Former WWE star explains in-ring return after nine years

Dozens of former WWE stars have wrestled again several years after their in-ring careers appeared to be over. Ezekiel Jackson, a WWE talent between 2007 and 2014, recently addressed the reason for his upcoming return.

On March 15, Jackson will compete in his first match since October 2015, at an FWE event in North Carolina. He has not wrestled since teaming up with Absolute Andy and John Klinger to defeat Kevin Roadster and Marius van Beethoven at a wXw show.

In an interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Jackson said the German promotion had misinterpreted his statement and prematurely announced his retirement after the match in 2015. Almost a decade later, the 46-year-old believes he has unfinished business in the wrestling industry.

"It always sits on my shoulder that, man, did I finish this correctly?" Jackson stated. "How my 'retirement' went last time, I was at wXw in Germany and somewhere it got lost in translation. I told the guys, I said, 'Man, if this was my last match, that's been a great thing.' All they heard was 'last match, great thing.' By the time I got in my car to drive from wherever, Germany, Frankfurt, my Twitter had blown up, 'Ezekiel Jackson announced his retirement.'" [0:43 – 1:19]

Jackson won the Intercontinental Championship during his time in WWE. He was also the last wrestler to hold the ECW Championship before the title was retired in 2010.

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How ex-WWE star Ezekiel Jackson reacted to his 'retirement'

Although he did not initially plan to retire, Ezekiel Jackson stopped wrestling after the event in Germany because he wanted to become a personal trainer.

At the time, the former WWE star could not understand why wXw told fans he had retired without asking for permission.

"I called the dude [promoter]," Johnson continued. "I was like, 'Dude, I did not announce my retirement.' 'Well, one of the guys heard something and my social media guy just ran with it.' I'm like, 'That's not cool,' and literally, though, I got home, my wife and I decided we were gonna move from LA to the Bay Area, and that's when I ended my contract with Lucha Underground and moved to the Bay and started my personal training business." [1:21 – 1:47]

Jackson's final WWE match took place in April 2013. He teamed up with Yoshi Tatsu to defeat Camacho and Hunico at a WrestleMania Axxess event.

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Please credit MuscleManMalcolm and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.