WWE Star Triple H Has Retired From Wrestling
The wrestler, real name Paul Levesque, has struggled with health issues.
Triple H is one of the most recognizable WWE wrestlers ever.
One of the WWE 's most popular and successful in-ring performers, Triple H, has just announced he's retiring from professional wrestling. Triple H, real name Paul Levesque, made the announcement during an interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.
"For me, as far as in-ring... I'm done," Levesque said. "I won't, no, I would never wrestle again."
Levesque, 52, has been struggling with health issues. In September last year he suffered from viral pneumonia, which led to heart failure. He subsequently underwent a successful medical procedure, which installed a defibrillator in his chest.
"I was nose-diving and sort of at the 1-yard line of where you don't want to be really, for your family and your future," Levesque said. "There's moments in there when they're putting you out for stuff and you think, 'Is this it? Do you wake up from this?' That's tough to swallow and makes you think differently."
Levesque, who's married to Stephanie McMahon, the longtime owner of WWE, was successful in almost every possible way. He held 14 WWE world titles and was one of the company's biggest stars during the "Attitude Era," the time during which the WWE produced stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. He's also competed in the main event of the WWE's marquee show, Wrestlemania, an incredible seven times. Only Hulk Hogan has wrestled in more.
Levesque's last televised match was against Randy Orton in June 7, 2019. He's now the head of the WWE's wildly successful development brand, NXT, which has been the breeding ground for many of the WWE's current biggest stars.