WrestleMania X8 in the context of "WrestleMania"

Paul Michael Levesque (/ləˈvɛk/; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, professional wrestling promoter and retired wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer, head of creative, and is an executive producer.

Levesque began his wrestling career in 1992 under the ring name Terra Ryzing, and gained his first mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994, becoming known as Jean-Paul Levesque. In 1995, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and became known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, which was later shortened to Triple H. In WWF, he gained fame during the Attitude Era as a member of The Kliq and co-founder of D-Generation X. Amongst other wrestling accomplishments, he is a 14-time world champion in WWE, having won the WWF/WWE Championship nine times and the World Heavyweight Championship five times, a 2-time Royal Rumble winner (2002, 2016), the seventh Triple Crown winner, and second Grand Slam winner. He has headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including its flagship annual event, WrestleMania, seven times (16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25, and 32). In 2022, he retired from working as an in-ring performer due to health concerns but remains active in an executive role and as an on-screen presence.

The 2002 Royal Rumble was the 15th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment. It took place on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Six matches were contested at the event.

As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2002 event, the winner received a match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania X8—this was the last Royal Rumble until 2014 to feature one world championship. The main event was the 2002 Royal Rumble match, which was won by Triple H, who last eliminated Kurt Angle. In other prominent matches, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship, Ric Flair wrestled his first WWE match in 9 years by defeating Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, and William Regal defeated Edge to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.