Pro-wrestling star and former NXT tag champion Tyler Breeze was the latest guest to appear on Insight With Chris Van Vilet to discuss a number of different topics, including how he’d be okay retiring from the sport after his WWE release, and how he will continue to build his own personal brand now that he’s a free agent.
On whether he wants to continue wrestling:
“It depends. I mean there is a lot happening in wrestling right now. It’s cool and it’s something we tell our students at Flatbacks Wrestling School. We say to the students ‘Guys it’s not as far away as you think. The students we are training now have been on AEW Dark and NXT. It’s right there. Right now is a good time in wrestling. But right now, let’s say on AEW, there are a lot of people debuting and there are a lot of people moving around all over the place. If I go there, I don’t know if it would make a massive impact. Now it’s kind of the norm, people are going over there and there might be some big names going over there. Nobody knows what is happening, but I don’t think now is the right time for me to go towards there. At the same time, I have wrestled for 14 years straight. I’m OK with taking a little bit of a break. My body likes it and I am getting enough wrestling at the school to keep my body good. I’m not currently taking any bookings. Going out there and getting injured, it doesn’t really appeal to me. If there was a match that was fun, I think I might do it. But I have scratched the wrestling itch, but if it comes back, then maybe.”
On being okay with retiring:
“I’m very, very happy with everything that I’ve accomplished. Now at 33 years old, if I really wanted to, I could say I’m retired. I could go, ‘yeah this is about as retired as I’m going to be. I’m going to run the school, I’m going to teach people’. I have no surgeries, I’m very, very healthy. Like that is a good accomplishment for me and in the end, overall more than anything wrestling is always wrestling. It is off to the side. You have to be happy in life and I’m very happy in my life. I love my life, I think it’s great. No matter what people want to say, I’m very happy.”
Talks building his personal brand outside of wrestling:
“Building our value outside of the ring was always the goal for us. Luckily, UpUpDownDown has done wonders for us. Creed is awesome like that. He will take guys that you just know from their matches. Maybe they don’t get to talk a lot and you get to know what kind of a person they are and they have really good personalities. So he will put them in a spot where you will get to see that personality. All of a sudden you go ‘Wow I want to see more of that guy, he is really cool.’ Maybe the only place that you get to see that is UpUpDownDown. Now, not only is he building his own stock, but he is helping everybody around him. Rising tides lift all boats, he lives by that. It’s not just for him, it’s as many people as he can help, and he will. If I didn’t do this, I would just be another random guy trying to get my foot in the door.”
Full interview is below.