Vince McMahon Told Injured Triple H 'I Need You' for WWE WrestleMania 35

Five months after tearing his pectoral muscle, Triple H will step inside the ring at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 35.

In an interview with ESPN.com's Tim Fiorvanti, Triple H discussed his boss and father-in-law, Vince McMahon, talking him into competing at WrestleMania after such a significant injury:

"Vince came to me and told me, 'I need you to be in WrestleMania this year.' I was like, 'Really? Because I haven't been cleared to train yet even—I don't know that I'm going to make that.' Batista and I had this conversation a while ago about trying to do this ... then I had to call him and go, 'Dude, I tore my pec and I don't know what's going to happen. I'll see.' To this day, I'm still ... I'm going to get in the ring next Sunday, and you and I will both find out at the same time whether my pec will hold on.

"I got cleared up to perform, and my training is good and I feel good. But until you get in there, lifting dumbbells and getting hit by Batista are two totally different things. So I'll see how it goes, but I feel good and I'm excited to get in there. And at this point in my career, I don't ever want to make it sound like it's not as big as it is, but at this point in my career, it's all gravy."

The 49-year-old Triple H suffered the pec injury during a tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia in November. The Game teamed with Shawn Michaels against The Undertaker and Kane, but he went down early on and wasn't much of a factor in that match.

When The King of Kings tweeted a graphic photo of his chest after the match, it was difficult to envision him taking part in WrestleMania as an active competitor:

Triple H himself said he was expecting a much less hectic WrestleMania week, but that changed when he was asked to wrestle and go into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of D-Generation X:

"I went from a month ago thinking, 'Oh, this is great—I'm going to have an easy year this year, I just go watch the Hall of Fame and then I get to work behind the scenes at [Wrestle]Manias. It will be easy. Then, Vince tells me I'm in the Hall of Fame ... and then next thing [I know], I'm working at WrestleMania. So I got busy quick."

The Cerebral Assassin is used to being in the spotlight, especially at WrestleMania, as his 22 career WrestleMania matches are second only to The Undertaker's 26.

Sunday's bout against Batista will involve Triple H's in-ring career being put on the line. Also, it is possible that it could represent the 50-year-old Batista's last match ever.

While it can be argued that the match is being overlooked to some degree due to the presence of Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair and Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston, Triple H vs. Batista is a match for the longtime fans who enjoy nostalgia, and it figures to deliver in that regard.

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