Wrestler Triple H announces retirement

WWE wrestler Triple H is leaving the ring.

The pro wrestler, whose real name is Paul Levesque, announced his retirement on Friday during ESPN’s First Take show.

In an interview with @stephenasmith, @TripleH officially announces his retirement from in-ring competition. pic.twitter.com/MQcBAIb4gv
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 25, 2022

Triple H started wrestling in 1990 and first entered the WWE ring in 1995 after competing in World Championship Wrestling.

At the start of his career, Triple H wrestled under the name “Hunter Hearst Helmsley” who had the finishing move called the “Pedigree,” ESPN reported.

Over his more than 30-year career, he won 14 world championships and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019, the year of his last match.

He was part of a tag team match in Tokyo with Shinsuke Nakamura, facing off against Robert Roode and Samoa Joe, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats reported.

Triple H has had his challenges — he suffered from heart failure in September 2021 and had defibrillator implanted in his chest.

“I had a viral pneumonia. My lungs were inflamed, and as the next couple days went on after I got home it got increasingly worse. My wife 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,” he said, according to SB Nation’s Cageside Seats.

He is still active in the business dealings of WWE as an executive vice president with a role in talent development. He’s also married to WWE’s chief brand officer, Stephanie McMahon, according to ESPN.

BREAKING: @TripleH announced his retirement from in-ring competition on @espn @firsttake with @stephenasmith. pic.twitter.com/qnyw9NVtv4
— WWE (@WWE) March 25, 2022