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WWE legend Triple H sees his heart failure health scare as 'a gift'

Triple H told his wife Stephanie McMahon about the lasting mental impact of his health scare

Triple H sees his heart failure as "a gift".

The WWE boss - whose real name is Paul Levesque - has a defibrillator in his chest almost four years after a near death experience when he was suffering from viral pneumonia and a cardiac event, which was caused by a genetic issue and almost cost him his life.

In an interview with his wife Stephanie McMahon for her ESPN series 'Stephanie's Places', he said: "In this really weird, f***** up way, my heart issue was a gift.

"It made me see things differently, look at life differently."

Stephanie was visibly emotional as she admitted she'd "never heard" him say that before.

He explained: "You can go through life - no matter how great it is or all the things you're doing, and you're just doing it.

"All of a sudden, you're partway through it, have a reset and go, 'Holy s***, this doesn't last forever.' "

Levesque appeared emotional as Stephanie also fought back tears when he brought out a coin from his pocket.

She was choked up as she told him: "I was just about to ask you about that."

He said: "You gave it to me. Memento Mori. You can die at any second. This can all stop at any second.

"Basically saying, don't get caught up in all these bulls***. Life is f****** fleeting, so it can all go away at any moment."

A few months after his hospitalisation, Levesque - who serves as WWE's chief content officer and leads their creative process across 'Monday Night Raw' and 'SmackDown' - confirmed he would never be getting back ini the ring as he officially retired from in-ring competition.

He told ESPN's 'First Take' in March 2022: "I will never wrestle again. First of all, I have a defibrillator in my chest, which, you know, probably not a good idea for me to get zapped on live TV.

"I had viral pneumonia. My lungs were inflamed and as the next couple days went on, when 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."

The 14-time world champion was warned by doctors that he was suffering "bad" heart failure.

He said: "I was nose-diving and sort of at the one-yard line of where you don't want to be really, for your family and your future."

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