Last September, Paul “Triple H” Levesque had a “cardiac event” leading to the legendary wrestler and WWE executive missing time from the company. For the first time since the incident, Triple H made a public WWE appearance, leaving his wrestling boots in the middle of the ring, an action traditionally done to signal a retirement.
Opening Wrestlemania on Sunday, Triple H addressed the crowd.
“I just wanted to come out here, to say thank you,” Triple H opened. “And to show you my love in the best way I know how. Welcome to Wrestlemania.”
Speaking with Stephen A. Smith last month, Triple H stated that he found out he had heart failure when he got pneumonia.
“My lungs were inflamed, and as the next couple days went on after I got home it got increasingly worse. My wife [Stephanie McMahon] saw some blood and stuff that I was coughing up, and went and got checked. 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, did an EKG and echo[cardiogram]. Basically, the way your heart pumps out, 55 to 65 percent of your injection fracture is a good number. I was at 30 [percent]. I got a quick text message saying, ‘Don’t take time, pack a bag real quick, head to the emergency room. I’ll fill you in on the way.’”
Triple H revealed his ejection fracture had dropped as low as 12 and stated he was “nose diving” and was “sort of at the one-yard line of where you need to be, or where you don’t want to be.”
Triple H would go on to get a bit emotional in the conversation, reflecting how his world changed and how it could impact his three daughters. “Suddenly, I come home and I’m a little bit sick, and their dad, who’s strong, always, suddenly is in the hospital. I don’t know if they understood the consequences of it, but there’s moments in there when they’re putting you out for stuff [pauses to collect himself] and you think, ‘Is this it? Do you wake from this?’ That’s tough to swallow.”
Triple H would go on to tell Stephen A. that his time in the wrestling ring is over. “I’m done. I won’t — I will never wrestle again. First of all, I have a defibrillator in my chest, which it’s not a good idea for me zapped on live TV.”
You can hear it all from Triple H below.
