A couple of weeks ago, one of the internet sites (I think the Torch) wrote about the power of the Cliq (sp?) back in the Mid-90's WWF. The article discussed how Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman ran the locker room and had Vince's ear in those days. The article also stated that most of the locker room had little respect for the guys, because of their drinking, pill-popping, and politicing. A side note was about how HHH, although not a partier, quickly befriended these guys and eventually became part of the most powerful group in the WWF.

That article got me to thinking: is there a smoother out-of-the-ring operator than this guy in the history of the business? Some people might argue that Hulk Hogan is the most powerful wrestler behind the curtain, but I would argue against the choice. He's been hanging on by a thread for several years, and if it weren't for Eric Bischoff, he'd probably be out of wrestling right now. Besides, when Hogan does something, his hands are all over it.

I would suggest that Paul Levesque is the best manipulator wrestling has ever seen. In backing up this claim, I'll go over his career in WWF, and will be making some assumptions that may not be true, aka I don't know jack about HHH's personal life, but I'm going to make some conclusions anyway.

After a disappointing run in WCW, Hunter Hearst Hemsley enters the WWF via several promos as a Grenwich Blueblood. A complete snob, Hunter was always accompanied to the ring by beautiful women who he treated horribly. Behind the scenes, he makes friends with the Cliq, and starts to rise up the totem pole. His friendship with them leads to him receiving a rub from Hall, as Hunter's beating Razor Ramon in Hall's last house shows before leaving for WCW. He now has a semi-regular valet named Sable, who appears to have a strong distaste for Hunter's treatment of ladies.

At the same time, he's booked as the Ultimate Warrior's opponent for Wrestlemania XII (1996). The original plan was for the two to have a competitive match, but Warrior's last second hissy fit leads to the match becoming a squash (in what I believe was Hunter's first loss). However, after the match, HHH gets into a backstage brawl with the debuting "Wild Thing" Mark Mero, ready to be pushed to the moon by Vince and Jim Ross, over Hunter's treatment of Sable. The seed now planted for the Mero fued over Sable, Hemsley is all set to win the 1996 King of the Ring, with future matches against I-C champ Mero and potentially HBK, the world champ.

HHH then makes a rare mistake by participating in the infamous Madison Square Garden Incident (HBK, Hall, Nash, and HHH break character to hug in the ring right before Hall and Nash left for WCW). As HBK, the brand new world champ, couldn't be punished, Hunter takes the brunt of the WWF's wrath. He's instantly depushed, no longer booked to win the King of the Ring, and goes on jobber duty for a few months. His friendship with Shawn has cost him here big time. However, and this is important here, he has earned HBK's trust and respect. With Waltman gone from the federation, Hunter now becomes Shawn's best friend in the WWF.

So, is it coincidence that HHH bounces back later in the year to win the I-C belt? I think not. I'm sure Shawn used his influence to bring HHH back up the card.

HHH goes on to defend the belt for several months, only to lose it to a young Rocky Maivia. Eventually, after Wrestlemania XIII, he gains it back, and starts to fued with GoldDust over the belt and Marlena.

At this time, Shawn and Hunter meet a 5'10", 200 pound women who benches 300 pounds and is solid muscle. The two come up with the idea of having her be HHH's bodyguard and bring it to Vince. Vince goes with it, and the Chyna Phenomenon is born. She's instantly over as a female monster, yet the rugged women becomes a dominatrix type sex symbol, as the "I'd Rather Be In Chyna!" signs start to show up across the country.

HHH realizes he's got a moneymaker here, and what do you know, he starts dating her (although not acknowledged by the WWF. After all, why would a guy dating playmates be attracted to a hulking he-woman?). Chyna's presence at ringside raises HHH's again up the card, as he gets elevated to matches with new face Mick Foley (a man who had pinned the Undertaker and fought Shawn Michaels for the belt the year before) during the summer of 1997. And as Chyna gets more over, she gets more plastic surgery paid for by the WWF, softening her facial structure and increasing her breast size. She becomes even more of a sex symbol, more of a draw, and better looking in bed for HHH. Not bad.

Then HHH's friendship with Michaels leads to a goldmine, the creation of DX in 1997. The background of this is truly amazing. This time period also happens to be my favorite when it comes to wrestling, so indulge me as I fondly set the table for you.

