For the past 16+ years, Triple H has maintained his position at the top of the card no matter what it took. Which in a business such as professional wrestling isn't always going to be very pretty as we'll see here today. Whether it was Hunter wielding his power backstage or taking advantage of being with the boss' daughter knowing he can say whatever he wants to in front of a camera just to put someone else down. Like one of his theme song says, "It's all about the game and how you play it." And Triple H has long proven to be one of the best at playing this type of game.

It's no secret that ever since his days of being with The Kliq, Hunter has been slightly over protective of his spot on the card but sometimes he takes things a little too far. More often than not he's used whatever sway he has backstage to keep people down that didn't really need his help, if Triple H just kept doing his thing he would be safe from the likes of Billy Gunn and Chris Masters which makes it that much more juvenile that Hunter would go out of his way to insult or influence booking decisions to make sure they stayed in their place.

None of this is to say that Triple H isn't a great wrestler because I think he is, but he's also one of the most immature and selfish people the WWE has ever seen. Despite what his current character may be, Hunter has shown time and time again that he's an insecure, jealous, vengeful type that will do everything in his power to make sure that the spotlight is on him 100 percent of the time, while ideally no one else even gets a sliver of it. Triple H knows it's lonely at the top of the mountain, especially when you're the king of kings sitting on your throne made of the skeletons of other wrestler's careers.

15 15. Making Fun Of Chris Masters Weight Loss 

via wrestlezone.com
via wrestlezone.com

Chris Masters' career is one of the biggest what if's in recent WWE history, he had the gimmick, the in ring ability, and the look to make it to the top of the company but unfortunately maintaining that look might be what cost him in the long run. Master entered himself into rehab for his painkiller addiction, allegedly popping up to 75 pills a day, returning to the company months later with a notably slimmer appearance. While the commentary team and every one else played it up as Master being a leaner and meaner version of his former self, leave it to Triple H to bury him in a throw away line backstage when Chris noted that he was going to write a nutrition book to which Hunter responded with "What are you going to call it? How to lose 50 pounds in 60 days?"

14 14. Snubbing His Nose At Road Dogg 

via pinterest.com
via pinterest.com

You would think that if anyone had nice things to say about Triple H recently, it would be one of his stablemates in DX, not to mention someone that shared the road with Hunter and Chyna. Apparently that's not the case however as The Road Dogg, Jesse James has gone on record to say that Hunter was incredibly rude to him during those road trips. James says it was his recreational drug use that made Triple H think that he was above someone of that stature.

13 13. Trying To Destroy "WCW" Chris Jericho 

via pwpnation.com
via pwpnation.com

In what turned out to be one of the biggest debuts in WWE history, Chris Jericho made his presence felt when the infamous countdown clock finally struck zero with The Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah finally making his way out to trash talk with The Rock. While nearly every fan at the time was ecstatic that Jericho had made his way to McMahon land, there was at least one guy backstage that wasn't as thrilled. Even though Hunter had spent some time in WCW himself, he allegedly looked down on any talent that came over after him seeing them as the enemy that was trying to take down the WWE. Triple H made his opinion known backstage telling anyone that would listen that no matter what, Jericho didn't deserve to go over anyone, let alone even be in his company.

12 12. Burying Bobby Lashley Backstage 

via liverpoolecho.co.uk
via liverpoolecho.co.uk

Bobby Lashley is right up there with Chris Masters when you think of the potential that they both had within the company, but Triple H apparently never saw it. According to former WWE writer Alex Greenfield, whenever Hunter and Shawn Michaels got together backstage whoever was out in the ring was bound to get devoured by the two. The pair were watching Lashley work from back behind the curtain and allegedly had nothing nice to say about the guy despite his other worldly athleticism and unreal look, perhaps concerned that this young kid that was just starting out had all the makings to take one of their coveted spots near the top.

11 11. Keeping Ken Shamrock Out Of WWE 

via stillrealtous.com
via stillrealtous.com

The most dangerous man on the planet would be more than happy to make a triumphant return to the company whose midcard he dominated back in the late nineties, but he thinks there's one man in particular backstage that is against that idea. Shamrock thinks that there's bad blood left over from when he first debuted with the company and was given the honor of going over Hunter Hearst Helmsley on multiple occasions. This fact apparently hasn't sat well with Triple H, surprisingly enough, and despite Ken Shamrock's numerous attempts to reach out to the higher ups within the WWE, has yet to hear back from anyone.

10 10. Not Letting Billy Gunn Work With Austin 

via wwe.fr
via wwe.fr

If what Road Dogg had to say about Triple H seemed a little rough, Billy Gunn went on a full out assault against The Game. Among the multiple insults The One hurled in Triple H's general direction, the one that really stuck the most was that, according to him, it was Hunter who kept him from reaching the heights he had always dreamed of in the WWE. There's no doubt that as one half of The New Age Outlaws, Gunn was incredibly over with the audience back in The Attitude Era but things never panned out for him when the two split. Working with someone on the level of Austin might have changed his whole career trajectory, but apparently Hunter was scared that Gunn might rise a little too high so had nip the idea in the bud.

9 9. Taking Over Wrestler's Court Against Ivory 

via teamtripleh.tumblr.com
via teamtripleh.tumblr.com

For those that haven't heard of the infamous "Wrestler's Court," it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like, an unofficial courtroom with wrestlers as plantiffs, defendants, juries, and even a judge. In nearly every instance of a superstar talking about being taken to court, the judge has been the one constant, with The Undertaker taking the role on nearly every occasion. That's certainly what Ivory was expecting when she was the defendant's attorney, helping out the fellow women on the roster defending themselves after they lost to the Diva Search contestants in a game of dodgeball. As ridiculous as this story is already, it got even worse when Triple H took it upon himself to take over as judge that day, mainly so he could insult the women roster and keep them in their place.

