Triple H is on the mend, but he revealed he will never step foot in a wrestling ring again.
The two-time WWE Hall of Famer sat down with Stephen A. Smith for his “Stephen A.’s World” program on ESPN+. An excerpt of the interview ran Friday morning on “First Take”.
Opening up on his heart scare from last September, Triple H said he initially had viral pneumonia, and that his wife, WWE scion Stephanie McMahon, noticed him spitting up blood. Tests revealed he was experiencing cardiac issues, with his heart not pumping enough. He was rushed to the emergency room with heart failure.
“I was nose-diving, and sort of at the one-yard line of where you don’t want to be for your family and your future,” he said.
“We have three young girls — 15, 13, 11. Suddenly I come home, I’m a little bit sick, and their dad, who’s strong always, is in the hospital. I don’t know if they understood the consequences of it but there’s moments when you think ‘This is it.’ Do you wake up? That’s tough to swallow, and it makes you think differently — I’m sure, as (Smith) come out of your COVID scare — it makes you feel differently about life. It doesn’t make you any less driven for the things that you do, but it certainly makes you appreciate what you have more.”
Smith asked him what’s in store for his professional future.
“As far as in-ring, which I get a lot, I’m done,” he said. “I will never wrestle again. First of all, I have a defibrillator in my chest, and it’s not a good idea for me to get zapped on live TV…”
Triple H is a 14 time world champion in WWE, and is also a corporate executive with the title of EVP, Global Talent Strategy & Development.
