Triple H Says He Will ‘Never Wrestle Again’ Following Near-Fatal Heart Failure

Triple H sat down with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take in a poignant interview that will air, in full, on Stephen A’s World later tonight. In a candid, emotional interview clip, Triple H admitted his cardiac event was life-threatening, and he would never wrestle again.

Citing his viral pneumonia, Triple H said he had fluid in his lungs and arms and that his heart ejection fraction had gotten down to 12%. A normal ejection fraction ranges from 55-60%.

“By the time I got to the emergency room, my ejection fraction had gone down to 22,” said Triple H in a revealing interview.

“Which, I was in heart failure. Bad. By the next morning—as they figured that out that evening – by the next morning as they got the MRI done and they were sending me in for a heart cath my ejection fraction was down to 12. So I was nosediving and sort of at the one-yard line of where you want to be – or where you don’t want to be, really, for your family and your future.”

When asked if he would ever wrestle again, Triple H plainly responded by saying “I won’t—I would never wrestle again. First, I have a defibrillator in my chest. Which, it’s probably not a good idea for me to get zapped on live TV.”

Triple H was an enduring presence in WWE prior to suffering a cardiac event where he underwent successful heart surgery back in September of 2021. The event was said to be “very, very, very serious” per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Wrestling Inc). Meltzer went on to note that there’s no way Triple H would be able to physically perform at WrestleMania 38 due to his condition.

Triple H last wrestled at a WWE live event in June of 2019 alongside Shinsuke Nakamura in a win over Robert Roode and Samoa Joe. His last broadcast match was that same month, on June 7, against Randy Orton at Super ShowDown 2019 in Saudi Arabia. He was recently spotted touring WWE’s new HQ facilities.

Triple H previously led NXT, in what many thought was part of the process of WWE grooming him to be the heir-apparent to Vince McMahon. While at the helm of the original iteration of NXT, known affectionately as NXT 1.0, Triple H endeared himself to hardcore fans by offering a wrestling-heavy “super indie” that catered to a rabid audience that had been disillusioned with WWE’s main roster product.

Following NXT’s loss during the Wednesday Night Wars, however, Triple H was gradually stripped of his power in NXT, with many of his front-office confidants relieved of their duties amid the onset of the Nick Khan era. The rise of NXT 2.0, now reimagined under Vince McMahon’s administration, also coincided with the January firings of Brian Jams and William Regal, who recently debuted with AEW.

Though Triple H was emphatic about being done with wrestling, his future behind the scenes remains murky. Thankfully, it appears as if Paul Levesque is on the mend after a serious health scare.