Triple H retires from wrestling...

[Maroon Eagle]

Triple H tells Stephen A. Smith he’s never wrestling again, has a defibrillator in his chest.“I’m done. I will never wrestle again."The “cardiac issue” last fall was heart failure. He had viral pneumonia and was coughing up blood, had fluid in his lungs and around his heart.— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) March 25, 2022

 

[Seinfeld]

There oddly wasn't a ton of coverage over his heart issue other than letting everyone know a few months back that he had suffered a "cardiac event", but I'm starting to get the sense that things were pretty dire for him at one point. I always hate when retirements like this happen, and you end up realizing after the fact that you watched his last match without even realizing it, but I'm glad he's doing better now.

HHH may not be on wrestling's Mt Rushmore, but it can be argued that he's had every bit as much influence on wrestling as many of the all time greats. Legendary singles career, legendary stable in DX, and his work in Evolution and NXT was huge too. I know there are wrestlers out there that don't like him because they feel like he plays favorites a lot, but HHH has an eye for talent, and he's been right about things a hell of a lot more than he's been wrong

 

[Dawgg]

The full thing will be on Stephen A’s World on ESPN+ later today. I watched a preview clip on Youtube where he talked about not knowing if he’s going to wake up and leaving his daughters fatherless. Have a feeling it’s going to get pretty dusty in my house when I watch the full interview.

 

[MSUDC11]

Probably the best heel of the last 25 years of wrestling.

 

[Drebin]

Never was much of a fan of his. He was probably the ultimate master of backstage politics. I mean, look who he ended up marrying.

He was part of the greatest era of professional wrestling though, and that's not insignificant. I'm glad he's doing alright now.

 

[Seinfeld]

Definitely, and while DX's second run was clearly nowhere near as good as their first, the Raw where when they reunited was one of the all time best. There had been hints for weeks, but I genuinely never expected a second run due to HBK's newfound religion and constant comments about how he'd never be a part of those DX shenanigans again.

But then when the spirit squad retreated after attacking HBK, the pop that hit when we saw a couple of them get tossed from backstage back onto the ramp was awesome.

 

[PartTimeGenius]

Stone Cold says WHAAAT?

https://www.si.com/wrestling/2022/0...austin-return-wwe-wrestlemania-38-kevin-owens

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

I haven't watched wrestling since the Rock left for doing movies, but Triple H was fun to watch. But if you ever think he left something out on the mat, just know this - he once tore his ACL during a match. And then proceeded to finish the match. WITH A TORN ACL.

That dude is a badass.

 

[PBRME]

When he started getting more mic time in the early 2000’s is when I stopped watching. His endless rambling of nonsense was unbearable.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Definitely, and while DX's second run was clearly nowhere near as good as their first, the Raw where when they reunited was one of the all time best. There had been hints for weeks, but I genuinely never expected a second run due to HBK's newfound religion and constant comments about how he'd never be a part of those DX shenanigans again.

But then when the spirit squad retreated after attacking HBK, the pop that hit when we saw a couple of them get tossed from backstage back onto the ramp was awesome.

HBK tore his back up in that match with Stone Cold and never was the same. He lost a bunch of weight and just never could regain that 'showstopper' cocky image again. I personally think his career sliding like that, along with injury, knocked him down to a level where he was receptive to finding his religion.

Honestly, I think he should have stopped wrestling altogether at that point, and started doing his hunting shows. Because he just looked like a shriveled up old *** in the ring. He just didn't age well.

 

[aTotal360]

I know he's young, but I think MFJ is the best heel of the past 25 years. I always felt HHH got his pushes because of the family ties. I never really considered him to be a headliner although he got that treatment.

 

[aTotal360]

I expect Taker to make an appearance at WM as well. He never got a proper send off in front of a crowd. This could be his chance. He's a Texas guy and big Cowboys fan. Would mean a lot of him.

 

[MSUDC11]

HBK tore his back up in that match with Stone Cold and never was the same. He lost a bunch of weight and just never could regain that 'showstopper' cocky image again. I personally think his career sliding like that, along with injury, knocked him down to a level where he was receptive to finding his religion.

Honestly, I think he should have stopped wrestling altogether at that point, and started doing his hunting shows. Because he just looked like a shriveled up old *** in the ring. He just didn't age well.

I am not sure what you are referring to but Shawn’s second run after the back injury was just as good as his first, if not better. He had some all time great matches toward the end of his career. The match against Taker at Mania (2009 I think?) is one of the best pro wrestling matches you’ll ever see.

Regarding HHH, I do think he was made better by the people he got to work with. Was he an Austin, Rock, Shawn, Taker kind of talent? No. But he served his role well as a credible opponent/rival for them. And then he served as a bridge to the Orton, Batista, Cena era of guys too. HHH has been involved in a bunch of classic rivalries and matches as well, (some of which WWE won’t ever promote again because they involve Chris Benoit).

 

[Drebin]

I am not sure what you are referring to but Shawn’s second run after the back injury was just as good as his first, if not better. He had some all time great matches toward the end of his career. The match against Taker at Mania (2009 I think?) is one of the best pro wrestling matches you’ll ever see.

Regarding HHH, I do think he was made better by the people he got to work with. Was he an Austin, Rock, Shawn, Taker kind of talent? No. But he served his role well as a credible opponent/rival for them. And then he served as a bridge to the Orton, Batista, Cena era of guys too. HHH has been involved in a bunch of classic rivalries and matches as well, (some of which WWE won’t ever promote again because they involve Chris Benoit).

Regarding HBK, absolutely. He made Flair look credible in Ric's "retirement" match, and he had one of the all time great WrestleMania matches against Kurt Angle at WM21. HBK was one of the finest workers in the company during his second stint, too.

 

[vhdawg]

HBK tore his back up in that match with Stone Cold and never was the same.

I believe it's pretty well documented that Shawn tore up his back in the casket match with Undertaker at Royal Rumble of that year. He had to work hurt to get to WM14 with Stone Cold.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Stone Cold says WHAAAT?

https://www.si.com/wrestling/2022/0...austin-return-wwe-wrestlemania-38-kevin-owens

I met him several years back at an event in Vegas at the convention center and he was a very nice guy. He was covered up by by a crowd at the event so I didn't actually get to talk to him until we were standing in line for a cab. He was so genuinely friendly and very personable signing autographs and taking pictures never once looked like he was irritated about it. I had just moved to Texas and we were talking about South Central Texas. I did think he would be bigger he was in better shape than me but he only came up to my chin.

Triple H was fun when wrasslin' was fun. I love that story with him and Stephanie McMahon when he was giving her and Mr. McMahon so much **** in the beginning.