The current generation of professional wrestling stars have all generally followed a similar path. People like Bryan Danielson & Seth Rollins got their start working smaller shows, before being signed to a major contract in WWE.
This is not a proven path to success however, even for incredibly talented wrestlers. One example of this is Chris Hero – who despite having two runs in WWE, never broke past NXT – and hasn’t wrestled since 2020, but don’t call him retired just yet.
Chris Hero Isn’t Retired Yet
While speaking with Fightful’s for their Grapsody Podcast – Hero would be asked if he has retired from in-ring competition. His last match was a Battle Royale aired on March 13th, 2020 for WWE’s now defunct NXT UK promotion – leaving many to think Hero has hung up his boots. He would stress this is far from the truth.
“If I was retired there would have been some kind of a celebration, a ceremony, a festival. A week long, month long thing. No, I’m not retired. I’m currently inactive. I just can’t stay away from wrestling in any way. So as I bide my time and wait for the right thing to come back for and start having matches again, I have kept pretty active. I’ve done a bunch of seminars, I’ve done signings, of course. Then I kind of dabbled into the world of producing. It’s funny, we use this term producing, but it’s kind of like directing. Directing is probably a better term, but I’m not going to start calling myself a director.”
When asked if fans can expect him to wrestle again, with Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli mentioned – Hero simply replied with ‘never say never’.
Links To Both AEW & ROH Are Waiting For Hero
Given Tony Khan’s love for the past for Ring of Honor, many fans are hoping to see Hero pop up at a future ROH PPV and be treated as a major star for the promotion once again. An AEW debut also is very possible, given Hero’s extensive tag team history with Claudio Castagnoli.
AEW is also a spiritual successor to Pro Wrestling Guerilla, with Excalibur a major name in AEW. Hero had a very large role to play in the history of PWG – giving another major link to AEW for him.
Do you think Tony Khan will bring Chris Hero into AEW or ROH in 2023? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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