Stephanies Places S01 E09-HD | Stephanie's Places Season 1 Episode 9 - May 21st 2025
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00:00Welcome to the most spectacular live event in entertainment.
00:07Welcome to WrestleMania.
00:11When it comes to making an entrance,
00:14there's no bigger moment than walking out on stage at WrestleMania.
00:19No one understands the opportunity to connect with the audience better than my husband,
00:25WWE Hall of Famer and Chief Content Officer Paul Triple H Levesque.
00:34Hey, Peyton. What's up?
00:36Hey, Stephanie. I'm glad I caught you. Listen, I wanted to run something by you.
00:40About the show?
00:41No, more of an idea for WrestleMania.
00:46This is kind of like your Super Bowl, right?
00:48And I know entrances are a huge deal, so I've been watching some tape of my own entrances.
00:53Check it out. I just texted it to you.
00:57Number two, Peyton Carter!
01:02Peyton, I really appreciate your enthusiasm,
01:05but this is you just jogging onto the field.
01:09But there's a lot more to it than that, Stephanie.
01:12It's an intimidating jog onto the field.
01:14Never mind. Just check out the next one.
01:17Did you catch that? That little squirt, maybe? That's attitude.
01:25Honestly, Peyton, I think we've got this. WWE definitely knows how to do an entrance.
01:32Have you heard of this when I come making an entrance?
01:35This is absolutely incredible.
01:40It'd be perfect for Cena.
01:42You beat it.
01:43Thank you so much, but I've got to run, okay?
01:45No, no. Bye-bye.
01:46It's a light jog.
01:49Wow.
01:50I'm Stephanie McMahon, and I love WWE.
01:57Stephanie McMahon!
02:01I'm on a quest to hear the stories behind the biggest superstars and legends in WWE history.
02:07Here we go.
02:09So come join me on the trip of a lifetime.
02:20Welcome to the most magical live event in entertainment.
02:25WrestleMania, the showcase of the immortals.
02:29It's a spectacle from start to finish.
02:33But the grandeur doesn't just happen in the ring.
02:36There is no one in the WWE that evokes a bunch of bullshit as John Cena.
02:45Every great moment starts with an entrance that sets the tone of the entire match.
02:51That first beat of music.
02:58The blast at the pyro.
03:00There's nothing else quite like it.
03:03There have been countless iconic entrances, and I wanted to hear from the expert himself, Triple H.
03:12Triple H has been a creative trailblazer for more than three decades.
03:17With renowned branding and presentation, he set the bar high for generations to come.
03:22I am the game.
03:25And I am that damn good.
03:31And I've had the privilege of being by his side for some of it.
03:35Thanks very much for doing this today, honey.
03:38You made me.
03:41You didn't have a choice.
03:42Well, everybody knows you as Triple H, the game, the cerebral assassin, the king of kings, the 14-time world champion.
03:51But not everybody knows how you got your start with WWE.
03:56Can you take us through a little bit your first character and what your vision was for the presentation of that character?
04:05It's high time for all these superstars in the World Wrestling Federation to learn a lesson in class.
04:13I ended up being the American Blue Blood, which my original name was supposed to be Reginald DuPont Helmsley.
04:21Reggie?
04:22Yeah.
04:23I did not like the name at all, and so then I worked with them to create a different name, the Triple H, Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
04:30Coming down the aisle from British Connecticut,
04:34weighing 246 pounds, Hunter Hearst Helmsley!
04:43We'd go to TV, and the taping would be like five hours long, and I'd work four times.
04:48All my stuff had to be pristine, right?
04:50So I'd finish my match.
04:51I'd go fix my hair perfectly.
04:53I'd have to iron my shirt.
04:54I'd have to iron my jacket from all the wrinkles of it getting thrown in the back.
04:58I'd throw that on.
04:59You did this yourself?
05:00Yeah, yeah.
05:01I mean, very rare that, you know, we didn't.
05:04I don't think I've ever seen you ironed.
05:06Yeah, because I don't like it.
05:07Ever.
05:08Yeah, I don't like it.
05:09They were paying me to do it.
05:10That's why I did it.
05:11Nobody's paying me a thousand iron.
05:12I don't see you ironing anything.
05:14Well, I used to iron a little tiny bit on the road a little bit.
05:17For you.
05:18Yeah.
05:19Because you told me you couldn't iron.
05:20Whatever.
05:21Anyway, I just liked it because of the three H's, and I thought there's something that
05:25you could create a logo out of that, a look.
05:27I don't know, I was always big into that.
