Rick Boogs Isn’t Sure He’ll Return To Wrestling, Says He’s Busier Than Ever

Rick Boggs discusses post-WWE life. 

Boogs was released by WWE in September 2023. Boogs said following his release that he was 100% certain that the removal of Vince McMahon killed his career. He had not wrestled since WWE SummerSlam 2023 when he took part in the Slim Jim Battle Royal.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Boogs discussed life after wrestling. 

“I’m happy. I’m great. I’m better than ever. Basically, I started a YouTube channel. I’ve kind of become this underground lifting cult figure, which is cool. That kind of built my own brand. Eric Bugenhagen was an entity. Rick Boogs was cool, but I’ve always had Eric Bugenhagen. I was at this crossroads. I was in developmental for four years and clearly it was going nowhere. Luckily, I had Old Spice, which brought forth my attention to the higher ups. I thought, should I cash out on who I really am instead of pursuing this endeavor? It’s all worked out, really. I’m very thankful for every opportunity I’ve gotten. It’s all better than putting all your eggs in one basket, you can never have enough baskets. Now that this is over, I can invest in all that,” he said.

Along with his YouTube channel, Boogs is going to auditions for various roles, launching his own brand “Thick As Frick,” and more. 

Asked about wrestling again, Boogs said, “Not right now. When I first decided that I was going to pursue wrestling, I have to be all in on something. I was doing strength and conditioning, personal training. I was like, ‘if I’m going to commit to this other endeavor.’ I just quit my job, have a wife and a daughter, and just got unemployed for the sake of getting hungry because I wanted to make it happen.” 

Boogs said he was signed within nine months of pursuing WWE. 

Asked if he saw his release coming and that’s why he started preparing for other endeavors, he replied, “I kind of saw the writing on the wall. It wasn’t like, ‘I’m going to get ready for it.’ This is just, thank God for my YouTube community. I’ll always have that.”

Boogs said he doesn’t see himself wrestling in 2024 and he’s now busier than ever. 

Asked about the comments he made on YouTube regarding his release, Boogs replied, “At the time, I knew I couldn’t talk about it. I didn’t want to talk about anything, but there was a comment on my YouTube channel. ‘Now is not the time to talk about it, but I will.’ These are super positive. I’m just responding to a couple, which I shouldn’t have. There was no bitterness. I’m happy, I’m happy to be done, but I’m also really proud of what I have done. I had to make a reel for an agent. I used Old Spice, a movie I did for Netflix, and I was like, ‘I should probably use some wrestling stuff.’ I was going through clips like ‘this is awesome.'”

Boogs was teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura before suffering a torn quadriceps and patellar tendon at WrestleMania 38. He returned to television in January 2023, but was rarely used.

Elsewhere during the interview, Boogs explained why he thought Vince McMahon leaving WWE killed his career. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.