Mike Bucci, formerly known as Nova in ECW and Simon Dean in WWE, talks about adjusting to life beyond the mat.
Nova recently officially ended his wrestling career for good. In the latter years of his career he had only Wrestled a handful of matches altogether. Now he fully embraces life after professional wrestling and hopes that future generations of wrestlers will begin to do the same much quicker than his contemporaries.
Now he is speaking to Sean Ross Sapp about life after wrestling. The former OVW Champion noted that adjusting to life outside of the ring for him has been very easy. He often stresses the importance of understanding that there is a life after the squared circle.
"This is what I would say to anyone who’s in pro wrestling," he said. "There is life after the bell, and I can’t emphasize that enough. If you’re in wrestling now, realize that you’re getting the greatest school of hard knocks street education you can ever get in your life. You’re learning how to work. You’re learning how to work a room, how to cut promos, how to get over, how to communicate with folks, how to interact, how to do media. You’re just learning a skill set. You don’t even realize you’re learning it while you’re doing it, but you can take that and you can use it in the real world. Kevin Fertig has done it. Matt Morgan has done it. Johnny Jeter, my buddy Kevin Keenan, there’s a whole bunch of guys who have been able to do this.
"So over the years, my generation of guys in the late 90s / early 2000s, I’m hoping that’s the last generation of guys that—I hate saying this—hang on forever or never realize they can do more," he continued. "The odds are now, if you’re getting in, you’re probably gonna have a shorter career, Maybe five, ten, fifteen years at max. You’re gonna have to find a second act. I don’t care what it is. You can be passionate about it. You can enjoy yourself. I got into banking and finance. I serve on several boards and committees. I do a ton of charity work. I love working with these different non-profit organizations."
Furthermore, Bucci says that while he doesn't miss wrestling, he does miss the environment, the camaraderie, and the fans. Referencing the 2008 movie "The Wrestler," Bucci noted that he wishes former wrestlers could be recognized for their success stories and not only when their lives turn to a tragedy like the main protagonist in the film portrayed by Mickey Rourke.
"I’ve been very fortunate, but I’ve embraced it, and I don’t miss it," said Bucci. "I miss the guys, the girls, the fans. I miss the physicalness of wrestling at times. But I don’t miss a lot of the other stuff that came with it because it drove me nuts. I wish more of us in wrestling can get recognized for what we did when it’s not a tragedy. We all don’t end up like Randy the Ram. It drives me nuts everybody thinks we wound up like that. But we don’t. Pro wrestling took me around the world. It helped shape who I am today. I owe everything to it. I think sometimes we only glamorize the bad stuff involved in it, [but] the wrestling fans are the ones who made it all possible.
"I tell people all the time, I made some money in wrestling, but I made a lot more outside of it. The skills I learned in wrestling, I took into the real world. So it doesn’t end, man," he added. "If you’re a wrestler and you’ve been cut, or you moved on, whatever it might be, just know there’s a second act. There’s a third act. You just gotta keep going. What was your dream? Did you want to be a pro wrestler or just be in the main event of WrestleMania? ‘Cause there’s only been 39 main events at WrestleMania, right? There’s only so many guys that can be in that. So if you gave this your best shot and you maybe got cut, just know there’s more to this. You can keep going, or you can move on and do something in the real world. So, there’s no harm in it."
Nova had his final wrestling match on December 3, 2022, completing a 30-year career that saw him compete in WWE, ECW, OVW, and more. Aside from his work inside the ring, Nova was also part of the WWE developmental system behind the scenes.
Many former ECW alumni have yet to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Recently, Tommy Dreamer, another former ECW Superstar who spent time working in WWE's developmental system, noted that he would like to be inducted when WrestleMania comes to Philadelphia in 2024. Learn more here.
