Tyler Breeze discusses his return to the ring.
Following his release from WWE in June 2021, Tyler Breeze took a step back from in-ring competition. During this time away from the squared circle, Breeze dedicated much of his time to teaching students of his Flatbacks wrestling school.
Spears later presented Breeze with an opportunity to return to the ring. Naturally, Breeze accepted, and shortly after, he began filling his plate with bookings again.
Two years after his last WWE match, Tyler Breeze officially returned to the ring at Next Generation Wrestling’s “Wrestle Wars” event on July 8. There, Breeze defeated Matt Cross to win the NGW Championship, marking his first singles title in over a decade. Speaking on A2D Radio, Breeze revealed (H/T to POST Wrestling) what compelled him to finally return to the ring.
“It’s pretty cool (being back in the ring). I never really planned on taking two years off,” he said. “But after doing this for 15 years and being in WWE for 11 years to where I didn’t really take any time off. I was lucky I didn’t have any surgeries, I took care of myself pretty good. But I was on the road going so, when I finally got that call, I was like, ‘Alright. I’m just gonna chill for a little bit.'”
“Then I really liked it and then I liked being home and then all of a sudden, I went, ‘Hmm, yeah, I’m just gonna keep doing this.’ Then it was like a year turned into two years. I still got to scratch the wrestling itch a little bit with Flatbacks with training people. But I wasn’t really missing being on the road at all. I really liked being at home. I liked waking up in my bed and making breakfast and typical stuff that people take for granted that I never got to do.”
I’ll Do One
While Breeze wasn’t actively craving an in-ring return, he reiterates that he was open to the idea. So, when Shawn Spears approached him with an opportunity, Breeze felt inclined to accept it.
“Again, I was in no real hurry.” Breeze continued. “I was like, ‘Ah, if something happens, if something pops up that could be really fun. Maybe I’ll do (it),’ but really for the most part, I wasn’t against it, but I wasn’t missing it. Then it just so happens that (Shawn) Spears who I train with, he went, ‘Hey, I need an opponent for a match. Would you wanna do it?’ I said, ‘Sure, I could do that’ so I was like, ‘Well, I’ll do one, I’ll do one.'”
“Then that same promoter was like, ‘Oh, would you also like to do this show and this show?’ And I went, ‘Yeah, I might as well. Why not?’ So then, somebody saw that, they offered me and then all of a sudden, my September’s full of bookings and everything else and I went, ‘Alright, alright. I guess I’m back here.'”
As Breeze’s return date inched closer, he began “kicking into high gear” with new entrance music, ring gear, and a new physique.
“My first booking was a week ago, two weeks ago and yeah, it was fun man.” Breeze said. “The thing that you always — and I think it’s the reason why we do this or why people have a hard time stepping away is the crowd… It’s just always so fun. Wrestling is never the problem, like if people get entitled or they get egos or they get whatever, the wrestling part is never the problem. The wrestling and the crowd is why we do it. It’s so fun so, being back in front of them, very cool. I’m excited to take more bookings and get back out there and again, it’s been two years so, jumping back in there, it feels a little bit fresh and it feels fun and I’m enjoying it so…”
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Missing Out
Tyler Breeze previously spoke with WrestleZone about what he missed most about the wrestling business. Breeze doesn’t see much that needs to be “fixed” but that is one element he said he missed.
“The main thing, obviously, that I miss about wrestling, is the crowd. It’ll always be the crowd. My last year, all the pandemic stuff is going on, there was no audience. And then it slowly came back, but it wasn’t what it is now, so definitely miss the crowd. In terms of being out here and being kind of amongst everything, there’s not really a whole lot that needs ‘fixing’ or changing. Wrestling’s going to be wrestling, it just kind of is what it is.”
