NWA World Television Champion Tyrus has his eye on history. If the 49-year-old former Funkasaurus from WWE can defeat NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murdoch at this weekend’s NWA74 event in St. Louis, he’ll become the first wrestler in company history to hold both the Television and Worlds titles simultaneously.
“To have my own piece of history in the NWA, it’s kind of hard to find something no one hasn’t done,” Tyrus said for a recent Web Is Jericho interview. “I’m extremely excited to focus on that, and I’ve had a great training camp. I’m going to be lightest I’ve been in my career at around 345. Trevor is a big guy in his own right, and he throws bails of hay when he’s not wrestling. I need to be more than just big and strong, I’ve got to be a little quicker. It’s gonna be the little things to beat Trevor, so that’s what I focus on.”
Tyrus wrestled for the WWE for a number of years, most notably from 2010 to 2014, and following his departure he worked for TNA and Impact. When he caught wind of the NWA, work outside of wrestling as a cable news personality for Fox had dominated much of his time, but he realized he wasn’t done in the ring just yet.
“I was chomping at the bit to get back during the pandemic,” he said. “I got so busy with my career outside of wrestling, that I started thinking about life after the ring. I just realized that I wasn’t ready to do that yet.” After various friends in the NWA endorsed Billy Corgan’s organization, Tyrus reached out and soon debuted against J.R. Kratos. “It was trial by fire, but I enjoyed it and the physicality of it,” he said. “90 percent of that roster I’ve either worked with, traveled with or been around, so it was a nice homecoming, so to speak.”
Tyrus recently spoke at length about working for the NWA, his gig with the “Gutfeld” show on Fox News, celebrations and regrets during his time with the WWE and the challenges of writing a best-selling book.
What is NWA bringing to the table that other wrestling companies are not? “It’s an old school, more physical style. The guys are a lot bigger, so obviously it’s gonna be a lot different than what you see at AEW or WWE, where there’s a lot more high flying, although we do have some pretty athletic guys. It’s more the style you saw growing up in NWA, WCW and Georgia Championship Wrestling and early WWF. So it’s a different style, and it brings back the old TBS Superstation feel with filming. It’s almost like a time machine when wrestling was a little more physical in terms of ground and pound.”
What’s it like working for Billy Corgan? “It’s hard to say ‘working for him,’ because he expects you to be at a high level, and he’s there for advice, but he expects you to do what you do. It’s very reassuring that he brought you in and has such a big knowledge of the business, so he’s very hands off, but he’s there if you need him. He’s definitely not afraid to tell you what stinks, and you always know where you stand with him, which is probably the most refreshing thing in this business. A lot of times guys wait until you leave the room before they bury you. The nice thing about Billy, is if he has an issue, you’ll know about it coming from him. It’s really a great place to work and feel like you’re part of something special.”
How did you end up with the gig on Fox News? “Greg Gutfeld had a comedy show called ‘Red Eye’ at the time, and he just transitioned to start ‘The Greg Gutfeld Show,’ and it had been running a few months. On Twitter somehow I got connected to him. Some troll was saying something about him and used the F-word saying he was ‘fake as wrestling’ or some sh*t. He threw (the post) at me, and I buried the troll. Greg Gutfeld laughed and asked, ‘Hey, do you want to come on my show.’ I thought, ‘Yeah right. You’re gonna bring a wrestler on there?’ A lot of times the media hasn’t been too kind to wrestlers, and they always try to talk to us like we’re dumb or something. I’m like, ‘You picked the wrong one.’ One thing I’ve been known for is that I’m not afraid to speak my mind on the mic. So I went on the show with an open mind. He brought me on and in the first segment, I made some jokes and he said, ‘You’re really funny. If you lived in New York, I’d make you co-host.’ I said, ‘Nah, I’m not gonna move to New York anytime soon.’ So he said, ‘Why don’t you come on once a month?’ I said ‘Sure.’ I didn’t think it was gonna be a career-changing thing at the time. I was pretty happy with Impact. I had just won Bound For Glory, so I was the No. 1 contender. Then of course the bottom kind of fell out there, and there was some big changes going on. When the opportunity came after doing the show for a couple months, they offered me a contract to be there once a week. Arn used to say, ‘If you can cut a promo, you can get *sses in the seats. It doesn’t’ matter where you are. People will come see you, and you’ll make some money.’ So that’s basically what happened. To be sitting on Fox News as 2-strap Tyrus with the 10 pounds of gold would be pretty amazing.”
Will life after wrestling include more work in a broadcasting or TV news capacity? “I’ve been with Fox going on seven years. I’ve got an unbelievable deal and couldn’t be happier. One of my goals was after my in-ring career to follow in the footsteps of a Gorilla Monsoon or to be like a Jim Ross. They let me announce a little bit, and I have fun doing it. I’m probably gonna look to do a little of that. I don’t think I’ll ever be away from wrestling. I love it too much. I’m always gonna be a wrestler first. But writing a best-selling book and having a No. 1 show on late night TV are pretty awesome accomplishments. So the world’s my oyster, so to speak. But I’ll never forget what wrestling means to me and this great platform I have not only for myself but to leave the door open for other wrestlers who are looking to get into other forms of TV. Nobody knows the world better than a wrestler. We travel every nook and corner. We know how to make people love us. We know how to make people hate us. We know the people. We deal with first hand with what the fans go through. So when it comes to the feel of the people, who better than a wrestler?”
