WWE’s Triple H talks genetic heart issue, staying quiet during recovery, scouting talent

Paul “Triple H” Levesque has opened up about his family history of heart problems, staying quiet during his recovery, as well as what WWE looks for when scouting talent. 

During a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith released Friday, Levesque went into further details about the cardiac event he suffered last September. 

“When they got inside, I basically genetically had a 99.9% blockage in my left anterior descending artery, which is what they call the widowmaker. My heart had started to create a secondary pathway, but that was clogged as well. So, I was basically moments away. If I’d have thrown a clot of any type or had any kind of thickening, I was gone,” he said.

He also disclosed a family history of heart-related problems. 

“My dad had a triple bypass at 62, my grandfather passed away at 70 from heart disease. I didn’t know, I just found out a couple of weeks prior to that my great-grandfather had died at 52, sudden death. So, it was a genetic issue,” he said.

Levesque made few public statements in the months following his cardiac event. He was asked why he decided to stay quiet during this time. 

“The not saying anything was not knowing. Then you’re in the thick of it and it’s like this whirlwind of stuff coming in that you’re confused about. You don’t want to speak about something and be wrong on it and have to go back later and correct yourself.”

He also spoke about the next generation of athletes that are on a path to becoming WWE wrestlers.

“There’s a whole generation of kids and athletes that grew up watching WWE to be the biggest form of entertainment they knew of. They see the Rock, they see guys like the Undertaker that have transcended generations and transcended WWE to become household names globally.”

Levesque continued to speak on scouting and discovering talent to bring into WWE. 

“Larger than life is what we’re after. Nobody pays to see their next door neighbor. Their next door neighbor lives next door, you don’t need to pay, just look out your window. They want to see somebody larger than life that they can’t believe exists. When you look around today, you see that already. When you look back 10 years from now, you’re going to see Roman Reigns as one of those transcendent figures. I think you’re going to see people like Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair as those transcending figures.” 

Levesque also addressed Pat McAfee participating in WrestleMania this year.

“Pat has performed in-ring for us before and just blew everybody’s mind with how good he was at this. A little known fact about Pat is that he really wanted to be in WWE, went and bought himself a ring, threw it in his barn and has been training in it for years.”