WWE Legend Triple H Announces Retirement From In-Ring Competition

Wrestling legend Triple H, who has been a mainstay in the world of WWE since the mid ‘90s, announced that he’s retiring from in-ring competition.

Triple H, real name Paul Michael Levesque, confirmed the news on Friday in an interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take. He said he made the decision after he had a defibrillator installed in his chest, and decided it was best for him to call it quits before he seriously hurts himself. He described the health issues he faced last year, which caused him to go into cardiac arrest that required him to undergo 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.”

Triple H said he was close to the ejection fraction that poses the very serious threat of heart failure. “I won’t—I would never wrestle again. First, I have a defibrillator in my chest,” he said. “Which, it’s probably not a good idea for me to get zapped on live TV.