“No makeup, No script. No lighting,” former professional wrestler Tyrus said of his new OutKick show. “It will look like it’s an abandoned room and I’ll just hop in like it’s up and roll and that’s it.” He added, “Reading stuff on TV is pointless. So when I show up, let’s just go.”
Tyrus told Barrett News Media that life after wrestling isn’t as much retirement as it is a “reorganization.”
“I was getting so busy and it’s a good thing it’s all or nothing. My wrestling stuff was starting to get harder and harder to do, like, realistically go out there. I had an injury and it wasn’t healing right.”
He later added, “I went to my kids and was like, ‘Hey, if dad was going to retire from wrestling, would you guys be cool with that?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, because we have games.’ So I was like, alright. So the kids kind of made the call.”
However, leaving the ring didn’t exactly clear up G-Rilla’s schedule.
“It’s just one thing went away and then quickly got filled up by something else. So I shouldn’t use the word retire. Then, of course, I miss all my friends and my buddies because I wasn’t even really about wrestling in the ring more than just hanging out in a locker room with my buddies all day.”
Tyrus said of the locker room, “It’s the last place where an alpha male is still an alpha male without having to go, ‘Did I say something that’s going to trigger somebody?’ So I missed that more than almost more than being in the ring.”
The former substitute teacher and bodyguard did say the skills from his previous careers help him with his show, “Thousand percent. Everything is kind of if you prepare for it,[and] I prepare for it.”
He added, “Each time you learn a new skill, you’re honing that. So it all comes, but you have the same preparation. Like wrestling, football, acting, everything is prepped. Film study, book reading, knowing I have to know everything about what I’m doing and if not I’m in trouble.”
Tyrus went on to say, “Pound for pound, (I’m) among the biggest bookworms on the planet. I have to read. I find it boring to go on the show and just agree. Like everybody has the same mindset. Doesn’t mean we all say the same things and there’s always a different side.”
What makes the former pro unique is his willingness to hear other people out.
“I know how I feel. But when you go and you talk in front of people, it’s a really good idea to understand how they feel about it. Even if you don’t agree with it, even if you don’t like it.
“I try to hear the whole argument and this kind of figure, the somewhere in the middle. And that used to be a normal thing. That wasn’t a great skill. But, lately, it seems to be a great skill,” he continued. :Listening to both sides and saying, ‘Well, I think we both have points here, but I kind of feel this way,’ and they call it common sense. Apparently, that means you’re brilliant, but common sense is basically being a C student.”
While his common sense moves are impressing many, fans of The Funkasaurus may be wondering if he will be dancing on his new show. “I made a promise to my daughters — who are excellent dancers and they take ballet and other forms of dance and play soccer and basketball — to never dance publicly again when I won the WWE Dancer of the Year award. It’s a trophy I’m proud of. It’s trophy that’s much bigger– they’re little dancing trophies. So I promise them to never dance again.”
While his dancing days are over, Tyrus is filling his spare time with fish husbandry, this inspiration came from Sir David Attenborough. “[He] was probably one of the biggest influences in my life. He has been the narrator of my animal journey my entire life.”
He added, “I was fascinated by it, the way he talked about animals. I wanted to be a zoologist and all that stuff, but I got football and acting, so kind of got in the way of that. But for balance, like when I travel on the plane, the only movies I have are David Attenborough animal movies, like Planet Earth.” He also added Lou Ferrigno, Dusty Rhodes, and James Earl Jones to those who have influenced him.
Whatever stage of life people are in or where they want to go, Tyrus’s advice is this, “Never accept ‘No.’ Never. People are going to tell you you’re too big or small. Look, the part of you background is that they know somebody that’s better than you. Never accept no.”
He added, “Always listen to the voice and do not be afraid to try something. We all want to specialize and our dream is to be an influencer. But that path to influencing might lead you to somewhere else.”
Tyrus went on to say, “Don’t be so quick to be like, ‘Oh, that’s not what I dreamed of.’ Become good at something and use that something that you’re good at as ground game. Me? My ground game with my teaching degree.”
The OutKick host said of his “Plan B”, “If all this goes away, [if] I make one bad joke tomorrow all this TV stuff I’m doing is gone. But in a few months, I’ll be teaching high school somewhere and life will go on.”
His final note was this, “I’m always looking for the next steps and when things don’t go your way, you’re going to get fired. You’re going to fail, going to get disappointed. There’s going to be something and you’re going to get punched in the mouth. You’re not being judged when you get hit. You get judged on your reaction.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