05:29Art-wise, I'm fairly creative, can draw and paint a little bit.
05:35Very few people know you went to college for graphic design.
05:38Yes, for like a moment.
05:40A moment.
05:41I was always fascinated with like, even bands that I like, like KISS had very particular
05:49image and branding and iconography that supported what they were as a brand and it meant something.
05:55So I always felt like branding in these kind of things was very important.
06:00Triple H took his branding to the next level.
06:03And over the course of several years, his character evolved from the aristocratic blue blood to the degenerate badass.
06:11His transformation was cemented in one of the most pivotal moments in his career.
06:16During a famous interview with Jim Ross.
06:19It makes me sick to think what you did to me, holding me back.
06:24You guys talk about being students of the game.
06:27I am the game, JR.
06:30With that, the game was born.
06:34And with his new edge and attitude, Triple H ascended main event status to become a legend.
06:43Triple H has won the World Wrestling Federation Championship!
06:48So can you take me through the evolution of the Triple H character in terms of the branding and the image?
06:54Because it's a big, it's a pretty dramatic evolution.
06:56Giant shift, yeah.
06:58And why?
06:59Why did you change?
07:01Because the business changed.
07:04As the business begins to change, the world changes.
07:07Things need to be less cartoony, 1980s, larger than life.
07:11The world wants more real and more authentic and more serious.
07:17As the Triple H character changed, so too did his entrance.
07:22The character becomes more intense.
07:25You know, the water spit, which became iconic.
07:28Like, I'm standing on the apron facing fans and like, spit water out of like, I'm the champ.
07:33It would get such a reaction when I would do it.
07:36I'm like, alright, I'm keeping that.
07:38So it just started to morph into different things.
07:41Like, for example, when I would walk out onto the stage and the light was underneath me.
07:45That was me going back to something that Kowalski had told me very, very early when I was training.
07:51Where he was like, always be present in what you're doing and where you are.
07:57That way, he's like, your career will go by fast, but you'll always remember things because you'll have taken a moment.
08:03So it morphs over time, right?
08:06The light gets added, the water spit from, I'm now making a presentation out of that.
08:11Hey, I'm going to do that, but I'm going to do it more celebratory.
08:14Hey, can you guys light me from above?
08:16So when I do the water, it'll all glisten in the light and make a bigger, even bigger presentation.
08:21It just morphs along the way.
08:24So how important is music to the presentation of a character?
08:28Very.
08:29Finding the right fit, but also finding something that a talent likes and feels good about, where they feel empowered by that music.
08:43So it's really important to who and what you are.
08:46It all sort of has to match.
08:48Your look has to match the music, has to match the lighting, has to match the video wall presentations, because that's all the brand of who you are.
08:57My music, when I was Hunter Hearst Helmsley, had to change dramatically for me to then be taken as a different star, as Triple H and different presentation.
09:07I went to them and I said, like, I want it like Motorhead, like that raw, guttural feel.
09:13So they took like five or six stabs at it. It just was not, kept coming back.
09:18And I was like, that ain't it. That isn't it. That's not it. I don't like it.
09:21And Kevin Dunn came to me one day on TV and he said, hey, why don't we see if Motorhead can do it?
09:25And I was like, well, because I didn't f***ing know that was an option.
09:28So if that's an option, yeah.
09:30They called Motorhead. Lem said yeah.
09:32And then he did it in one take, left the studio, and they sent it to me.
09:36And I was like, damn, that's cool as s***.
09:52Triple H had badass new theme music and was the top villain in WWE.
09:58And what better way to celebrate than with a live Motorhead performance at the Show of Shows in 2005.
10:07I was in a pit underneath them.
10:09I was going to come up on a riser in the middle of them playing.
10:12And Lem is not even on stage yet.
10:15And they're counting down like 15 seconds.
10:17And I look at him and he's not even up there.
10:20And now he comes up in like 10 seconds and he's like, who's got my bass?
10:24Where's my bass? Like, I don't have my bass.
10:27And I'm like, holy s***, this isn't going to work at all.
10:36Like, they're not going to be able to play and I'm going to have to crawl out of this hole or something.
10:40Like, this is like terrible.
10:42And then as they were saying like 2-1, he's like putting his bass on it.
10:46It was crazy.
10:47It was crazy.
10:54Try to play the game!
10:56The presentation of WrestleMania entrances continued to grow, adding to lights and live music were more cinematic level moments.
11:19I was a big believer in the theatrics of what we did.
11:24The first sort of over the top one I did was WrestleMania in Chicago when I wrestled Cena.
