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An emotional roller-coaster of a week for this man and his fans alike. In his first interview after announcing his retirement, Marko Stunt sits down with Pluggo on Love Wrestling Interviews! Marko details both the bad and the good that lead to his decision to retire, and shares his ambitions for Pro Wrestling Adrenaline, the promotion he and his team run in the North MS/ Memphis area.
Transcription by Pluggo (@Pluggo_) of Love Wrestling,
HIGHLIGHTS
How injuries informed his retirement decision (01:18)
MS: “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.
Attempting to return to wrestling, family reaction (06:27)
MS: “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.
Favourite career moment, Jurassic Express (13:15)
MS: “I think immediately my mind goes to the match where Luchasaurus got hurt in the tag title tournament, and it ended up being me and Jack [Perry] versus the Lucha Brothers. That was a huge night for me. There’s always going to be those negative comments and stuff, and that happens, but the amount of love and support that I got after that night, it felt like something turned around for a minute there. To be honest, the reason behind that has a lot to do with Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus, both on-screen and off-screen, is literally is like a protector. He looked out for me. Him and Jack both, but Luchasaurus was one of the ones who made that tag match happen. He was like ‘no, let Marko do it’.”
“I firmly believe we were one of the most dynamic groups in all of wrestling. Honestly, I still think there could be something there, but my brain goes into creative mode all the time. Luchasaurus is a big reason for a lot of the stuff that I did. Him and Jack pushed for me like crazy. Everybody says they were Jurassic Express, and I was with Jurassic Express. I was lucky to be with Jurassic Express. I loved being with Jurassic Express. We’re actual friends. It worked out to be able to go out there, as friends, and be a team. We’re already a team behind the scenes, so it’s easier to be a team on screen. I still talk to both of them quite frequently. They both reached out after I made the post [about retiring]. I talked to Luchasaurus for probably an hour on the phone. It was a very good conversation.”
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