Triple H is set to retire from the in-ring competition sometime this year, the Wrestling legend confirmed the news on Friday in an interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take.
The fourteen-time world champion, known privately as Paul Michael Levesque, claimed he took the choice after having a defibrillator implanted in his chest and deciding it was best for him to call it quits before gravely injuring himself. He explained the health challenges he had last year, which led to a heart attack that necessitated surgery.
“I had viral pneumonia. My lungs were inflamed, and as the next couple of days went on and I got home, it got increasingly worse,” said the 52-year-old WWE star. “My wife [WWE executive Stephanie McMahon] saw some blood and stuff that I was coughing up, and I went and got checked, and it was coming from the viral pneumonia, but I had fluid in my lungs. I had some fluid around my heart so they followed up on it and did an EKG and Echo and everything. Basically, the way your heart pumps out 55-60 percent of your ejection fraction is a good number. I was at 30 percent.”
Vince McMahon signed Triple H to the WWF/WWE in early 1995. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as part of D-Generation X, which also included Shawn Michaels, Chyna, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, and X-Pac.