itself was bogged down by the bizarre inclusion of a rule that meant Trips would lose the belt if he got disqualified.

It was also massively shown up by Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker from earlier in the night.

The Game gets points for retaining his title over Orton, but this was the highlight of an otherwise unimpressive reign. He lost the belt that very same month in yet another six-man tag!

At least Vince McMahon wasn’t the one pinned this time.

7. World Heavyweight Championship - September 2 to November 17, 2002

Just how did Triple H end up becoming the first-ever World Heavyweight Champion?

Well, Eric Bischoff got the belt out of his loft, dusted it off and said “Here you go!” on an episode of Raw.

While not the most impressive start to a new lineage, Triple H soon helped elevate the belt and himself in the process when he was part of a great and historic match in his first WHC Title reign - the very first Elimination Chamber from Survivor Series 2002.

Despite having his throat crushed not long into the contest, Triple H fought through the pain right until right at the very end before eating a pinfall from the recently-returned Shawn Michaels.

This would be HBK’s final ever world championship victory and it was an emotional moment for all involved.

This reign may not have gotten off to a great start, but sometimes it’s how you leave them.

6. WWE Championship - January 24 to April 3, 2016

With Triple H done with in-ring wrestling for good following serious heart issues in 2021, this will go down as the final world title reign in his illustrious career.

And it was alright. Nothing special, but alright. The King of Kings made his big return at number 30 in the 2016 Royal Rumble, after Roman Reigns had laid waste to him a few weeks earlier. He went on to win the match and the WWE title in the process.

This was all done to set up Roman vs The Game at WrestleMania 32 in a match that, unfortunately, turned out to be one of the most disappointing Mania main events of all time.

On paper, this reign should have been excellent. A Royal Rumble win, a WrestleMania main event, what’s not to like? Unfortunately, title reigns are not played out on paper.

5. World Heavyweight Championship - January 9 to April 3, 2005

Remember how earlier on we mentioned that Triple H had to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship because of a double pinfall?

Well, one month later at New Year’s Revolution, an Elimination Chamber match was held to crown the new champion. That match was won by… Triple H!

Seriously - he once again effectively won a world title from himself. Thankfully, this insane narcissism did lead to a major coronation at WrestleMania 21. Triple H was more than happy to put over former Evolution stablemate Batista in that show’s main event, relinquishing the world title in a star-making moment for the future Drax the Destroyer.

This would be Hunter’s final ever World Heavyweight title run, as the infamous reign of terror finally came to an end.

4. World Heavyweight Championship - December 14, 2003 to March 14, 2004

Triple H and Goldberg were like oil and water during the WCW star’s first run with the company - they just did not mix.

Everyone was expecting the master of the Jackhammer to bulldoze through The Game at SummerSlam, only for Hunter to flip the script and retain.

Whilst Goldberg did eventually beat his nemesis for the title, he would only hold it for three months before Trips won it right back off him.

That being said, the title reign this generated was pretty decent.

The Cerebral Assassin had great matches with Shawn Michaels (on the last Raw of 2003 and at the 2004 Royal Rumble), and the match he lost it in - the triple threat main event of WrestleMania 20 - is up there with the very best main events in the show’s history.

3. WWE Championship - April 27 to November 23, 2008

Considering he’s held the thing nine times, it’s surprising to learn that only two of Triple H’s WWE title reigns have lasted over 100 days.

His eighth reign with the gold was his longest, clocking in at 210 days across most of 2008.

He won the belt off Randy Orton in a Fatal 4-way at Backlash and would defend his prize against the likes of The Viper, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Edge, and, regrettably, The Great Khali.

Interesting moments from his time on top included participating in a Championship Scramble match, teaming up with Mr. Kennedy for a 14-on-2 handicap match on Raw, and attempting to get a decent feud out of Vladimir Kozlov.

This reign would eventually end at the hands of Edge, bringing a respectable, if somewhat forgettable, run to a close.

2. World Heavyweight Championship - December 15, 2002 to September 21, 2003

After regaining the World Heavyweight Championship from Shawn Michaels at Armageddon 2002, the Boy Toy’s former DX buddy embarked on the longest world championship reign of his career.

For 280 days (the second lengthiest reign in the title’s history) Triple H had a vice-like grip on the Big Gold Belt, fending off any and all challengers put in his way in the likes of Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, and Booker T.

Despite its substantial girth, there was a lot of rubbish in this title reign and, despite his best efforts, Hunter didn’t prove that he was single-handedly better than all of WCW’s top stars put together.

Still, history has to count for something, which is why this run has done so well for itself in our ranking.

1. WWE Championship - January 3 to April 3, 2000

Although it lasted less than half the length of the previous entry, Triple H’s third reign with the WWE title accomplished way, way more.

After winning the belt back off the Big Show on Raw, Hunter crossed paths with an old rival - Mick Foley.

This led to the legendary Street Fight at the Royal Rumble, which remains some people’s pick for the best WWE title match of all time.

He followed that up by retiring Foley in a classic Hell in a Cell match.

Then there was WrestleMania 2000, which Trips main evented alongside (a temporarily unretired) Foley, Show, and The Rock. Sure, that match was an overbooked flop, but it was still the main event of WrestleMania.

And then came Backlash.

Triple H vs The Rock, one-on-one for the gold, in one of the greatest crowd-pleasing matches the company has ever done, featuring great wrestling, sports entertainment pizazz and a Steve Austin pop louder than a big pile of emos at a My Chemical Romance gig.

All of this and more makes the 118 days Triple H spent with the WWE title in 2000 one of the best periods of his long and illustrious career.

It really was That. Damn. Good.