Jim Ross on whether Triple H stole idea from ex-WWE star
Triple H won 14 world titles during a star-studded WWE in-ring career spanning 24 years. In a recent podcast episode, legendary commentator Jim Ross addressed claims that The Game stole his heel character from Shane Douglas.
Between 1993 and 1999, Douglas was one of ECW's top stars. Nicknamed, The Franchise, he held the company's world title four times and became known for his arrogant attitude.
It has been speculated that Triple H may have taken inspiration from Douglas when he reinvented his WWE persona in the late 1990s. However, speaking to host Conrad Thompson on Grilling JR, Ross played down comparisons between the two:
"I have heard about it vaguely, Conrad, but I'm not sure how accurate that assessment is. I just thought it was a no-brainer. He was the next great heel, and that fact was proved out. He had an amazing run as that amazing character and he drew a lot of money for WWE. He established himself as a main player, so I never picked up on the connectivity between Triple H and Shane Douglas," said Ross. [1:04:59 – 1:05:37]
Although he is best known for his ECW run, Douglas also worked for WWE as Dean Douglas in 1995. Triple H worked for the company in the same year, but the two men never faced each other.
Shane Douglas' honest thoughts on Triple H's WWE character
In 2022, Shane Douglas claimed in a WSI interview that Triple H once cut a promo that closely resembled something he said in ECW.
The 59-year-old made it clear he was not happy with the D-Generation X member referring to "my belt" in a similar way to him:
"Borrowing's one thing, I would be embarrassed to take somebody's promo, especially a fairly famous promo, and word-for-word make it mine," Douglas said.
The Franchise added that Triple H likely "ripped off" his gimmick because it had not been seen on a worldwide wrestling stage before.
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Please credit Grilling JR and embed the YouTube video with an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription, if you use Jim Ross' quotes from this article.