Triple H announces retirement from in-ring competition

Triple H announced on Friday morning during an interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN that he has retired from in-ring competition. WWE confirmed the news with a social media post on Twitter.

BREAKING: @TripleH announced his retirement from in-ring competition on @espn @firsttake with @stephenasmith. pic.twitter.com/qnyw9NVtv4

— WWE (@WWE) March 25, 2022

During the interview, Triple H revealed the nature of his health issues that led to heart surgery in September of last year.

“I had viral pneumonia,” Triple H said to Smith. “My lungs were inflamed, and as the next couple of days went on and I got home, it got increasingly worse. My wife saw some blood and stuff that I was coughing up, and I went and got checked, and 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 and did an EKG and Echo and everything. Basically, the way your heart pumps out 55-60 percent of your ejection fraction 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 and head to the emergency room and I’ll fill you in on the way. So, by the time I got to the emergency room, my ejection fraction had gone down to 22 percent, which, ya know, I was in heart failure.” Credit Bleacher Report for transcription.

Triple H last wrestled for WWE in an unannounced match against Randy Orton on Monday Night Raw in January of 2021. He is a 14-time world champion and current Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy and Development for the WWE.

The full First Take interview with Smith will be available on ESPN+ Friday night.

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