Triple H, one of WWE's most storied performers, has officially announced his retirement from in-ring competition. Paul Michael Levesque has gone by several names throughout his professional wrestling career, including Jean-Paul Lévesque, a few iterations of his International Wrestling Federation name Terra Ryzing, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley before adopting the now-iconic Triple H moniker. As a prominent figure of the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras in WWF/E, Triple H's feuds with The Rock (which could be material for Young Rock season 2), Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Mr. McMahon, and others were among the most critically acclaimed elements of the company's programming. In 2010, Levesque became Executive Senior Advisor for WWE Corporate and founded the NXT developmental brand.
Alongside several Hollywood appearances, the superstar continued to wrestle after attaining his executive position but spent noticeably more time as an authority figure doing promos and managing the brand. Despite the step back, Triple H won his 14th and final championship by defeating Dean Ambrose in the 2016 Royal Rumble and obtaining the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He subsequently dropped the belt to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32. After a couple more years of in-ring appearances, Triple H suffered a pectoral injury at 2018's Crown Jewel event that required surgery and began appearing sporadically from 2020 on. In September 2021, he experienced a major cardiac event that required an emergency procedure and did not appear on WWE television for months.
WWE shared the official announcement that Triple H is retiring from wrestling after an interview with Stephen A. Smith on his ESPN show First Take. In the interview, the superstar discusses the circumstances leading to his secretive cardiac catheterization and what the experience meant for his family, mentioning his three young daughters. He also confirms that he has a defibrillator in his chest after saying, "I'm done ... I will never wrestle again." Check out the tweet announcing his retirement and the First Take clip below:
Unlike his former Evolution teammate, Batista, who retired in 2019 following a loss to Triple H at WrestleMania 35, "The King of Kings" is not retiring in the best of health. Given his prior injuries, including the pectoral tear and a bout with COVID-19, it makes complete sense that Triple H would retire from performing after such a terrifying health scare. Plus, as he alluded to in his discussion with Smith, it would not be enjoyable seeing him get "zapped" on live television.
While dealing with his recovery, Triple H also had to contend with the online rumor mill, which naturally swirled about Vince McMahon's supposed efforts to stymie Triple H's influence on the NXT brand due to his forced hiatus from WWE programming. Now that he appears healthy and has officially hung up his boots, it will be interesting to see how the legendary wrestler juggles NXT 2.0 and his current role as Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development for WWE. And while "The Game" can still fight with the best in the acclaimed video game WWE 2K22, he closes the book on a monumental career as one of the WWE's most celebrated performers and champions.
Source: WWE, First Take