Beloved 45-year-old AEW veteran gives real reason why he retired

A major figure within AEW has recently spoken about their in-ring career and why this came to an end as early as it did. After realizing that it was time to retire, they have put all their focus on another aspect of the company.

Excalibur is one of, if not the central figure, on AEW's commentary desk. He has been around since their first show in 2019 and has continued to lead the desk on AEW Dynamite and during pay-per-views. Over the years, he has been joined by the Taz, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, and Nigel McGuinness, among others.

While appearing on Tony Schiavone's What Happened When? podcast a few weeks ago, the two briefly spoke about Excalibur's in-ring career. He mentioned the real reason he retired, saying that after competing for some time and sustaining several injuries, he decided to quit the ring for long-term health purposes.

"I wrestled for a number of years, but in doing so, picked up a lot of injuries, you know? Knees, lower back, shoulder, and then the thing that scared me the most was the head injuries, and I had quite a few concussions throughout my career. So I think it was 2008, I finally decided, just for my long-term health, I was never going to be a pro wrestler."

He continued by talking about how he realized that this was something he could not do full-time. Fortunately, he had a backup, which was commentary, that would keep him in wrestling without the risk.

"I was–that was never going to be my full-time income, my full-time vocation that, you know, for my long-term health, it was something that I kind of needed to stop doing, and luckily I had commentary. So that kept me involved, that kind of scratched the itch, and it was–I don't want to say I never missed getting into the ring, but time went on, I realized I was a lot better at talking about wrestling than I ever was doing it, and so that made me feel a lot better." [H/T WrestlingInc.]

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The AEW commentator shared hilarious story about Sofia Vergara

Before joining AEW, Excalibur was known as a major figure in Pro-Wrestling Guerilla (PWG), a company he co-founded. This was a promotion on the independent circuit that several top names from around the world had made appearances in before they ceased operations.

During the same podcast with Tony Schiavone, the 45-year-old revealed that Sofia Vergara and the cast of the hit TV series, "True Blood," came for a PWG show in the past. The "Modern Family" star then posted pictures from the show, and Excalibur can be seen lying out on the mat with his backside exposed to the camera.

"The cast of ‘True Blood’ came along with Chris, and Sofia Vergara was married to Joe Manganiello at the time. He was on True Blood and that’s how she was there. There is a photo she posted on Instagram where she’s looking pretty and is next to the ring and it reads, “I think they’re dead.’ My claim to fame is that it is my exposed b**t crack that is right behind her."- H/T Fightful

Fightful Wrestling

@Fightful

Excalibur says his exposed butt crack being photographed behind Sofia Vergara is his claim to fame 😂: (via What Happened When with Tony Schiavone and @HeyHeyItsConrad). “The most surprising was Sofia Vergara. That is the first name that comes to mind for a lot of people in

The veteran is a major figure in AEW, where he works with several top names in the industry, as well as some whom he has known for decades.