Browsing: credit

Former WCW Talent Takes Credit For Triple H’s Nickname

Triple H may be The Game, but was he the one who came up with the moniker for himself? That might be farther from the truth, bro.

After performing at the highest level in this business, Triple H hung up his boots at WWE WrestleMania 38. His health played a major factor in the decision to retire, in addition to his current role as the companyâ€s Chief Content Officer.

Back in 1999, Triple H was slowly climbing to the main event level. His feud with The Rock in late 1999 became one of the highlights of the Attitude Era. It was during that time, on an episode of Sunday Night Heat on July 25, 1999, that Hunter declared himself ‘The Game.â€

His career took a much higher trajectory in the following weeks as he defeated Mick Foley to capture his first of 14 world titles on the August 23, 1999, RAW broadcast. But the question remains: who actually came up with the ‘The Game†moniker?

Speaking on Maven Huffmanâ€s YouTube channel for a segment titled Which WWE Wrestlers Are Actually Jerks?, Vince Russo praised his working relationship with Triple H during the nineties before taking credit for writing the promo that coined ‘The Game†nickname.

“The Triple H I worked with was a sweetheart of a guy,†Russo said. I worked with the early years of Triple H. Keep in mind, this was when he had the valet on his arm. And as a matter of fact—not a lot of people know this—Iâ€m not saying this to pat myself on the back, but I actually gave him the name ‘The Game.â€

“I wrote it in a promo for him where he said, ‘I donâ€t play the game. I am the game.†And this was back in… God, â€96 maybe? Thereâ€s nothing I wouldnâ€t have done for the man. As a matter of fact, I was there when they did the Madison Square Garden curtain call. Okay, this man was in the doghouse and they were making his life miserable, and I took him aside and Iâ€m like, ‘Brother, youâ€ve got to get through this. This is what theyâ€re going to do. Theyâ€re going to make you eat s*it Youâ€ve got to get through this.â€â€

Vince Russoâ€s recollection of the timeline seems a bit sketchy. He claims he wrote it in the mid-nineties, but Triple Hâ€s sit-down interview segment with Jim Ross, in which he calls himself The Game, did not air until the summer of 1999. It appears fans can never really tell who actually came up with the ring name, but there is no arguing that it did wonders for Hunterâ€s career.

READ READ: Vince Russo Finally Met Someone Who Works Harder Than Vince McMahon

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Football

Can Football Manager take the credit for Ousmane Dembele’s Ballon d’Or win? FourFourTwo asks the team behind the game

Football Manager super fan Ousmane Dembele must be excited for the new game to drop.

During the 2018 World Cup, Dembele went viral for his quest to take the fictional Winchester FC into the Premier League in the game – and as life imitates art, the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner has reached the pinnacle of the sport himself.

Given the kind of football IQ that it takes to play under Luis Enrique though, FourFourTwo were keen to know the answer to our burning question: does Dembele owe a little of his incredible rise and his exceptional football IQ to Football Manager?

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Sports Interactive's Miles Jacobson (R)

Sports Interactive’s Miles Jacobson (R) (Image credit: Getty Images)

Miles Jacobson – the studio director at Sports Interactive, who makes FM – says no: he wasn’t expecting a mention in the forward’s acceptance speed.

“I’m not going to take any credit from Ousmane! He’s a phenomenally talented footballer who’s worked incredibly hard to get where he is,” Jacobson smiles.

“Whether it was his idea or the manager’s at Paris Saint-Germain to switch him from playing wide to playing in the middle, but the way he’s adapted to that, he’s thoroughly deserving of the Ballon d’Or and hopefully he’ll still have time to play Football Manager!

“We can take a little bit of credit for telling the whole world about him when he was a 16-year-old that no one knew anything about – but I can’t take anything away from him at all. I wouldn’t like to play against him in an online game of FM!”

Surely though, FourFourTwo pushes, his seamless transition into a false nine role must be because he’s used to the player roles in Football Manager? His tactical insight might be informed purely by his journey with Winchester…

“Anyone who works hard and thinks outside the box is going to take information from any and every source – if we are one of the sources, what an honour that would be,” Jacobson says. “I have no idea if he’s taken anything from the game or not, though.

Aitana Bonmati and Ousmane Dembele pose for a photo with the Women's Ballon d'Or and Men’s Ballon d’Or trophies during the 69th Ballon D'Or Ceremony at Theatre Du Chatelet on September 22, 2025 in Paris, France.

Ousmane Dembele was crowned the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner (Image credit: Kristy Sparow – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

“I’ve spoken publicly about how I send the game out to 4,500 footballers and obviously a lot of them will go into coaching: it’s been quite weird to see people playing the game as footballers, then go on to become coaches.”

Football Manager 26 is out on November 4, 2025.

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