On November 1st, Mark Stunt announced his retirement from pro wrestling.
Marko said he needed to prioritize his long-term health, which is why he made the decision to retirement.
Speaking to Pluggo of Love Wrestling, Marko gave further insight into his decision.
"So, it’s something that I’ve been trying to avoid for a while. I’ve been dealing with a lot of lower back issues, and I found out why now. It’s just something that I’ve been trying to put off. I knew it was bound to happen eventually, but I thought I might have had a few more years in me, [and] have one more good run. I went to the doctor, they did a whole bunch of diagnostic tests and looked into a whole bunch of stuff on me. They noticed that might right hip is rotating inwards, and it’s causing my tailbone to be shifted off to the side. It’s just causing a whole bunch of pain. If I were to continue doing it, with how my hip already is - I will say, I’m already short, right? I’m a small person! But, my right leg, because of the hip thing, is shorter than my left now. Which, is a normal thing. A lot of people have shorter legs, or one leg shorter than the other, but that’s the reason for mine. It’s going to just continue to do that, so I don’t have all the strength in my right leg anymore. I have a good amount of strength: they caught it at a good time. We caught it early enough to where I don’t have to go have surgery next month or anything. We’re going to see what we can do. But, their recommendation was, for my long term health, to step away [from wrestling]. There is that possibility of being paralyzed. That was a wake up call.
"I’ve got a family now. Not everybody knows that, but I’ve got a family now. I’ve got a daughter. The last two years have been a whirlwind of great stuff, and obviously, there’s been some not-so-great stuff that has happened. I’m in a great place in my life, regardless of having to step away from the ring, physically. I’m happy where things are going. I’m happy where things are looking. I’m excited to have a family, and to grow a family, and to focus on that as much as I can while still doing as much as I can with wrestling."
Stunt has only wrestled a handful of times since 2023. He returned to AEW in July, facing Jack Perry for the AEW TNT Championship.
Marko continued, "It’s tough. I’ve had this consistent pain - it’s not always terrible - for a while now. I took two years off, at least, from in-ring action, and then came back. I actually think if I had just continued I’d feel better than I do now that I took the time off and came back and reintroduced myself [to wrestling]. I just had a match last week, and it was great. I had fun! My cardio’s not as good as it used to be, but it was fun. I felt good. But, I woke up the next morning, and I felt it. I felt good mentally, and I was like ‘man, I know this hurts, but I feel like I could keep going’. I had a doctor’s appointment already [scheduled], and I was like ‘okay, I’m going to go, let’s see what this is like,’ and they told me all that. I talked to my family, and I was like ‘this is what they said. This is what could happen, and this is what I’m thinking’. They were fully supportive. I think it’s a sigh of relief for them, almost, because they already don’t like seeing - they enjoy seeing me wrestle, but they don’t enjoy seeing me wrestle at the same time."
Marko competed for AEW, GCW, and more independent promotions during his career.
Fans can watch the full interview with Marko in the video above.
Fans can support Marko by purchasing merchandise here.
