ZZ from Tough Enough isn't done wrestling yet. He's just a little busy right now.
ZZ wasn't the winner of the 2015 season of WWE Tough Enough, but he did come in second place and signed a developmental contract. He was also on the WWE Network reality series, WWE Breaking Ground. He's only ever had four matches in his entire career, and only one of them took place in WWE outside of the Tough Enough series, a 2016 victory at an NXT house show over the man who would go on to be known as Oney Lorcan.
Still, ZZ doesn't consider himself to be retired. Appearing on the Developmentally Speaking podcast, ZZ said that, while he is by no means retired, he is a little busy right now running his swamp tour, which is where he believes he's meant to be.
"When I got home, everybody wanted me to go wrestle on the independent circuit. ‘Okay, alright.’ I’m a people pleaser, so I’m going to do what the crowd wants. I went to find an organization out of New Orleans called WildKat Sports," he revealed. "When I got there, I went through all the dues and did all the running. I was in there for a little while, but it slowly started to fade out for me. You are gonna eat powdered meat and Vienna sausage until you get to the top. That’s just what it is. There is no middle comfortable crowd. You’re either living from couch to couch on the independent circuit or you’re at the top. I understand that some wrestlers have found a sweet spot and can make a decent living wrestling for different promoters and they charge different prices, but at the time, where I was and who I was, my age, for me, this swamp tour is what made me. This is my bread and butter. I couldn’t give 100% to wrestling at the time and I couldn’t give 100% to [the swamp tour]. The more I worked here, the more tired I was at wrestling practice. The more tired I was at wrestling practice, the more I got hurt. The more I got hurt, the more I couldn’t give 100% to [the swamp tour]. They were hindering each other, and eventually, I had to pick. ‘What do I want to be known for? Where do I see my life in five years?’ I came back home and I settled in. I don’t have any hard feelings towards WildKat Sports. Luke Hawx is a great guy. Whenever he has family come in, we’ll do tours together. I came home and I leaned into my tour.
"By no means am I retired," he continued. "I didn’t leave WWE and go sit on a ranch somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but I did come back to my swamp tour and my swamp. Not full-blown retired, I’m still incredibly busy, but this is more or less where I believe I’m meant to be."
At this link, you can read about ZZ recalling that those around him at the time felt he would be added to the Wyatt Family.
Should you use any of the above quotes, be sure to link back to this article, giving Fightful credit for the transcription.
