Chris Hero will wrestle for the first time since 2020 when he faces Timothy Thacher at West Coast Pro Wrestling’s Whiplash event on November 17.
In recent months, Chris Hero has been working as a coach in AEW. He has also been the matchmaker for West Coast Pro. On November 17, the former ROH star will step back into the ring for the first time since the April 2, 2020, episode of NXT UK.
During an appearance on the Masked Man Show, Chris Hero discussed his thought process surrounding his return to the ring. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription)
“I never felt like I wasn’t going to have another match,” Chris Hero said. “There was never a point in me where I felt like, ‘Well, I’m done.’ That would be why I got a little irritated when people were like, ‘Yeah, he retired.’ Just go to my Twitter and see what I’m doing or listen to one of these interviews where everybody asks me the same thing.”
After noting that he refused to travel during the pandemic, he noted that he had some offers. However, he was waiting for the right one. Hero admitted that it took a while for him to get his body and brain back in shape.
“I had some offers,” Chris Hero said. “They weren’t bad offers, but I didn’t want something that I would say ‘yeah’ to. I wanted something where I would say, ‘F**k yes. Of course.’ I had to really be in love with the idea, and I just didn’t feel it.
“There wasn’t anything presented to me where I was like, ‘I had to do this.’ I would get opportunities that were pretty good, but it was short notice. I’ve been out. I need to get my body back in shape, my brain back in shape, and the landscape of independent wrestling; who was doing what, where would I fit in. It took me a while.”
Chris Hero Talks Working With West Coast Pro
Chris Hero went on to reflect on his time working with Ring of Honor before their hiatus and Tony Khan’s acquisition of the company. He noted that he started working behind the scenes with IWC, and that led him to West Coast Pro Wrestling. He stated that he felt something special about the company.
“I got to know the owner Scott Bregante and kept in touch,” Chris Hero said. “I presented the same thing, ‘I can work with these guys.’ You go to these shows as an older wrestler and people are like, ‘Did you see that? Can you watch that?’ You really only have so much capacity. I can get in there deep, we can watch a ten minute match, and we can spend an hour talking about it, but that’s not what everybody wants. Sometimes, they only want a thing or two. For me to really dig my claws in, I have to be there consistently and get someone’s number and check in over time and build relationships.
“I presented him with this, and he thought, ‘I don’t think we need that at this time.’ Six months later, he came back around, ‘I’m interested, let’s see what you can do.’ Scott let me come in, he brought me up to a show just to watch and hang out, and we’d talk about stuff, but I was too excited at that show. I just grabbed the microphone. ‘I’m going to be the matchmaker.’ An on-screen role to lend my credibility, not that they aren’t credible, but to facilitate matches, and then behind the scenes, I’m like, ‘Here is your time, here is the order,’ going through rehearsals.”
Chris Hero Comments On Returning To The Ring
Chris Hero then described how he realized he wanted to return to the ring. He made it clear that he wanted to make it special. Hero stated that the match against Thatcher was an immediate “yes” for him.
“Eventually, what came through was, ‘I want to get back in the ring, how can we do it, how can we make people care about it,'” Chris Hero said. “My fear, this whole time I’ve been out, is that I’ll come back, and then I’m just back.
“I want it to be special and I want it to be a moment. The wrestling cycle turns so quickly now, and I didn’t want to get run over by that cycle. I wanted to leave a footprint. It was very special to me and something I gave a ‘f**k yes’ to.”
Click here to see what Chris Hero had to say about working behind the scenes in AEW.
