WWE Legend Paul “Triple H” Levesque has crossed paths with the best of the best in the ring as a professional wrestler. He’s also worked with many of them as WWE’s current Chief Content Officer (CCO), so he likely has his list of all-time greatest wrestling stars.
Many fans might include “The Game” on their own list of the greatest wrestling stars in the history of professional wrestling, due to his memorable moments and championship accomplishments.
Ahead of the massive WWE Wrestlepalooza event, Triple H appeared as a guest on ESPN’s First Take to discuss the event and other news. Among those in-studio for the episode was commentator and host Stephen A. Smith.
Smith is known for offering his take on various sports topics, and during Triple H’s appearance, he shared his list of the five greatest wrestlers of all time.
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That list didn’t include Triple H, nor did it include Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, The Undertaker, or The Macho Man Randy Savage.
Instead, Stephen A. opted for The Road Warriors, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair as his picks for fifth to second on his list.
He dropped many people’s jaws when he revealed that Goldberg held the No. 1 spot on his list. Stephen A. reminded everyone that it was his personal list of the greatest wrestlers.
The list prompted the WWE CCO to react, calling out Stephen A. for potentially giving too much credit to Goldberg.
“Let me break this down for you. What he does for a profession is piss people off, right? What he did is he bait and switched ya,” Triple H said to Stephen A.’s co-stars Ryan Clark and Cam Newton.
“He set up a list that is arguably accurate. Road Warriors, The Rock, Hogan, Flair. He left out a few because it’s just a top five. But then what he does is he comes in and he Stephen A.’s it and he goes Goldberg at number one because he knows that is the name that is gonna piss off maximum amount of people,” Triple H said.
“I’m not gonna say he’s not great. I love Bill. I think he’s a great performer, had great moments in this business, but putting him at one,” he said, throwing his hands up in amazement.
Later on, Stephen A’s co-host Ryan Clark also called him out for putting Goldberg at the No. 1 spot, indicating he was great at “tackling people,” but “he didn’t ignite a whole arena” like other wrestling stars.
Triple H had several in-ring clashes with Goldberg during his career, including a Title vs. Career match at WWE Unforgiven 2003, where Goldberg won the World Heavyweight Championship.
Triple H eventually regained the championship by defeating Goldberg in a Triple Threat match with Kane at Armageddon that same year.
While Triple H announced his retirement from the wrestling ring for the CCO role three years ago, Goldberg only recently retired. He participated in several big matches over the past few years, including a losing effort against WWE’s Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event in July.
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