At this time in the WWF, Bret Hart was pioneering a new version of a heel, the "Anti-U.S. fans" wrestler. Bret had lost the belt to HBK at Wrestlemania XII. Bret took several months off from wrestling, then entertained an offer from WCW before signing a "lifetime" twenty-year contract with the WWF. Bret came back and became intwined in a fued with Stone Cold Steve Austin. However, Stone Cold was quickly becoming a crowd favorite, as his "F-You attitude" caught on with the fans. Bret was highly upset that Stone Cold, the heel, was getting more cheers than him, the face. And then as Bret was set to win the world title back from Shawn at Wrestlemania XIII, Shawn breaks out the "I've Lost My Smile" speech and forfeits the title. Instead of getting his revenge on Shawn, a person he despised in real life, Bret ends up facing Stone Cold on the undercard. They have a great match, with Bret winning after a busted open Austin passes out from the pain from the SharpShooter. The ending of this match changed Austin to a face and Bret to a heel.

The hatred between Bret and Shawn grows, to the point where they have a shoot brawl in the back. Shawn bails again, potentially trying to find a way to leave the WWF to join his buddies in WCW. Meanwhile, Bret injures a knee, and has to undergo surgery. Bret's injury leads to a series of the greatest interviews in wrestling history.

Basically, Bret would come out and shoot on his hatred for the U.S. and their wrestling fans, and he quickly became the most hated person in the States while cementing his national hero status in Canada. All of this from a wheelchair, as Bret was on the shelf. The Hart Foundation becomes a gigantic heel faction, as Owen wins the I-C belt for his fallen brother, Davey Boy maintaining his European championship. Owen begins a fued with Austin over the I-C belt, while Bret readies himself for a SummerSlam title shot against the Undertaker. Special ref HBK ends up clocking the Taker with a chair on accident, and Bret regains the gold.

Instead of setting up for an HBK/Bret blowoff fued, the WWF pulls a shocking move. Shawn lashes out at the fans for questioning his intentions at SummerSlam. He eventually starts turning heel, and then he informs the world of his back-stage friendship with HHH. This is a gigantic rub for HHH. Remember, this is 1997, and kafaybe was infinitely more important then. A face admitting he was friends behind the scenes with a heel was unheard of. Shawn and HHH start cranking out hilarious, sexual innuendo laced, obnoxious interviews. HHH goes from being a stuffy Blueblood to a wisecracking teenager. Hunter, now known as HHH, and Chyna suddenly become main eventers and key players in the WWF's number one faction.

DX quickly overtakes the red-hot Canada vs. U.S. fued, as Shawn ( billing himself as "The Main Event" and "The Showstopper") has two incredible PPV main-event matches with the Undertaker. DX becomes so hot, in fact, that Vince has Shawn go over Davey Boy Smith for the European title in the U.K., in a match that Davey Boy dedicated to his dying sister!

Vince, trying to get out from under his contract with Bret, breaks Hart's back with this gem: he wants Bret to lose the title to Shawn, at Survivor Series, in Canada. Bret quits, signing a multi-million dollar deal with WCW. In the meantime, Bret and Vince agree that Shawn will not beat Bret at the PPV. A giant schmozz would occur, and Bret would forfeit the title the next night on Raw.

Of course, only the greatest shoot of all time, the Montreal Doublecross occurs. If you don't know much about it, rent "Wrestling with Shadows". One part that I do want to discuss, though, is Bret's then wife's questioning of HHH after the match. She asks HHH if he knew anything about it, to which he quickly replies no. She then leaves him with this gem: "Hunter, what goes around comes around."

Once Bret Hart leaves, HHH becomes the number two heel in the company. He gets a joke victory over HBK to become the European champion, and the two go on with even more sophomoric interviews. Eventually, Stone Cold, now the number one face, goes to challenge HBK at Wrestlemania XIV. The last PPV before Wrestlemania was to have a four person tag match main event between DX (with others) and a Stone Cold led group. However, HBK had suffered a major back injury from a backdrop onto the coffin in a Coffin Match versus the UT at the Royal Rumble, so he was unable to go at the PPV. HHH takes the lead for the team, in the main event. Chyna takes a stunner from Stone Cold after the match, to an absolute massive pop.

The WWF hires Mike Tyson for Wrestlemania. Tyson's confrontation with Stone Cold, as well as his joining of DX, garners national media attention. HHH earns another giant rub, as he becomes a large part of the Wrestlemania XIV hype, and is ready to break out.

The night after, he does.