8 8. Joking About Rob Van Dam's Drug Problem 

via wwesuperstarwallpaper.com
via wwesuperstarwallpaper.com

Even with his "extreme" background, the WWE had no choice but to push Rob Van Dam because of his uniqueness in the ring and the incredibly strong connection he had with the audience. Both of those things are liable to make Triple H extremely jealous. Not only did Hunter mention something on air about RVD's well known recreational marijuana use, insinuating he had the munchies to the crowd, but he also made a "wise" crack during a creative meeting in an attempt to lower everyone's perceptions of Mr. Monday Night and Van Dam did not take too kindly to that. Whether it was meant as a joke or not, comments like that are not acceptable in a professional environment to which Rob responded "Are we friends? We're not that close for you to make jokes like that."

7 7. Insulting Lillian Garcia 

via wrestling-news.net
via wrestling-news.net

Lillian Garcia is one of the most respected and revered employees on the WWE roster, but that doesn't stop someone like Triple H from making an insult you'd here on a middle school playground in front of millions of people. Hunter took a backstage insult going around about Garcia having a "horse face" and made a quip about Lillian "horsing around" during her last appearance. Mick Foley summed it up best when he said:

"Why does someone like Triple H, one of the most talented, well paid guys in the business, do something so shallow and mean? Why would a multi-millionaire, with millions of fans around the world, feel the need (several times over the years) to say something that is only meant to hurt?"

6 6. Trying To Go Around Warrior's Back 

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

Back at WrestleMania XII, a young Hunter Hearst Helmsley was given the honor of welcoming The Ultimate Warrior back into the company after three years. Of course when you have someone the status of Warrior returning, and plan to put him back into the main event eventually, you have to have him looking strong against a relative unknown at The Grandest Stage of Them All. Triple H originally agreed to the plan of having Warrior eat a Pedigree only to kick out then hit a gorilla press slam to score a quick victory over the blue blood, but as soon as Warrior was gone, Hunter went to Gerald Brisco to try and change how the match went down. It's bad enough to try and change a match that you've already agreed to earlier that day, but to do so by going behind your opponents back to one of the agents backstage, then have that agent talk to Warrior about it instead of doing so yourself is pathetic.

5 5. Controlling THQ Promotional Material 

via ign.com
via ign.com

In order to promote an upcoming WWE video game, the company gave THQ license to use whatever images or videos they would like to try and get the game flying off the shelves... well almost whatever they want. The one thing that THQ wasn't allowed to show in commercials or any promotional material was the Triple H character shown in a weak or vulnerable position. It'd be one thing if they were asked not to show the actual Triple H getting mauled, but to ask for them to not show the video game character like that is just ridiculous. It's unclear whether it was Hunter's idea, but it certainly seems like it could have been.

4 4. Having One Question For A Writer 

via businessinsider.com
via businessinsider.com

By the time this story took place, Hunter was already in a bit of power position as he was given the chance to go over the RAW script each week to make sure it met his standards. Apparently he wasn't too concerned but with one specific aspect of it as he would glance the script over quickly barely bothering to read it before asking the poor writer who handed it to him, "Am I f***ing going over?" When the answer was yes, he would approve the script and move on, when it was a little more complicated like him losing by disqualification that page would get ripped out and the rest of it spiked down to the floor.

3 3. Not Jobbing In Flair's Retirement Tour 

via denofgeek.us
via denofgeek.us

During the final moments of Ric Flair's career, he found himself going one on one against his friend Triple H at a house show in a town where Flair had some of his greatest moments, Greensboro, North Carolina. With it being a non televised house show, you would think that Flair would easily pick up a strong win to be able to go out with a bang in one of the cities that made him the legend he became, but if you've made it this far, you know that isn't the case. Instead of putting Flair over clean, Hunter was too worried about looking weak for his upcoming RAW contest against William Regal, so the decision was made to have Regal come out to the ring and lay Flair out with the brass knucks. The RAW match in question ended up being a three minute squash by the way.

2 2. Keeping Angle Away From Title 

via bleacherreport.com
via bleacherreport.com

Kurt Angle's career got off to a better start than just about anybody else's throughout the company's history. Having already won the Intercontinental and European Titles, Angle had his sights set on the highest prize in the industry, one that Triple H didn't feel Angle could realistically hold. Even though Angle was an Olympic gold medalist (with a broken freakin' neck!) and had spent the past year proving to the guys backstage as well as the audience that he was more than capable of holding his own against anybody, Hunter was strongly against the idea of giving him the WWE Title because he was too small. Eventually Gerry Brisco had enough asking Triple H, “Well, what do you think would happen if you guys fought for real?”

1 1. Holding Down CM Punk 

via geeksandcleats.com
via geeksandcleats.com

The history of Triple H being a jerk to CM Punk stretches back even further than a lot of people realize, all the way back to Punk's tryout match with the WWE. During that match Triple H was watching along with Shawn Michaels and Arn Anderson with the trio ripping the young guy giving his heart out in the ring to impress WWE officials. Luckily the raw talent of CM Punk led to him getting a job with the company, but Hunter was always waiting in the wings for his next chance to strike down the Straight Edge Savior. That time came during the Summer of Punk angle, when The Second City Saint finally dethroned John Cena for the title and was surely on his way to being the number one face in the company, only for Hunter to come out of retirement just to defeat CM Punk, then slink back into retirement having done the job.