After first signing with WWE NXT in 2017, Rick Boogs spent a couple of years on the shelf and largely remained part of the developmental brand until 2020.
The following year, he debuted on SmackDown and was used as Shinsuke Nakamura's hype man, playing his entrance them with an electric guitar. They were paired up as a tag team until Boogs was injured again, leaving him out of action until this past January.
Nothing much else happened with him after that and, last September, Boogs was released by WWE.
Talking to Chris Van Vliet, the former WWE Superstar finally addressed his firing. Saying he's "great" and "better than ever right now," Boogs went on to reveal whether he believes Vince McMahon was the one who pulled the plug on his time in the company.
"If you just look at it objectively, like look at my NXT run, and then look at, you know, when I was seen by Vince, and look at that run, and then when management or the whole regime changed again, look at that run," he said, seemingly alluding to Triple H not having the same faith in him that his predecessor did.
"So a lot of people say, 'Oh, but he was injured.' I was supposed to be brought back earlier [on camera], like, when I wasn't even cleared yet, a month or two after rehab and I was really planning on it. I was pumped. Like, 'Oh, man, like, I can't really bend my knee yet. Let's get back up there', and that was just kibosh."
"I mean, if you want to talk about my second run on the main roster," Boogs added when asked if he was expecting his release. "I mean, I kind of saw the writing on the wall, but it wasn't like, 'Alright, well let me get ready for it.'"
Regardless of the circumstances behind his firing, after a stop-and-start run in WWE, he'd go on to confirm he's done with professional wrestling.
"When I first decided I was going to do wrestling, pursue it, I had to be all in on something. So like, I was doing strength and conditioning stuff, personal training. I was like, if I'm gonna commit to this other endeavor, I just quit my job," Boogs said of how committed he was to once become a pro wrestler. "I just got unemployed for the sake of you know, getting hungry that I really wanted to make it happen."
Presumably, we won't be seeing him in the squared circle again then, something which might be for the best after all those injuries. You can watch the full interview in the player below.