Taylor Rust‘s return to Ring of Honor may not have worked out the way he hoped it would, but this comeback offered a clear demonstration of his mindset surrounding his wrestling career at this stage of his journey.
After WWE released Rust on August 6, he returned to ROH at the promotion’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view and picked up a win over fellow free agent Jake Atlas in a buzzworthy match. Less than two months later, ROH announced its plan to go on hiatus and “reimagine” itself in the first quarter of 2022. Alongside this announcement, several outlets reported that the company wouldn’t renew the contracts of its talent roster at the end of the year. As a result, for the second time in 2021, Rust had to prepare for free agency.
In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Rust described how his return at ROH Death Before Dishonor had been exactly what he wanted because it reintroduced him to the non-WWE wrestling world in a high-profile way. He explained that, at this point in his career, which dates back to 2004, he’s focused on wrestling meaningful matches, rather than appearing at random local shows. To Rust, this approach is important for a competitor’s growth and advancement.
“…It was like this is the way I wanna come back,” said Rust. “This is the way I wanna really kind of make my [return]… back to the world of professional wrestling outside of WWE. You know, ROH Death Before Dishonor, that’s a statement, man. You know, if I come back and I just appear on some local town’s independent show, not knocking it, but like I’m past that stage of my career, man. Like if that’s all I’m worth anymore, then I probably shouldn’t wrestle, I don’t think. I think my time might be done. So staying in these high-profile events is very necessary, for me at least, my own personal standing, to be able to show that your worth is constantly there. It’s not so much you have a good match, it’s where you’re having a match.
“I’ve had countless very very good matches in NowhereKnowsIt, Oregon, and I got tired of those days a long time ago. Now it’s really, really important to me to be able to have these outings where it matters and when it matters because otherwise, you’re not really growing and advancing yourself. And so pushing for it, maybe it might be hard to come by, but pushing for those high-profile [matches], that’s really essential, I think, in your growth, you know, making it worth it.”
In the short-term future, Rust confirmed that he’ll be working some dates with New Japan Strong, and he expressed his desire to compete in Japan once international travel is more feasible. The California native made it clear that he’s not against doing dates around the American independent scene, but this option isn’t his “biggest priority” right now.
“Well going forward, I know firstly I’ll be with New Japan, New Japan Strong, coming up here for their dates,” said Rust. “So you’ll be able to see me touring around with them a good bit. That’ll be very fun. That’s definitely, you know, New Japan Pro-Wrestling is one of the biggest companies in the entire world in general, so incredible opportunity there to be able to hopefully go and tour Japan with them as soon as international travel kind of becomes easier. The independents around the states, again, not that I’m not open to doing dates around, it’s just that it’s never been like the biggest priority I think at my point right now.”
Speaking of his hope to compete overseas for NJPW, Rust called the promotion a “hot bed for incredible talent.” But for now, due to travel restrictions, he’ll focus on his work with NJPW Strong, and he named his former teammate Tom Lawlor as someone he’d like to face on the brand.
In a more general sense, Rust, who will turn 35 in January, is mindful of the fact that there comes a point in every wrestler’s career when it’s time to hang up their boots. In focusing on the financial perspective, he acknowledged the way the independent wrestling world is currently booming right now, but he’s taking his journey one day at a time and seeing how much longer his in-ring career will remain profitable.
“As long as I’m able to keep it up and wrestling’s staying profitable, then I’ll stay in the industry,” said Rust. “But when the day comes that hey, it’s not profitable anymore, when the day comes that it’s like maybe you need to take a step back and reassess things, then maybe that’s the day I decide wrestling’s not for me anymore. Maybe my time has come at that point, you know. As long as it stays consistent right now, and right now it is, it’s going very well. There’s a lot going on.
“As long as there’s still a place in the world, regardless if it’s with a contracted company like AEW, or if ROH returns and they start doing contracts again, or New Japan, or it’s not that and it’s just freelancing throughout the wrestling industry, which is really what the original wrestling world’s always based around, like hey, guys would just go from territory to territory. Whatever it be, as long as it’s profitable and it’s working, then it’s working. But for me right now, I think I’m just kind of taking it as it comes and seeing how this next year is and assessing it kind of a day at a time, man.”
Rust has already returned to NJPW Strong; he competed at the “Nemesis” taping on December 9, where he faced Lawlor in a six-man tag team bout.
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