One WWE Star's Release Made Him Leave Wrestling Completely

WWE's seasonal releases have caused online uproar every time a new list of released stars is made public, but over time, most former WWE names have found their place elsewhere in the industry and often return to WWE years later. However, in the case of former Shinsuke Nakamura enforcer Rick Boogs, the former WWE name has since hung up his boots permanently and is no longer a wrestler.

Around the time of his WWE release back in September 2023, Boogs appeared on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," where he was asked whether or not he planned to keep wrestling. "No. When I first decided I was going to do wrestling, pursue it, I had to be all in on something," he said, before recalling how much he originally gave up to make the transition into a career within wrestling from a normal day job. "I was like, if I'm gonna commit to this other endeavor, I just quit my job. I have a wife and a daughter. I just got unemployed for the sake of you know, getting hungry, that I really wanted to make it happen, which my wife was not happy about. She was like, 'Why did you have to quit?'"

Around the time of his release, Rick Boogs boldly stated in the comment section of one of his YouTube videos that Vince McMahon's WWE departure effectively "killed" his career in the promotion. During the interview, Boogs further looked back at his "NXT" run, and pointed out that he attained a lot of exposure and success when he was backed by Vince McMahon, and that things starkly changed when the regime changed and Paul "Triple H" Levesque stepped into Creative. "A lot of people say, 'Oh, but he was injured.' I think I can say this: I was supposed to be brought back earlier (on camera), like, when I wasn't even cleared yet, a month or two after rehab, and I was really planning on it. I was pumped. Like, 'Oh, man, like, I can't really bend my knee yet. Let's get back up there,' and that was just kibosh," Boogs added.

Interestingly, while Boogs didn't outright claim it, he suggested that someone likely had a grudge against him, at the end of the day, while noting that he was told that the crowd was with him. "That's basically what that regime; that's all I've ever heard. It's like, Dude, this is scripted television. We can make this whatever. It's frustrating, but at the same time, I get where both sides are coming from," Boogs claimed. (Per WrestlingNews.co).