You’ve worked with a lot of legends over the years and many during your time with the WWE, and Dusty Rhodes was a particular mentor of yours. What lessons did you learn in your time there? “The thing about Dusty and me which was so awesome is very rarely did he talk to me about wrestling. He talked to me about life. I didn’t realize the life lesson was the wrestling. Some of the moments where I really questioned what my footing was, or if was I being messed with, he always broke it down to the same thing. He said, ‘You gotta paint your canvas. And it might not be with the paints you want, but you gotta make it your own.’ Those lessons meant everything to me. Road Dogg, was literally the wind beneath my wings with the whole Funkusauraus thing. He was just there and brutally honest at times, and I didn’t always appreciate it, but it helped me. Great veterans had my back. There was one time in Germany where I may or may not have possibly beaten up a whole bar (laughs). And (Chris) Jericho gave me great advice. Randy Orton jumped in the office and said ‘Don’t fire him.’ I’ve been really lucky. There was a lot of time I spent bugging guys to tell me stories. Howard Finkel, god rest his soul, I don’t think he could get away from me, or Tim White, without telling me an Andre story or a Gorilla Monsoon story. Every time Michael P.S. Hayes talks, it’s an adventure. When I look back on it, you can’t be mad when you wanted to do something you love and then you get to do it at a high level. It always didn’t go the way you wanted, but to now be in a position where guys look up to you is crazy. Wrestling isn’t forever, but using your wrestling platform not just to be in the ring but to build a platform to continue on is what makes it so special. You don’t want to be in the ring when you’re disgracing the ring. Everyone has a bump card. At some point my bump card is gonna say enough. That’s one of the messages I push to a lot of guys. Your time in the ring is short, and you gotta make sure you put yourself in a position to have a life after wrestling. It’s the same thing for NFL, NBA, UFC guys. You work so hard to get there and you forget there’s gonna come a time when it’s gone. So I’m playing with house money, but going into NWA74 I’m thinking of nothing but this match. The plan is to walk out of there 10 pounds heavier.”
Do you have any regrets about your time in WWE? “Other than Triple H’s jokes for a month (about beating up the bar in Germany (laughs)? If I had to regret anything, I think I let the fear of the unknown — I think a lot of wrestlers will talk about that — when something doesn’t go your way, it kind of snowballs. For me, I just did not handle my match getting cut at (Wrestlemania 29) well at all. For me, I had been to ’Mania, and I did the ‘Somebody call your momma,’ with the dancers and all that stuff. I wanted to be in the ring. I wanted the match. This was huge for me. Being tagged with a legend like Tensai, and with Cody and (Damien) Sandow and the girls, this was gonna be what I figured was my launching pad. And when that match was cut, psychologically it’s like you earn the right to go to the Super Bowl, and they cancel the game. For me, I think my attitude changed at that point. I very bitter, untrusting, unsure and paranoid, so to speak. I didn’t talk about it, and I think that was probably my biggest mistake. There were individuals there that would talk to me about it. I know Mark Henry tried to talk to me about it. Cena tried to talk to me about it. Triple H tried several times, but I just became very guarded. They would say, ‘We’re all a team here.’ And I would just say, ‘Go for yours. I’m going for mine.’ Handling that better probably would’ve changed my directory quite a bit.”
You released a best-selling book, “Just Tyrus,” earlier this year. What were some of the biggest challenges of putting it together? You were very candid throughout. “When I finished writing the book, and I had to read it back, I got pissed. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ I realized, especially talking about my childhood, I was like, ‘I don’t want strangers coming up to me. I’m over it. I don’t need a hug. And there’s a certain vulnerability when you’re writing. It was almost like therapy in a way, but then I didn’t realize it was like therapy that I’m gonna be sharing with everybody. You would think, ‘Why wouldn’t you realize that?’ But when you’re in the moment sometimes you don’t think about it. There was the monotony of it. The difficulty. Trying to make it all make sense. When editors want to cut stuff out, and you’re like, ‘But it’s me.’ It’s very humbling. The worst thing in the world is when they tell you its gonna debut, and my goal was, ‘If I can sell 1,000 books, that would be something.’ Or maybe make the Top 25 or the Top 100. I had no idea I was gonna be the No. 1 book at Amazon and all that. It’s crazy. It’s still selling, and people are really touched by it. I guess I was honest, and I owned my stuff. The villain in the book is me. The hero is me. And owning stuff and trying to show wisdom and taking responsibility for a lot of my own problems I created. Yeah, bad things happened, but you got scars. I got scars. It’s not what happens to us, it’s our reaction that we’re judged by. And in writing that book, I don’t think I quite understood. If you’re an arrogant person, maybe it’s a different experience. I danced with so much failure that I don’t take my fame that seriously. I don’t walk in a room, and if no one notices me, I don’t walk back out and walk back in, you know what I mean (Laughs)? You can be ‘the’ guy. And you can be the ‘Hey you got 30 seconds with Mark Henry. Step through, feed, thank you for coming.’ I’ve always kind of looked at fame that way. I don’t take it seriously. My kids don’t think a damn thing of it. They don’t watch me on TV. They don’t laugh at my jokes. So I’m humbled constantly. But for people to come up from all walks of life and talk about how they were affected by it, it’s really cool and it’s something I honestly did not expect. But I’m writing another one, so I’m obviously a glutton for punishment. This one, I’m wiser and smarter and it shouldn’t be as crazy of a process.”
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