Ex-WWE Champion explains in-ring comeback.
After almost ten years away from in-ring action, Ezekiel Jackson is scheduled to make his pro-wrestling return in March, in a match for FWE in North Carolina. Jackson had previously been part of WWE from 2007 to 2014.
Recently speaking with MuscleManMalcolm, Jackson opened up on his upcoming in-ring return and retirement plans in the next few years.
“Man, I’m always open. Again, I love the life I have now. The flexibility of stuff within the last ten years that meant a lot to me was being there for every birthday for my kids and my wife and anniversary and for my son’s basketball, then he switched to football games, my daughter is a theater person, I’ve been to every play two or three times. Those are the things that were really important to me and still is. Again, being under contract is different as compared to deciding to take a couple of shows here and there. Again, it’s there if god willing, we’ll see.”
H/t Fightful
Ezekiel Jackson is a former Intercontinental Champion and was the final ECW Champion before the brand closed its doors. Following his departure in 2014, Jackson appeared in TNA for a brief stint and then in Lucha Underground. His most recent match was for the German promotion wXw in October 2015.
Former WWE Star Ezekiel Jackson Discusses Retirement Plans
In the same interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Ezekiel Jackson opened up on his retirement plans. Hoping to retire at 50, he said:
“It always sits on my shoulder that, man, did I finish this correctly? You know what I mean? How my “retirement” went last time, I was at wXw in Germany and somewhere it got lost in translation where it’s like, I told the guys, ‘Man, if this was my last match, that’d be a great thing.’ All they heard was, last match, great thing. By the time I got in the car to drive from Germany to Frankfurt, my Twitter had blown up, Ezekiel Jackson announced his retirement.
I called a dude and I was like, ‘Dude, I did not announce my retirement.’ [He was like], ‘One of my guys heard something and my social media guy just ran with it.’ I’m like, that’s not cool. Literally though, I got home, my wife and I decided we were going to move from LA to the Bay Area. That’s when I ended my contract with Lucha Underground and moved to the bay and started my personal training business and you know, settled in our family, raising our kids and being a husband.
It’s been amazing. Everything has been great. So, right now, I’m probably trying to get it done before I’m 50. I’m 46 yeah, I’ll be 47 in a couple of months. I got in the ring a couple months ago and I felt really good. I didn’t die the next day after. I was sore, but I didn’t die, so I thought maybe it’ll be time to give it a shot and see what happens and that’s where we are right now, just trying to see what happens.”
In other news: Roman Reigns has denied the existence of his former persona.