Eddie Dennis Explains Wrestling Retirement And Return After Being A Writer With WWE

Eddie Dennis announced his retirement from wrestling in March 2023 and joined NXT as a writer and producer in May.

In November, Dennis said he had come to terms with his release of WWE, and made his return to the ring at the end of the year.

Speaking to Wrestling With Johners, Dennis explained his retirement and return.

“Obvioulsy, me and a lot of my colleagues got released by WWE in the summer of 2022 when NXT UK closed its doors. I was back, full-time in independent wrestling from that point on and just trying to make a go of it on the independents. WWE reached out and asked if I would be interested in a writing position. I kind of had an idea in my head about the sum of money they would have needed to offer for me to have been happy to step away from wrestling. It’s not really a set of rules, it was just not logistically possible to be an independent wrestler while also writing for WWE because writing for WWE is a full-time job and you just don’t have the head space to do something of your own independently on the side.

“When they did offer me the position in February of last year, it was kind of a no-braider for me and my wife to take the plunge and have a go at it, which did mean stopping independent wrestling. I didn’t really have the intention of doing a retirement, I just planned on stopping taking bookings. I spoke to Andy Quinlan from RevPro. I had a couple of dates lined up after I had signed with WWE. I asked WWE if I could honor those bookings with him because I was in the middle of a story with Michael Oku and Connor Mills, two guys I had a hand in training, and I wanted to see that story through, albeit a truncated version. Me and Andy, a lot of Andy, really, crafted the story going into the Revolution Rumble. I didn’t really know it until I cut the promo after losing to Michael, whether I would say I was leaving Revolution Pro if I lose or if I would say I would leave wrestling altogether. I decided to say I was leaving wrestling altogether. We spoke about doing something at the end of the Rumble. Andy was like, ‘Do you want to say something after?’ ‘I don’t think so. I’d rather screw off into the background. It’s Michael’s moment winning the rumble.’ That day, I just thought I should do something, so I decided to leave my boots in the ring. I kind of retired. In my heart of hearts, in the moment, I was pretty sure I was never going to wrestle again. I’m 37 now. I wasn’t sure if the writing was going to work out, you never know going into a different position. I just thought I would do it for a couple of years, and if it didn’t work out, I’d be at an age where I didn’t want to return to independent wrestling, and I would get back into teaching. As it goes, nine months later, I changed my mind, much to my wife’s chagrin. Once it transpired that the writing wasn’t for me, there was no question in my heart whether I wanted to do this. I’m lucky people welcomed me with open arms.”

Dennis has kept active on the independent scene, wrestling for PROGRESS, ATTACK, PWC, and more.

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