Shawn had blown out his back. With HBK hurt and out with a career-ending back injury, HHH is suddenly the leader of DX. He cuts a scathing promo on HBK ("You dropped the ball"), and reintroduces Sean Waltman as X-Pac to the WWF, again mentioning their backstage friendship. The two recruit the extremely over New Age Outlaws into DX. Although meant to be crowd-hated heels, the four become the standard for cool heels, eventually turning face because the crowd loved them so much. A war with the Nation of Domination starts, with DX cutting a hilarious promo as a false Nation. HHH has a solid run as around the number three or four face in the company, with injuries holding him back. Meanwhile, the Rock takes off as a bona-fide star, fighting with Mankind over the world title.

For Wrestlemania XV, HHH was to fight a heel Kane, representing the Corporation. Chyna had betrayed HHH and joined Vince's group, but low-blowed Kane at Mania allowing HHH to gain the victory. And then in a classic heel turn, HHH stuns the crowd by hitting the Pedigree on X-Pac, allowing Shane McMahon to beat HHH's fellow DX member. HHH joins the Corporation as a full-fledged heel.

HHH earns the SummerSlam main event match against Stone Cold, who is starting to wear down from his injuries. Held in Minnesota, HHH gains even more mainstream press as Governor Jesse Ventura agrees to ref the main event. Only one problem for HHH; Austin refuses to job to him. Mankind is brought into the match and beats Austin for the gold. HHH wins the World title the next night from Mankind. The internet, pissed about the one night title reign for the beloved Foley, questions HHH's championship qualifications.

HHH, though, had figured out something. The fans were dying for a guy who they could just plain hate. Vince had played the role well, but he wasn't and isn't capable of wrestling great matches. HHH made up his mind to be that man, to be absolutely hated, and he played the role to perfection.

HHH has a relatively tame first two title reigns. He lost the belt to Vince, regained it back in a six-way, and then in another perceived "Forced Championship", loses it to the Big Show in a 3-way with Rock at Survivor Series. During his title reign, HHH acknowledges on air his real-life relationship with Chyna, who had become the I-C champ and was getting face pops. The two were eventually split up on-air, never appearing in each other's matches. They remained a couple in real life, as Chyna was even quoted in Canada's TV Guide as having minimal plans for New Year's with Hunter (a nice, quiet evening at home).

HHH then enters the program that makes him The Game: marrying Stephanie McMahon, and Steph's subsequent turn on Vince.

HHH and Steph's on-air chemistry was horrible at first. It was clear to anyone that Steph didn't feel comfortable with HHH. However, they stuck with it, even staying in character at the opening of WWF New York. Around this time, word started to leak that HHH and Chyna were having problems in their real-life relationship. Eventually, the two would break-up.

In his now confirmed role as the number one heel in the company, HHH defeated the Big Show for the belt, and held onto it in two grueling matches with Mick Foley. And suddenly, his chemistry with Steph seemed to improve. The two would give a soft, believable kiss before the start of a big title defense. They began to hang all over each other in interviews. Affectionate touches, not noticeable unless you looked for them, began to appear. Anyone else besides me beginning to believe the two have hooked up in real life?

Strangely, about the same time, word also began to spread that HHH had Vince's ear. Jericho was supposedly reprimanded by Vince because of not working a main-event style, a seed planted in his ear by HHH. X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn rejoined HHH, and the now frigid, boring Outlaws got another title run while X-Pac avoided doing the job to Kane. And damn, but didn't HHH break the fifteen year long tradition by becoming the first heel to win a Wrestlemania main event and keep the title? Sure, he lost it at Backlash, but then gained it right back at Judgement Day. That's unheard of in WWF history.

Old Paul Levesque has set himself up nicely. He has become such a giant, dominating heel, that he's beginnng to get face pops. At the Sunday Night Heat taping in Chicago, when his music hit, the crowd absolutely roared their approval. HHH will at some point become a monster face, perhaps rivaling the Rock's status. The fued to turn him face is all set; Steph leaves him for Kurt Angle. But HHH is taking his time, knowing that he can milk this for all it's worth. Maybe his face turn will come late in the year, around the time the Wrestlemania buzz starts. Maybe he'll have put himself into the position to be the face in the Mania main event.

He's banging the future owner of his company, of which he is the star. He has the ear of the current key player. He's so over it's not even funny.

He is, without a doubt, the smoothest man in the Game.