Alex Riley comments on his return to the ring and says he wans to get back out there.
Riley worked in WWE for several years, and he was prominently featured as The Miz's protégé. During this run, he faced stars like John Cena. Riley eventually broke off on his own and had a singles run. He later transitioned to a commentary role before he started wrestling again on the NXT brand. Riley was ultimately released on May 6, 2016. Though he had announced that he was planning an in-ring return 2019, it never became a reality.
At the Holiday Toy Drive 2022 event on December 8, Riley wrestled in his first match since his release. He teamed up with NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tyrus to face VBU (Jack Tomlinson and Dante Drago), and the duo won the bout.
Speaking on The Tyrus and Timpf Podcast, Riley commented on his return to the ring and admitted that he had some rust, but he was grateful for the opportunity. He thanked Tyrus and stated that it was a cool experience.
"I clearly had some rust on me and wanted to be in a little bit better shape. But I was really grateful to be out there, man. I was really grateful to be in front of people, and god bless you for walking out there with me. It was cool," Riley said.
Later in the podcast, Riley expressed his gratitude to Brian Myers and Matt Cardona, who ran the event alongside Create A Pro NY. He then made it clear that he intends to clean some things up and wrestle again at some point.
"It was a great charity event and thank you to Brian Myers [and Matt Cardona], yeah. With all due respect, there’s some things I have to clean up, and I plan on cleaning those up and getting back out there for another one wherever it is," he said.
Fightful Select recently reported that Riley has told people he wants to make another go of wrestling, and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tyrus has been an important part of the process. More information is available here.
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