DXpresso: Triple H and Chyna (!!) speak



Let's get ready to suck it! I recently got together with Triple H and Chyna from the WWF, and after playing some heated matches in Acclaim's awesome new game, WWF War Zone, I asked them some questions about video games, life in the World Wrestling Federation, and the differences between the WWF and WCW. Here's what the controversial wrestlers had to say.


Johnny Ballgame: How were you involved in the making of WWF War Zone?

HHH: We were involved in terms of what moves we wanted to do and they did scans of our faces, but we actually didn't motion capture the moves ourselves for this game. They had someone else do them for us then scanned our bodies onto them. We also did a lot of voice-overs for the taunts and prompts or whatever the hell they call it.

JB: If you were designing a game about the WWF, what would you include?

Chyna: Me!

HHH: I would have made my arms bigger. I would have included Chyna in the game. Other than that, War Zone seems pretty cool to me. The moves are realistic and you can do a lot of stuff. I think it's a pretty cool game.

JB: Do a lot of the WWF Superstars play video games?



HHH: Oh yeah! Some of the guys actually bring the whole PlayStation units on the road with them and connect them to their hotel TV's or play them at the arena. A lot of the guys have hand held game units like Game Boys and Game Gears that they bring on the road with them. I mostly play on my computer.

Chyna: Games drive me insane!

JB: What makes the wrestling action in the WWF better than in WCW?

HHH: I would imagine that the WCW video games would be a lot slower than ours since most of their wrestlers are. They're all so old. The only guys who have any action or are exciting to watch anymore are guys that are middle-carders.

Chyna: There's no plot anymore, there's no angles.

HHH: Guys just go to the ring and have a match, than somebody comes out that you don't get to see wrestle on TV and does an interview.

Chyna: If I see the same match again, I'm going to be sick.




HHH: If I see Dean Malenko fight Eddie Guererro or Chris Jericho fight Juventud Guerrera one more time I think I'll puke. Hogan goes out and does the same interview every week, does the same stuff in the ring. He's horrible. They have a lot of guys with just no talent, and when they do have someone with talent, all they do is copy our gimmicks. They tried to make Sting into the Undertaker 'cause Sting wasn't working anymore and you know, they just copy a lot of our stuff. It's a rip-off.

JB: Will there ever be an event where WWF fights WCW?

HHH: I don't think there ever will be because I doubt the companies can ever come to terms on anything. I don't think they can ever come to an agreement on any type of business decision because there's just too much ego involved. Chyna and I had an idea where we'd like to see a Circus of the Stars type deal, where we give all the money to charity and have all of us compete in wacky events like kayak races or some things like that. So one company wins, who cares?! Do it on pay per view and give all the money to charity. It would be all for fun. Everybody forgets--the guys in this business all get along, it's the companies that don't.

JB: How did you get started in wrestling?

HHH: I was a big wrestling fan growing up, and it sort of found me. I don't know if there is anything else I could have done in the world. It's my calling, and it found me.

Chyna: I was always involved in entertainment and athletics so I just fit well into this mix. Not only do I have the look but the background in athletics, so as soon as I started I excelled right away. I went to wrestling school and started passing guys who were taking it for years. But I also paid my dues as well. I wrestled in women's independents for years and I boxed. I'm an athlete, it's not just a look. You have to have ability and skill and have to be able to pick up things real fast. Me being here is a miracle. One because I'm female, two because of my unique look, and three because I'm traveling on the road with a bunch of guys, and four because I didn't know anyone in the business. It took a lot of perseverance.

JB: If you weren't a wrestler, what would you be?

HHH: Knowing both our personalities, we'd both be some sort of entertainer because Chyna's been putting on little shows for everybody since she was a little kid, and the biggest juice for me is being out there in front of 20,000 fans and being able to make them go crazy. That's what does it for me. I'd have to have that in some way, shape, or form. Being in wrestling, you don't think about it all the time, but having your own shirts, and video games--all these things your average person or even your average movie or sports star will never see--is a thrill. WWF wrestlers are some of the most recognizable people in the world because our face is on everything and we're very recognizable for what we do.

JB: What's the best match you've ever been involved in?



HHH: I just had a hell of a match here in the game [WWF War Zone] with the Undertaker, but Chyna beat me. I've had some pretty good matches with Cactus Jack and I also had some good matches with Goldust. In the future I think my best matches will be with Steve Austin. I think there are a lot of talented guys here in the WWF and there are a lot of guys that I think I can have great matches with and really entertain people.

JB: Who's the toughest wrestler?

HHH: Steve Austin. He's strong, he's quick, the fans are behind him and he's got a lot of momentum being the champ. Steve Austin is probably the toughest guy in the federation to beat right now.

JB: Who's the most athletic?

HHH: It depends on what you would consider to be athletic. There are a lot of great athletes in the WWF. Take a 7 foot guy like the Undertaker--he walks the top rope and dives over the top rope onto the floor. Or take a 400 pound guy like Vader and have him do moonsaults, or take a 200 pound woman and have her slam guys twice her size. There's so many different versions of athlete, to pick one would be cutting a lot of people out of the picture.

JB: Who would you pay to watch?



HHH: Assuming you're excluding me, I would pick Shawn Michaels. His matches are incredible. Shawn Michaels matches are epics. They just boggle your mind. Hell in the Cell. Incredible matches. Incredible situations, and just an incredible amount of athleticism and punishment. The most exciting athlete right now is Steve Austin, but the best all-round is Shawn Michaels when he's healthy.

JB: Who's the most underrated?

HHH: D-Lo Brown. Every month he gets better and when it does finally come time for D-Lo to step away from the shadow of the Nation, he's going to be an incredible wrestler.

JB: What do you think of Mike Tyson's involvement in Wrestlemania?

HHH: I'll tell you when I get my check for Wrestlemania. I think it's great. Wrestlemania was probably the highest bought pay-per-view we've ever had in the WWF. and I think anytime somebody with the persona and fame that Mike Tyson has wants to get involved with us for positive reasons--not to better himself and advance his career while screwing the WWF, not for any other reason but because he's a huge fan of the WWF and just wants to be involved with us--it's good for us and it's good for our business. Mike Tyson was certainly good for our business. He screwed DX over, and if he comes back I'm gonna have to beat his ass, but other than that, I think it's great.

JB: Where did you learn your finishing move?



HHH: I made it up. I was trying to think of something that no one else in this business did because I looked around and saw everybody doing moves that I've seen other people do a million times and nothing seemed new to me anymore. So I came up with something that I could make new that nobody else could do. And the great thing about the Pedigree, too, is that other people in the business can't figure out how I do it without killing people, so they don't try it.

JB: Where do you see the WWF headed in the second half of 1998?

HHH: I see us taking our rightful place back in being the #1 wrestling show on television. I think the fad that was WCW has run its course. I think they've dug their own ditch and we gave them enough rope to where they've hung themselves. The WWF will continue to take fans to places they've never been before, to new exciting places, and will keep transcending the business. The things Steve Austin does would never have been thought about, the things the DX does would never have been thought of before. We've transcended everything that was professional wrestling and we've brought it to a new level. Everyday we raise the bar and we will continue to do just that.

DXpresso