11:30And I had the Frazetta painting image in my head of this sort of Conan-y type character sitting on a throne and all that stuff.
11:37So I pitched that.
11:39He calls himself now the King of Kings.
11:44His outfit, if you will, is reminiscent of King Conan.
11:49That's exactly what Triple H looks like right now.
11:52Entrances that people remember is because it made them feel a particular way.
11:59It's all about feel.
12:00It's all about emotion and experience.
12:02It can't be every single person on the show.
12:05It's got to be select.
12:06It's got to be right.
12:07It's got to be big.
12:08It's got to feel epic.
12:09But when you can do that and the overall show feels like a spectacle, to me that's WrestleMania.
12:16It's why years later when I would do the gold stuff with the throne, you know, we'll get some extras for the women.
12:24I was like, no, no, hold on.
12:25Don't get extras for the women.
12:26And I went and I asked Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, and Sasha Banks.
12:30And they weren't big names?
12:32They weren't big names.
12:33They were in NXT.
12:34And I felt like all three of them were going to be big stars.
12:37And I just thought, what a cool opportunity for them.
12:40And I told it to them right before we walked out on stage.
12:43And I was like, guys, because they were nervous.
12:46And I was like, hey, when you get out there, like, take a deep breath and look around you.
12:51Enjoy that moment because the next time you guys are doing this in the stadium, and you will, you'll be about to go out there to feel that grandeur and the spectacle.
13:01And to me, that's what WrestleMania is supposed to be.
13:04It's supposed to be the ultimate spectacle.
13:07Use this as fuel and fire to get to where you want to be.
13:12That's a trip, right?
13:13Yes.
13:14You guys will all be back.
13:15It's not your first, just your first rodeo.
13:18All right.
13:21Just as Paul predicted, each of those three women would get to walk that WrestleMania island.
13:28With Charlotte Flair making WrestleMania history as one of the first women to main event the granddaddy of them all.
13:36This is an incredible moment.
13:40Triple H competed in 24 WrestleManias.
13:44How could he possibly pick a favorite entrance?
13:48How cool was that?
13:50The 14-time world champion knows how to make an entrance.
13:54Do you have a favorite WrestleMania entrance that stands out to you?
14:03Oh, you know, there's a bunch.
14:04But you and I, with Ronda and Kurt, was also one of my favorite ones just because it was, you did it with me.
14:10And it was, it was cool with the female biker gang.
14:16I remember, not only am I worried about this match, but then I find out I have to learn to drive the trike.
14:22Which we do, right?
14:23Yeah, you drove it around the parking lot.
14:25Yeah, right from the parking lot.
14:26I remember.
14:29We get it.
14:30Okay, great.
14:31All good.
14:32And then the most pressure was learning how to do the water spit.
14:36We know for a very long time I could never do the water spit.
14:40Oh, Steph's going to do my entrance.
14:42Do I have a water?
14:43Can everybody grab me water?
14:44You didn't tell me the trick, like if there's a trick, you know?
14:58So that day of WrestleMania when we have all this pressure, for like two hours I'm standing in front of the shower trying to do your water spit.
15:07I don't know if I water spit.
15:09You're about to find out.
15:11I don't think so, I would ask.
15:24You didn't let me in on how to do it until like the very, very end.
15:27I told you how to do it, you just weren't paying, can't you?
15:30It's not as easy as you think, right?
15:31It's not.
15:32It is not.
15:33The 14 time WWE Champion Triple H flanked by his wife Stephanie McMahon.
15:46This is one of the coolest entrances I have ever seen.
15:53One of the greatest to ever done a pair of boots and one of the most powerful women in the world side by side.
16:06One of my most memorable moments being a part of an entrance was at WrestleMania in Dallas.
16:14This was AT&T Stadium with over 101,000 people.
16:17It was the last time you were main eventing WrestleMania as champion.
16:22Yeah.
16:23Yeah.
16:24But the only way to position you really as a heel was me.
16:29Yeah.
16:30To use the ultimate heel.
16:31Nobody's ever liked me.
16:38You know, I had written the promo and it was all about the sheep that followed me.
16:42I tried to think of like the nastiest things I could say to make them boo you.
16:47You are merely the blind sheep who follow.
16:51You exist to serve us.
16:54We own you!
16:57That would have been one of my favorite entrances with the exception of I couldn't see any of the stuff you were doing.
17:02So I didn't get to watch it until later.
17:04I could hear you but I couldn't see any of it.
17:06Triple A!
17:14It's one of those ones to me that afterwards I remember coming back and being like, how was that?
