Former WCW star Lash LeRoux is set to make his pro wrestling return on Friday, September 1 at GCW’s Say You Will event in Hoffman Estates, IL. LeRoux will face Joey Janela in what will be his first match since early 2006.
LeRoux recently spoke with Da Podcast and talked about how he quietly walked away from the industry in 2006 after a match with Bull Buchanan, who is the father to WWE NXT Superstar Brooks Jensen. LeRoux recalled how he got lost in the shuffle in WWE developmental after WCW was bought. After being released from his WWE deal in late 2001, LeRoux worked the indies and made an appearance for TNA, but suffered a neck injury at an indie show. After 7 months on the shelf, LeRoux returned to action and made more appearances for TNA. He also continued working the indies before hanging up his boots in 2006. He later became a youth pastor.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my good friend Conrad Thompson,” LeRoux said. “I banged the idea around for a while but I was never going to be the guy that if I retired, I was going to play hokey pokey with the business. I was going to put one foot in, one foot out, one foot in, one foot out. When I decided it was time for me to retire, a lot of what built up to that was not [many] places to go, injuries catching up with me, passion losing me, I got lost in the shuffle slightly there in the developmental up there in WWE when I did not sign a developmental contract. When I signed over with them, I signed over with the understanding I was signing a talent contract and I was expected to be put in the TV mix. When I wasn’t, I was young and that’s the other thing that people don’t realize is that, I always looked older than I was. I always kind of played older and I had to mature really quick at a young age and because of that, I came off a lot older than I was. When I really felt like it was time for me to go and time for me to hang up my boots and ride off in the sunset, I had an independent match against Bull Buchanan and I knew we’d have a good match. I walked up to Bull and I said, ‘Dude, this is going to be my last match’ and he goes ‘Yeah, sure it is’ and he patted me on the back. Went out, had a wrestling match, rolled out of the ring and never got back into a ring. I didn’t cut a promo about it, I didn’t promote it on social media, I didn’t talk about it in interviews, I didn’t do interviews after the fact to explain why I did it. I just rode off into the sunset and I was a ghost for about ten years, I didn’t have any social media or anything. I just let fans sort of forget about me and I moved on with my life and tried to find a new identity for myself and tried to figure out what’s going to be next for me personally.”
LeRoux also talked about how Conrad Thompson reached out to him to do a podcast a few years ago.
“Maybe three years ago, maybe even four or five years ago now, is when Conrad Thompson first approached me, and this was even pre-COVID,” Lash said. “He first approached me about possibly doing a podcast where I would somehow have my art involved in that and draw live or something like that. I thought, man thank you so much for asking, but I don’t think I want to be around the wrestling business because I’m the kind of person who isn’t going to halfway do anything. If I put my foot in, I’m afraid I’ll wind up in completely again and I kind of left that behind me.”
Thompson eventually convinced LeRoux to do his “Quick on the Draw” podcast, and that gave him an opportunity to re-connect with fans.
“So Conrad respectfully accepted that and moved on and about two years after that, he approached the subject again and the timing felt right and I’m like, you know what, let’s try this thing and see what happens,” he said. “What took place in the process of that was, I’m doing these monthly drawing sessions that we call sixty minute time limit draw with Lash Leroux that’s on AdFreeShows.com. I draw live on a iPad and I have a TV beside me and fans can see what I’m drawing on the screen, so if we’re talking about The Undertaker’s retirement, I’m drawing The Undertaker and I’ve got an hour to do it. I’ve got a time limit draw, right? Fans are zooming in and they get to ask me questions and ask me what it was like to know him and work with him and all of this stuff and I try to finish the drawing by the time that sixty minutes is up. Then after I’m done, I take that print and I sell that print to the fans. That helped me see once again how much I loved interaction with fans. I forgot just how generous, how wonderful they are, and how good they are to us wrestlers.”
LeRoux also talked about AdFreeShows’ recent Top Guy Weekend events, and how that was the place where he got back into an actual wrestling ring for the first time in many years.
“So Conrad had this Top Guy Weekend up in Huntsville, which is not too far from me, about a month ago and he asked me to come up there and be a part of that and draw characters,” LeRoux recalled. “So I was a part of that, I drew characters and I did an open panel with Road Dogg up there and we talked to the fans and interacted with the fans and enjoyed that a lot. They had a show as part of the festivities over the weekend, fans kind of got to book a show and put it together. It was a great day, we went to leave that day and I’m walking out of this empty building and I see a wrestling ring and I said, ‘Man, it’s been a long time, I’ve got to at least step in there and see what happens.’ I went in, took a couple bumps and said, man that felt good, it felt like riding a bike. There was a nice guy there that was a local talent and I said, ‘Man, mind if I shoot you in and see if I can throw a dropkick?’ I shot him in, threw a dropkick, hit it on the button, I was feeling the feels again. Maybe a couple weeks later, I was talking to Conrad and Conrad asked me about Starrcast weekend and how serious I would be about making a comeback and I said, well if it was right and the circumstances were good and I thought it made a impact and it wasn’t just me having a match for the sake of having a match, sure.”
Following that weekend, LeRoux and Thompson quickly set up the return match with GCW against Janela, which will take place during AEW All Out/Starrcast VI weekend near Chicago.
“Almost immediately right then, we talked to GCW and we set up that comeback and we’ll see where it goes from there,” LeRoux revealed. “This has very much been fan driven, I didn’t chase it, it seems to have come to me. I don’t know what to expect that weekend, but I’m going to give everybody all that I’ve got.”
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.