Former WWE star breaks silence on coming out of retirement after 3 years

A Former WWE NXT star elaborated on his decision to come out of in-ring retirement for an upcoming wrestling event after nearly three years of ring rust.

The wrestler in question is none other than Chris Hero (fka Cassius Ohno). Chris is currently signed with AEW as a producer. He rose to prominence during his time with ROH and the Stamford-based promotion, where he wrestled under the NXT and NXT UK brands until he was released three years ago in 2020 during the pandemic.

Hero's last match was a 20-man battle royal on NXT UK, with the winner earning a shot at Walter's (nka Gunther) title. Alas, he was the first man to be eliminated. Following his release, Chris had been working as a backstage producer and trainer. He is now set to return to in-ring competition after a gap of three years.

The former NXT star will take on Timothy Thatcher at the upcoming Whiplash event on November 17th. Hero reflected on his in-ring return by admitting that he hadn't actually retired. Speaking on the Masked Man Show recently, the current AEW producer stated:

"I never felt like I wasn't going to have another match. There was never a point in me where I felt like, 'Well, I'm done.' That would be why I got a little irritated when people were like, 'Yeah, he retired.' Just go to my Twitter and see what I'm doing or listen to one of these interviews where everybody asks me the same thing." [H/T Fightful]

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The former WWE star also revealed the offers he had during his hiatus

Chris Hero also revealed that he had a few offers to wrestle after his departure from the Stamford-based promotion during the pandemic:

"I had some offers. They weren't bad offers, but I didn't want something that I would say 'yeah' to. I wanted something where I would say, 'Yes. Of course.' I had to really be in love with the idea, and I just didn't feel it. There wasn't anything presented to me where I was like, 'I had to do this.' I would get opportunities that were pretty good, but it was short notice. I've been out." [H/T Fightful]

Hero also explained how he needed time to get back in shape after his long absence. Only time will tell what the future has in store for the 43-year-old.