WWE's Triple H Retires
Game Over.
Paul 'Triple H' Levesque has officially announced his retirement from in-ring competition.
'The Game' confirmed the news during an interview with ESPN's First Take, speaking in depth for the first time on the cardiac event he experienced in 2021. Going more in depth than the original tweet he'd sent out to his followers, Levesque commented that he'd contracted pneumonia, coughed up blood and that medics later discovered fluid in his lungs and around his heart.
The interview confirmed (H/T to redditor UFMoose) that "After being tested with an EKG and electrocardiogram, his ejection fraction -- measurement of the percentage of blood leaving your heart each time it contracts (supposed to be at 55-60%) -- was down to 30%. By the time he got to hospital, it was 22% and then 12% before surgery as he was experiencing heart failure."
Speaking in detail about his decision, and the ramifications of his condition, Triple H said;
"I'm done. I will never wrestle again...That's tough to swallow. It makes you think differently about life. It doesn't make you any less driven for the things that you do, but it certainly makes you appreciate the things that you have more...I was at the 1-yard line of where you don't want to be.""
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'The King Of Kings' was hospitalised in September last year, with very little information initially emerging. These first comments themselves are mere snippets of a full interview with Stephen A. Smith set to air later today.
Isolating his comments to the physical side of the industry, Levesque didn't remark on his existing role with WWE as Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development, though more may emerge about his future with the company in the weeks and months now this has been confirmed.