Tyrus Explains Why He Left Impact Wrestling, How The Funkasaurus Character Originated
After being released from the WWE following a stint as Brodus Clay, it did not take long for George Murdoch to land a spot on the Impact Wrestling roster. In fact, just two months after his WWE release, Murdoch debuted in Impact Wrestling as Tyrus, being primarily utilized as the bodyguard of EC3. Despite an impressive start, Tyrus found himself unhappy with his overall direction in the company, and decided to leave the company in August of 2017.
Tyrus returned in January of 2018, but as a result of being unhappy with the way he was used again, he announced that his relationship with Impact Wrestling has once again ended just a few months later.
Perhaps the peak of Tyrus' Impact Wrestling career was when he won a gauntlet match to become number one contender for the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship at the 2015 Bound for Glory pay-per-view. However, he was unable to win the championship.
Tyrus recently spoke with Busted Open Radio to explain his frustrations from with working for Impact Wrestling. He praised Dixie Carter, and was thankful for the time spend working while she was in charge. Tyrus recalled the time when he was scheduled to compete against EC3 and win the Impact World Heavyweight Championship. However, due to Impact Wrestling's financial crisis and problems with Destination America, those plans were scrapped because the company was uncertain about their future.
Instead, Matt Hardy would eventually win the title due to the Hardys' popularity being a significant factor of why the company stayed afloat and negotiated another television deal. When the Impact Wrestling management changed, Tyrus was very reluctant to stay with the company.
"When I was in the WWE, you wanted to be on that TV, and it didn't matter what situation I was in," said Tyrus. "Perfect example: when I left Alberto [Del Rio], they had ran all the things for me to kill it and I was getting ready to be this big heel. Well, Mark [Henry] came back, excited and ready to go. Kane healed up, he was gonna be a heel. Big Show, it depends on his mood. And they were like, 'do you wanna wait three months while we see what happens with Mark and Kane?' And I was like, 'no, give me whatever you want. I don't give a d**n.'"
As a result, he was given the Funkasaurus character as a babyface, because he emphasized that talent do not want to wait in the WWE, but "take the opportunity no matter what it is and make it work."
While at Impact, on the other hand, Tyrus felt that he should have waited for the right time because he had more leverage with his other endeavors. Moreover, he was not happy that he was being used to put other people over and that the company was underpaying a large amount of the roster, with some working for just $300-400 a show.
"[Impact does] 300,000 on a good week as far as ratings go, so obviously what you're doing is not working," said Tyrus. "So I think it's just best if I take my ball and go home and I'll wait this out and see what happens as far as my wrestling career. But, it's not a good thing for my brand to be a part of Impact, when every week it's a different change or a different person. It was just too much, and I felt that I had earned the right, out of the respect that my peers have for me in the ring and how I carry myself out the ring. If it's a sinking ship, I'm not going down with it. So, I just thought it was best for me to move on."
Tyrus added that Impact gave him an idea for the next TV taping to hold him over, but he thought the pitch did not keep him interested enough to stay with the company. Over the past couple of years, Tyrus has created a huge following in the area of politics, and can be seen as a regular on FOX News.
If any portion of these quotes are used, please be sure to credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Busted Open Radio