WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque has had an eventful week. Alongside his usual executive responsibilities, he was spotted behind his mother-in-law, Linda McMahon, during the U.S. Secretary of Education nominee’s confirmation hearing on Thursday. The following day, “The Game” made a surprise appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, where he announced that Michelle McCool will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania weekend this coming April.
“I wanted to come here today to take a moment to say, Michelle, the WrestleMania season is upon us. Which means the Hall of Fame,” Levesque said. “And I would like to tell you right now that you will be inducted into the 2025 Hall of Fame.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque just showed up unannounced on ESPN’s Get Up to reveal that Michelle McCool is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. pic.twitter.com/EZhjQ8dnBF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 14, 2025
Levesque’s unexpected guest appearance coincided with a segment featuring McCool and her husband, Mark Calaway — better known as The Undertaker — being interviewed by Matt Barrie to promote the upcoming WWE LFG series, set to debut on A&E this Sunday. As the segment was wrapping up, Bart Scott dropped a “Mean Mark” reference, showcasing his wrestling fandom, when Triple H’s theme played, revealing him on the studio’s monitor from an undisclosed location.
Levesque also mentioned his own pending induction into the Hall of Fame, an announcement previously made when The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels crashed a WWE meeting to announce that Levesque had been selected for induction. Regardless of the circumstances, this set the stage for Friday’s announcement regarding McCool.
“The beautiful part of me right now, being the boss, is I get the last laugh,” Levesque remarked, and indeed he did. While one could debate the spontaneity of the moment, McCool genuinely appeared surprised by the news. WWE may not have an official partnership with ESPN, but this is not the first instance of the wrestling giant utilizing its relationship with the network for mainstream visibility. With WrestleMania 41 on the horizon, it’s plausible that this trend will continue in the upcoming weeks and months.
