With Rocky Romero‘s announcement at the G1 Climax US Special a few weeks back that one of the most popular tag teams in the world, Roppongi Vice with Trent Beretta, was breaking up so Trent could move up to the Heavyweight division as a singles wrestler, many began to fear the worst. It was no secret that a year ago, Romero was being courted by the WWE to take up a trainer position at the WWE Performance Center, but Romero chose to re-sign with NJPW for another year. But with the dissolution of RPV, many began to fear that perhaps the nearly 20-year veteran of the industry was about to hang it up and finally move on to a teaching capacity.
A few hours ago, Rocky Romero took to Periscope Live and made the announcement himself, in order to clear up the rumours. But it seems like the retirement he announced was (thankfully) not the retirement people were speculating.
“Yes, I am retiring…and no, I’m not retiring. Yes, I’m going to be retiring from active competition in the Junior Heavyweight tag team division, I’m done with it. I mean, how could I get another tag team partner after Trent?…But am I retiring from wrestling? HELL NO! I feel like I have a lot left in me, I’m 34 years old….my contract (with NJPW) is up in January of 2018. But New Japan is my home and right at this moment, I plan on staying with them and helping with the growth in the USA and all of the world.”
Romero moves on to singles competition as a 4x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and 2016 NJPW Super Jr. Tag Tournament winner alongside Trent. They’re also currently the WrestleCircus Big Top Tag Team champions. With plans for a US-based NJPW Dojo returning in early 2018, it’s a safe bet that Romero may end up becoming a trainer with the company he’s been loyal to since he started (he trained with Antonio Inoki at the NJPW Dojo in 1997).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVQp8tBPWo0
Check out the full interview here:
— ROCKY ROMERO🇵🇷 🇲🇽 🇺🇸 🇯🇵“Chico El Luchador” (@azucarRoc) July 14, 2017