17:18Like I couldn't get a feel for it because I was just like, I just walked out but it was after all the stuff had happened.
17:23Right, right.
17:24You know.
17:25But then the last time we were in Dallas, it was a very different entrance altogether.
17:31For all those headline grabbing moments that Triple H has created on the stage of WrestleMania, I would venture to say that the game feeling those same goosebumps since day one here tonight.
18:00You came out and you left your boots in the middle of the ring.
18:07Can you talk a little bit about that and what it means to leave your boots in the ring?
18:15It means you're done.
18:20I got sick.
18:22And then, you know, I had my heart issue and everything that's been documented with that and, as you know, defibrillator.
18:28So, at that point, it's not.
18:30I don't want to just gloss over that either because it's well documented and you did the interview on Stephen A. Smith.
18:38Yeah.
18:39I had a viral pneumonia.
18:40I had fluid in my lungs.
18:41I had some fluid around my heart.
18:43So, they followed up on it, did an EKG and echo and everything.
18:47And basically, the way your heart pumps out, 55 to 60% of your ejection fracture is a good number.
18:57I was at 30.
18:59So, by the time I got to the emergency room, my ejection fracture had gone down to 22, which, you know, I was in heart failure.
19:07Wow.
19:08Bad.
19:09It's not something that you really talk about often, you know, and we nearly lost you.
19:21Yeah.
19:22How do you come back from that?
19:29How do you, I talk to everybody about obstacles in their lives and things that they had to overcome and there's nothing bigger to overcome than that.
19:41And how did you do it?
19:44I don't know.
19:46There's a moment in that where you lose who you are.
19:54Like just going from being sort of larger than life.
19:58You're strong.
19:59You're healthy.
20:00You know, you run to a wall anytime you want to and all that .
20:03You're all those things.
20:04It's your identity.
20:05And then that sort of goes away.
20:07You're seen as frail.
20:09It just all, it just all changes.
20:17I remember when they had the conversation with me where they said, you know, we're going to put a defibrillator in and the reasons why.
20:23So that means you would never wrestle again.
20:26Like you can't.
20:27You have to, you have to not be do physicality.
20:30And it, that didn't even faze me.
20:33I was still alive, still at you, still with the kids.
20:36That's, that's what mattered.
20:38The rest of it was just stuff.
20:40In this really weird up way, like my heart issue was gift.
20:46Made me see things differently.
20:49I've never heard you say that.
20:50Made me look at life differently.
20:52You can go through life, no matter how great it is or all the things you're doing or something, and just, you're just doing it.
20:58And then it's, all of a sudden you're part way through it, have a reset and go like, holy shit, like this doesn't last forever.
21:05It's that stoic shit.
21:06It's that stoic shit.
21:08Of the coin that I have.
21:10I was just about to ask you about it.
21:13You gave it to me.
21:17You gave it to me.
21:18Memento mori.
21:20You can die at any second.
21:30This can all stop at any second.
21:32Basically saying like, don't get caught up in all this bullshit.
21:36Life is fleeting.
21:37Life is fleeting.
21:38So like, it can all go away at any moment.
21:43The moment in Dallas, you know, Vince asked me to go open the show.
21:49The idea of going and putting my boots in the ring was not what he had in mind.
21:54Like, why do you want to, like, I don't open the show with a downer.
21:58And I said, I don't see it as a downer.
22:00Like, I sort of see it as kind of a triumphant moment.
22:04I'm back.
22:05I'm not going to wrestle anymore.
22:07I'm back.
22:08I just wanted to come out here to say thank you.
22:21And to show you my love in the best way I know how.
22:31Welcome to WrestleMania.
22:41It was celebratory, but it was bittersweet.
22:46It made such an impact on all of us, your whole family,
22:50but not just us, everybody.
22:54What goes through my mind, it's just this image I can't get out of my mind,
22:58is something that one of our daughters created,
23:02and it's a picture of your boots.
23:04It's from that night.
23:06You are their hero, and you are mine.
23:11That's all I need.
23:14Seriously, that's all I need.
23:17It worked out in a wonderful way of me being able to sort of just close the door on a chapter of who I was and start the process of who I could become.
23:31In the months that followed WrestleMania 38, Paul Triple H Levesque evolved again, becoming the chief content officer of WWE.
23:41Welcome to a new era.
23:45This new role allowed Paul to tap even further into his passion for characters and storytelling.
23:53And come up with a cool moment with a duty, whether it's a stop, whatever that is.
23:57We talked a lot about the process at WrestleMania.
