Val Venis thinks one locker room conversation with Triple H may have ended up costing him more than he realized, especially when it came to his WWE career.
Speaking on Monty & The Pharaoh, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion looked back on a political discussion that took place backstage during his WWE run. According to Venis, he, Kane and a few other wrestlers were talking about taxes when Triple H overheard part of the conversation and didn’t like where it was going.
“Well, you do have a choice. You always have a choice. It depends. You know, with Triple H, I feel bad for him. I don’t ever remember Triple H being a political guy at all. I mean, outside of wrestling. Let me rephrase that — very political in wrestling, but outside of wrestling, I don’t ever remember Triple H being a political guy.
In fact, he got a little offended one time when Kane and I and a couple other guys — I think Alino was there — we were in the locker room, and I was painting the picture that, you know, taxation is theft. There shouldn’t be taxation in a free country, like direct taxation. I’m all for gas tax, you know, a user tax. You use the roads, pay a gas tax, whatever, but I’m talking about direct taxation.
And so I was never a big fan of that, and we were just having an adult discussion about taxation in America. And I remember stating something along the lines of, like, even contractors that get paid with dollars from the government that have been taxed away from the people, I mean, you could consider them technically, when you follow the line of logic, they’re welfare collectors.”
Venis said that’s when Triple H stepped into the conversation and pointed out that his father had spent his career as a government contractor. Rather than backing off, Venis said he doubled down, telling Triple H that, by his own definition, that technically meant his father had been collecting taxpayer money.
“Well, Triple H heard that, and he kind of turned around to me, and he goes, ‘Hey, Val, my dad was a government contractor my whole life.’ And I just politely looked at him, and I go, ‘Well, technically, your dad collected welfare his whole life. He collected tax dollars.’ And I didn’t say it in a mean way. I’m just stating it as a matter of fact.
And he immediately just shook his head and walked out. Other than that, I don’t think Triple H has ever been exposed to true discussions and debates about actual political issues that are totally normal to him. Taxation is totally normal to him and to a lot of people in America. But he’s one of those guys that I think is so far disconnected from people that do discuss these government political issues that he finds them somewhat offensive when they’re actually, you know, when you’re faced with a truth that you have nothing to come back on, it can feel offensive to somebody that’s not engaged in an honest debate about whether it’s welfare or not.
And so I think Triple H was a little offended by that. I’m pretty sure that didn’t help my career out much. Hey, your dad’s a welfare collector. Congratulations.”
The hosts couldn’t help but wonder if that awkward exchange had any real impact on Venis’ WWE run, asking whether it happened around the time he was Intercontinental Champion. Venis admitted he couldn’t remember the exact timeline, but he does remember thinking the conversation probably didn’t do him any favors backstage.
“I think it was right around the time I either had the IC title or I was in between the IC titles. I can’t remember. But yeah, I remember that specifically when Triple H just kind of looked at me. He goes, ‘Hey, my dad was a government contractor his whole life.’ I just turned to him. I go, ‘Well, technically, your dad’s a welfare collector his whole life.'”
Whether that conversation actually affected how Triple H viewed him is impossible to know, but Venis clearly believes it didn’t help. Looking back, it’s one backstage debate he still remembers years later—and one he thinks may have carried consequences beyond the locker room.
What do you think? Do you believe one backstage disagreement like this could have affected a wrestler’s standing in WWE, or is Venis reading too much into it? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
