Mike Bucci Opens Up About Impending Retirement Match

Mike Bucci, best known as Nova in ECW and Simon Dean in WWE, is set to wrestle his final match, teaming with Aron Stevens and Frankie Kazarian to take on Pat Buck, Brian Myers, and former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Zack Ryder at Stand Alone Wrestling Contest of Champions. Bucci stopped by "Busted Open Radio" to discuss his mindset heading into his final contest

"I've only done like three shows in the last three years," Bucci said, noting that he's done a Blue World Order reunion with The Blue Meanie in WrestlePro Alaska, as well as a previous match for Stand Alone. "I was never going to do a official last match. I just didn't feel like I warranted it. I didn't think I was big enough to have an honor like that.

Bucci notes that his final bout is really for his friends and his fans, noting that he'll have people in attendance that he hasn't seen in many years. Bucci is also putting in plenty of work ahead of the match.

"I'm down about 15-20 [lbs.] in the last three months or so. I'm not going to be Nova Prime from 1996. I'd love to be that, but that maniac was getting up at 2 in the morning and drinking shakes." Bucci says he's going to OVW to train with Al Snow, but won't be trying to overexert himself.

"I'm not going do anything I can't handle next week," Bucci confessed. "Odds are I'll be hidden," he joked, noting it's his partners who will do the "heavy lifting."

"This is going to be a celebration of a bunch of guys who started this thing together," Bucci continued, noting that his tag team partners are dear friends. He teamed with Kazarian to great success on the post-ECW independent circuit, and Stevens is the godfather of Bucci's daughter. The match is set for December 3.