The following was issued by WWE.
Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame
STAMFORD, Conn. — Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative and 13-time World Champion in WWE, was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, March 7, 2015, at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Levesque joined the class of 2015, which includes five-time world boxing champion Evander Holyfield, eight-time Ms. Olympia bodybuilding champion Lenda Murray, martial artist and world-renowned movie star Michael Jai White, 11-time world kickboxing champion Don Wilson and world powerlifting champion Ed Coan.
“Today at the ISHOF with Arnold and Evander Holyfield, Lenda Murray and Ed Coan – just this amazing cast of elite level sports figures, the whole thing was just surreal” Triple H told WWE.com. “It was very humbling and just a moment I’ll never forget.”
The Game was also ecstatic to share the experience with the people most important to him.
“To have my wife and kids there was the best part.”
During his acceptance speech, Triple H talked about inspiration and how he was inspired by fellow inductee Lenda Murray.
“I listened to all these amazing people speaking before me, I thought about inspiration and what inspires people to do things,” the WWE COO explained. “I thought about Lenda Murray, this amazing woman who transcended her sport, but at the time showed that women could do anything they wanted to – like being this elite, professional level bodybuilder if they wanted – she broke a barrier showing that women can compete in the same sport as men.”
With his daughters in attendance, Lenda Murray’s speech meant a great deal to Triple H and what inspires him as a father.
“I’m listening to Lenda’s speech and I’m looking at my daughters in the front row and thinking about what it means to them to have someone in front of them that has already broken these barriers and telling them they can do anything, because the biggest thing I want to instill in them is that they can be whatever they want to be.”
Triple H also spoke about the WWE Experience during The Arnold Sports Festival, and the future of WWE’s relationship with the event.
“I believe this is a massive event that always felt like we should be a part of in a big way. As I’ve become closer with Arnold over the years, we have a lot of the same passions – health, fitness, inspiring people to achieve more – I think this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can do here.”
The International Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit foundation established to honor world-class athletes and is part of the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, the world’s largest annual sports weekend, hosting 150,000 attendees and more than 18,000 competing athletes.
Members of the International Sports Hall of Fame include Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, WWE Legend and Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and NBA Hall of Famer Earl Monroe.