Tyrus Talks His Decision To Retire, Says He Will Still Be Part Of The NWA

Tyrus says he will still be a part of NWA following his retirement.

Tyrus says he will still be a part of NWA following his retirement.

At NWA 75 Night Two, EC3 defeated Tyrus and won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Per the stipulation of the match, Tyrus was forced to retire due to the loss.

Speaking on The Wise Men, Tyrus was asked to describe how he’s dealing with his retirement from the ring. He detailed some of the health issues he was struggling with, and he noted that they ultimately convinced him it was time to step away.

“It’s one of those things where Trevor and I, we had a pretty physical match, and I’ve never had anything but physical matches. It’s never unsafe, but we’re always snug. When we had the tag match for the Crockett Cup, I got hit weird and I landed weird. I’ve never had a burning sensation before, in my shoulder and neck area. It just wouldn’t go away. It was bugging me when I was benching, it was bugging me when I was squatting. It was bugging me all time, and you don’t say anything. I’ve always been, a big thing [for me], you just kind of work it out, and you’re world champ. Not just that, but even if you’re not world champ, there’s still a certain level of, you want to compete at a high level. You don’t want to compete at a low level. So when I was hemming and hawing about the deciding to retire, and after I talked to my kids, and they were fine with it, because I was like, ‘Man, I’m starting to get the tinkles in my fingers, and I notice that my fingers are kind of curling a little bit, and I started leaning forward when I was walking a little bit.’ I was like, ‘Okay. You got some decisions to make here.’ It was one of those things where, selfishly, Billy would have had to kick me out of the ring. But I was like, we’ll see how this match goes, but just coming into that weekend, at any time, I could have said to Billy, ‘No.’ Because the cool thing about our boss is that he’s like, ‘It’s your call.’ He goes, ‘This wasn’t my idea, this was your idea.’ But everything fell into place, especially seeing the live events and not being there. That was really bothering me. I understand the selfishness, because you have to be a little selfish to be a wrestler. You have to. Bring the world champion is great,” Tyrus said.

After describing that he had been beat up and dealing with a lung issue, Tyrus then described how he was in an unusual amount of pain during his match with EC3. He recalled how he felt the burning sensation in his shoulder again.

“During the match, when I hit EC3 with a T-bone, I got that damn burning in my shoulder again. We were doing the deal and the chairs shots and everything. Every chair shot hurt more than it normally did, especially the ones on my ankles. The Garvin stomp Is designed for the foot. There’s a reason why they didn’t use the chair. But hey, you don’t know until you try it. Don’t try it. I had lumps and bumps everywhere,” Tyrus said.

Tyrus went on to state that he doesn’t have any regrets about his decision to retire. He revealed that he talked to Billy Corgan, and he will still be a part of the NWA. Tyrus noted that he is not sure how he wants to do that, but Corgan has told him that he can do whatever he wants to do.

“Absolutely no regrets. I even talked to Billy this morning. I’m still gonna be a part of the NWA. I’m just not sure what form I want to do it in. He’s like, ‘Whatever you want to do, you just tell me what you want to do, and it’s done.’ That’s a great feeling. I will always be an ambassador for the NWA as long as they will have me. I will still use my platform to promote the NWA,” he said.

The former champion also elaborated on his decision to retire. He made it clear that it was his decision, and Billy Corgan always told him that it was his call. Tyrus also emphasized his excitement about the NWA moving forward.

“A lot of people were like, ‘Did you talk to Billy and Pat [Kenney]?’ No, I didn’t. It was my decision. Billy always told me that I could make my own decision, and I did. Were they thrilled about it at first? Not really. You go on a live show and make that announcement, they’re like, ‘What does this mean?’ As Pat put it, ‘How does your retirement look? What does it look like?’ I said, ‘I retire’ in quotes. He’s like, ‘Okay.’ But again, I called my shot. I Babe Ruth’ed it. I pointed. I called my shot, and I’m happy with it. But I’m also excited. Looking at the shows and the guys coming up, and it’s a just good time to be an NWA fan,” he said.

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Check out EC3’s comments about his title win here.

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