Recently there’s been a lot of talk about retirements in the professional wrestling world, but one former Intercontinental Champion decided to come out of retirement recently.
Val Venis returned to the ring at Independent Stars of Pro Wrestling’s Legends of Wrestling Night event last week in Wildwood, New Jersey when he faced off against Rico Gold. Ultimately Rico picked up the win and Val Venis praised his opponent during a post-match speech.
“At 55 years of age, I came out of retirement to take on one of the past or something coming before us in the pro wrestling industry. I’ve wrestled all over the world with them. I fought eye to eye and toe to toe with some of the greatest performers to ever set foot in this industry. I’m a two-time Intercontinental Champion.
I came here this day thinking I would climb into this ring, look you dead square in the eyes, call this night a cakewalk. You set me up and you took me down for the 1, 2, 3. And regardless of whether the people like you or whether those people hate you, that is a win in the victory books that will last forever.”
This was Val’s first match since May of 2023 when he was defeated by Danny Morrison at the ISPW Rock N’ Wrestling event. It remains to be seen if he’s planning to wrestle more in the future.