Former WWE star Taylor Rust has been absent from professional wrestling for over three years. His last match took place at the NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed event in August 2022, where he teamed up with KUSHIDA, Trent Beretta, and Rocky Romero to face Chase Owens, Hikuleo, Juice Robinson, and Jay White from The Bullet Club, ultimately losing the match.
According to Sean Ross Sapp in the latest edition of Fightful Select Answers, when asked by a fan about Taylor Rust's whereabouts during his extended absence, it was revealed that he is “out of wrestling.” This decision is attributed to the toll that nearly two decades of in-ring work has taken on his body. Sapp also mentioned that NJPW had a high regard for Rust when they brought him in, but with the company no longer operating its U.S. branch, many wrestlers are not being booked.
Rust began his professional wrestling career in 2004 and made several appearances for WWE between 2008 and 2019, eventually signing a contract with the company in December 2020. He performed as a heel for several months on NXT under the ring name Tyler Rust, alongside Tommaso Ciampa and Malcolm Bivens, before being unexpectedly released in August 2021. After his release, Rust competed multiple times in AEW, ROH, and NJPW under the ring name Taylor Rust.
