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Couture's Championship Profiles: Intercontinental Champion Triple H...Plus The First "Quote To Win" Challenge!
By James E. Couture
Nov 2, 2006 - 1:17 PM

Folks, it's the Cruiserweight Champion of life (and at this point that's probably self deprecation), me, James E. Couture.  Hey, speaking of totally dissing titles, this week's Profile will be a little HISTORICAL, for many reasons, among them that it's the first installment of my multi-part series about former World Champions holding lower level titles, it's "Ba Da Ba Ba Ba, I'm Slumming It!"

By 2001 Triple H had worked his way up the WWE ladder from hauty aristocrat to snarky smartass, then to sledgehammer weilding manipulator.  In 1999, Triple H reached the top of the mountain: membership in the Corporation.  No, wait, I meant to say "The WWE Championship". Eitherhoo, it was a long way to the top since Trips wanted to rock and roll, but he came to the troubling realization that once you get to the top, there's not a lot of places to go without going back down.  Such was the case after WrestleMania X-7.  Stone Cold Steve Austin had just dethroned The Rock for the WWE title, while Triple H had shockingly met defeat at the hands of The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Seeing that his stock was slipping and knowing where his bread was buttered, Triple H aligned himself with Austin.

"What? You want ol' Stone Cold to talk about Triple H? What? The man who hired Rikishi to hit ol' Stone Cold with a car? What? He's a good guy.  I respect sons of bitches that try to kill me a little.  We hang out."
-Stone Cold Steve Austin, "Bravo Presesnts: The Don Johnson Roast", 2003

Triple H, however, needed some gold to go with his buttered-stock status.   So, four days after WrestleMania, Triple H challenged Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental title, having earned his title shot by...losing to the Undertaker?  Eitherway, he had talked for weeks about how he wanted to regain the Intercontinental title...off screen....probably.  Well, WHY he got the shot is neither here nor there, the fact remains that this match DID happen.  In one of the few times in SmackDown! history (hell, it could be the only time, but I really don't feel like going through hundreds of show reviews just to arrive at a number like "3"), the IC gold was on the line in  the SmackDown! main event.  Michael Cole called it the biggest match SmackDown! had ever seen.  Chris Jericho, though, decided to go all Detroit Tigers on us, coughing up the gold on the game's (PUN!) biggest stage.

"He went out there, and it didn't matter if he locked on the Walls of Jericho, and it didn't matter if he missed the Lionsault, and it's not gonna happen with this wrestler, anymore."
-Jim Leyland, interview during "The XFL Halftime Show: Altoona SeaChickens v Biloxi Buzzz", 2001

What proceeded was one of the greatest Intercontinental title reigns to happen that month.  Triple H faced all comers, but mostly (only) Jeff Hardy. 

After 7 days as IC Champ, the King of Kings (or, more appropriately, the King of Princes if he's got the IC belt) took on the Charasmatic Enigma.   This match came about after Lita pulled the upset (that's not all she pulled! High five!), pinning Stephanie McMahon in a 6-Person Tag pitting Team 3xtreme v. The Two Man Ego Trip, uh, Power Trip.  Sorry, I've got Rob Conway on the brain, but then, who wouldn't!

"YES! I'm totally gonna print this page off and scrapbook it!"
-Rob Conway, "Scrapbooking the Con-Way", WWE Books, 2006

After some interference, who, as usual, was playing an integral part in a SmackDown! main event, Jeff Hardy hit the Senton, no, Kenton, no, Wanton, no...Swanton, that's the ticket, Bomb and garnered that sweet, sweet Intercontinental gold.

I could digress from there, but really, Hardy's reign, and Triple H's regaining the belt are bound to come up in the rotation sooner or later at Profile HQ.  What matters is that Triple H finally avenged the Intercontinental Championship he had to forfeit due to knee injury in 1998.  Finally, there was closure.

But wait, there's more!  That's right, at the top of the program I said that this Profile was historic for many reasons.  The other one is the fact that this marks our first winner in the "Quote to Win Challenge" I held on the discussion boards.  After putting out a request for fan-submitted quotes to use in a Profile, I got literally twos of responses, and one asking for further clarification.  Well, I finally got around to writing a Profile around what someone had suggested, so here it is:

"Triple H's IC title reign served to keep him busy, when he wasn't defending the tag team titles. or helping Austin retain the main title. Hunter was to the WWE what Wolverine was to Marvel - bloody everywhere."
    -y2cain, Other Insanity, "Quote To Win Challenge", October 12, 2006, 4:06 p.m.


Funny stuff.

Well, until Norman Smiley closes out Impact standing over a bloody Samoa Joe, I am, in fact, James E. Couture.

And if you really want to contribute a quote to "The Challenge", as I call it, "The Challenge" is still open.  Just look under the Other Insanity part of the Insanity Message Boards  or drop a line to Insanity@WorldWrestlingInsanity.com .  Both of my fans would love to read what you have to say.