Triple H says health issues are ‘behind me now,’ WWE role helps him stay young
He’s still approaching things with some caution, but Paul “Triple H” Levesque feels like his past health issues are behind him.
Levesque suffered a cardiac event in 2021 and had to undergo a heart procedure. While the issue officially brought an end to his in-ring career, Levesque was already mostly focused on the executive side of the business. He now leads WWE creative as the company’s Chief Content Officer.
Levesque appeared on The Stephen A. Smith Show this week, and Smith pointed out that Levesque looks healthy now and ready to lead WWE into the future.
“I think that’s very observant, and I think you’re spot on,” Levesque responded. “You know, there’s moments in time where everybody has setbacks in life and things hit you hard. Life comes at you, right? Life’s what happens when you’re busy planning other things. You don’t expect it and you don’t see it coming. But I did have the issues — they’re behind me now. I want to make sure they stay behind me, so I’m cautious of everything I do and I’m protective of it.
“But at the same point in time, you have to have something that you’re passionate about in your life and your ‘why.’ And outside of my family, my kids, my wife, my family life, this is my ‘why.’ I love this business. It’s been incredibly good to me, my family, to everything I have, including my wife and my kids. And it all stems in some manner — if I wasn’t in this business, I would have never met her.”
Being around WWE talent helps Triple H stay young —
Levesque told Smith that the best part of his job is getting to collaborate with the young talent in WWE. Being on the road is a grind, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for Levesque.
“It’s hard to put down because I love it. I love being around those kids,” he said. “I love collaborating with them and helping them and sort of riffing ideas with them. It keeps you young, and it’s the greatest part of my job. It’s like being in the fountain of youth at all times. They keep you young and thinking young, and I get as much out of being around them as they get being around us old-timers. So, it’s a blast. I’m having a blast doing it and I want to keep doing it.”
Levesque praised young stars Oba Femi, Sol Ruca, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans as four names who will main event WrestleMania in the future. He also spoke very highly of WWE President Nick Khan and their working relationship.
“I’ve never been around a better businessman,” Levesque said about Khan. “He has as deep of knowledge as anybody I’ve met out there. And he’s just straightforward. What you see is what you get. And, man, I love working with him every day. So to me, he and I together, it’s like this perfect partnership of being able to do the business side but this energy that we both feel and have and love for this business like nothing else. We’re in it together, and I love it.”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.