24:01Why don't you come be a part of the process and let's go make some memories that last a lifetime.
24:07So off to Vegas we went to get a behind the scenes look at how to make an entrance worthy of the spectacle of WrestleMania.
24:16This is the walk that WWE First Start does to make their entrance for WrestleMania.
24:22Around the corner, hear the music.
24:26You're walking up the ramp, I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
24:30Good for you.
24:31Good for you.
24:32He comes in to focus, he gets here and now it's just our business.
24:35He's pretty brilliant.
24:37You know, and I love how his mind works to understand like why he's doing what he's doing.
24:45You start to go and he can come forward.
24:48Just a feel, it's an innate feel like, that needs something more, that needs something less.
24:55That's not working, this is working.
24:57What if you did this?
24:59When he puts the wings out, he's gonna go like five, six seconds.
25:03He's where the guitars are slaying.
25:05Okay, awesome.
25:07Talk about like the dream scenarios, like cool entrance at WrestleMania has always been like a thing that I've wanted to do.
25:19I wanted like an elaborate one.
25:20Yeah, this is badass.
25:22Yes.
25:23It's really badass.
25:24Under the gun, by the way.
25:27Yeah.
25:2845 minutes to doors, we still got Bianca's to do and Cody's.
25:31And they're both elaborate.
25:37I didn't even realize the bikes were coming.
25:38I was like, ah.
25:39In addition to the dirt bikes, Cody's entrance included a very tricky custom helmet.
25:52See?
25:53And then press B.
25:55Super complicated.
25:56It is.
25:57Yeah.
25:58That is truly complicated.
25:59On the kaboom, he'll hit the flipper.
26:01Yes, sir.
26:02It's okay if it doesn't flip up.
26:03No, but I mean, if it doesn't work, it's okay.
26:05You still have to take it out.
26:06It's pro wrestling, so my assumption is it will not work.
26:08That's what I'm saying.
26:09And I would stand there long enough to go.
26:11Just sitting ahead of it.
26:12It's not going to happen, all right?
26:13Yeah, yeah.
26:14But if it does, it's okay.
26:15That's a wrestling school rule.
26:16The prop will always defeat you.
26:18Up next was Bianca Belair's special presentation, which included its own kind of theatrics.
26:24Using the 40-plus Double Dutch Club and Mini Shock.
26:27Woo!
26:28I'm like a big-time jump roper, so I...
26:33With kids using Bianca's signature braids that she had made herself.
26:38The little white shirt, that's Montez's daughter.
26:40Oh, really?
26:41So Bianca Steppler.
26:43After watching back the entrance rehearsals with Paul, it was showtime.
26:49Good luck.
26:54And I was ready to welcome fans to the grandest stage of them all.
26:59Welcome to night two of Wrestlemania!
27:10Over 60,000 WWE fans will be in attendance as we welcome you to the greatest event in entertainment.
27:19This is Wrestlemania.
27:22Double Dutch happening, nothing short of impressive, which is everything that revolves around Bianca Belair.
27:34Bianca Belair has always shined on the big stage.
27:39This is emotional for Bianca as well.
27:41That is her stepdaughter enjoying this entrance.
27:45Bianca's entrance was everything she wanted it to be.
27:49And it set the bar for the rest of the night.
27:52And though she didn't win her match...
27:54Cover on Belair!
27:56Theo Sky wins!
27:58...she had a pretty cool Wrestlemania moment in private.
28:02You just double dutched.
28:03I just double dutched.
28:04Yeah, for the first time.
28:05Yeah, yeah.
28:06Yeah?
28:07And I'm blown.
28:08That's all it took, right?
28:09You wrestled this incredible triple threat.
28:10And then you come back here and what blows you up is the double dutch.
28:11The double dutch.
28:12It was such an amazing experience witnessing hard work pay off.
28:27My face is melting coal.
28:31With some of the most creative entrances I had ever seen.
28:34I'm still humble.
28:36Words can't express how proud I am of Paul and his unrivaled passion for this business.
28:43This is surreal!
28:46It's so cool to watch him and his team at WWE craft more intricate entrances every year.
28:53Helping today's superstars amaze audiences around the world.
28:58And create memories that last a lifetime.
29:12Crazy-eyed.
29:14Yeah, don't be thinking it's just a look in your eye.
29:20Why?
29:25Tastes slightly taller than me, too.
29:27I'm right.
29:28I was right.
29:34It's fine.
29:35Come on, honey.
29:37It's so creepy.
29:39You gotta breathe.
29:41It's not least, isn't it?
29:42Oh