Former WWE Superstar Officially Retires At Weekend Show
After a controversial run with WWE, wrestler leaves boots in the ring to end career.
Former WWE superstar Jaxson Ryker has been largely forgotten since he was released from the company nearly two years ago, but he popped up briefly over the weekend to make one final bow in the squared circle.
Ryker, wrestling under his Gunner moniker he used in TNA and on the independents, left his boots in the ring after competing at an AML Wrestling show in North Carolina Sunday, his first match in a year. Fightful reported in May that he announced he would be retiring at this show.
Gunner (Former WWE Superstar Jaxson Ryker) retires and leaves his boots in the ring at @AMLWrestling pic.twitter.com/ONSQJHNQ2q
Advertisement— Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net (@Casshooole) August 28, 2023
Signed to WWE in 2017, Ryker teamed up with Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler to form the Forgotten Sons in NXT, playing on Ryker and Cutler's real-life military service. The group never really achieved great success but were called up to the main roster in April 2020.
Within two months, however, it all fell apart when Ryker fired off controversial tweets supporting then-President Donald Trump in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a White police officer. Ryker worked in the Forgotten Sons' catchphrase, which drew huge criticism from several WWE superstars.
The trio were taken off TV, and Ryker was eventually repackaged as a follower of Elias, which lasted for a few months until the duo split. Ryker was released in November 2021.
Before his stint with WWE, Ryker achieved success as Gunner in TNA, where he won the Television and Tag Team Championships.