Lash LeRoux goes into detail about his return to professional wrestling.
The former WCW star is set to make his return to the business at GCW's 'Say You Will' event on September 1, 2023. LeRoux will face off against popular GCW star Joey Janela in a singles bout.
This will be LeRoux's first match in over seventeen years, as he retired from wrestling back in 2006.
While speaking to Da Podcast for a new interview, LeRoux first went into detail about why he stepped away from the business in 2006 and how he didn't make a big deal out of it at all.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my good friend Conrad Thompson. 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 went on to reveal that Conrad Thompson reached out to him a number of years ago about potentially doing a podcast.
“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, 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 would go on to eventually convince LeRoux to do the podcast, as it gave him a opportunity to reconnect 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. 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 went on to talk about AdFreeShows' recent Top Guy Weekend events, also stating that it was the place where he got back into a 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. 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.”
LeRoux and Thompson then quickly set up his return match with GCW, which will take place during AEW All Out/Starrcast VI weekend.
“Almost immediately right then, we talked to GCW and we set up that comeback and we’ll see where it goes from there. 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.”
Fightful will continue to update fans on news surrounding LeRoux and his return to the wrestling industry.
Fans can find access to LeRoux's 'Sixty Minute Time Limit Draw' shows by subscribing to AdFreeShows.
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