Taylor Rust had a whirlwind 2020 before eventually signing with WWE.
Rust went over to Germany to compete for wXw and AMBITION. Upon returning to America, Rust continued his work at the Animal Shelter while the pandemic was in the early stages. Rust would eventually find himself in the ROH Pure Title Tournament, leading to him signing with WWE.
"I got a text asking me to be in the ROH Pure Title tournament. I was making some good waves and getting a lot of good momentum before the pandemic happened," Rust recalled on ROH Strong. "I was in the 16 Carat (Tournament) in wXw, I was doing the New Japan Strong stuff right away, I was getting looked at by WWE and they were telling me they were interested in signing me. A lot of great things were happening right when the pandemic happened. I thought to myself, 'of course.' I'm having the breakout of my career at the age of 33, the world shuts down and stops the momentum. Life throws you curveballs and that was one of them. When I got the text to be in the Pure tournament, that was huge because that's what I needed to keep my name flowing and growing. I was right on the cusp of being a breakout wrestler around the scene right when the pandemic happened. The Pure tournament is what I needed to make that sink in. I was thrilled."
Rust lost to Tracy Williams in the opening round of the tournament,
Rust continued by saying, "I signed my WWE contract the week of the Pure tournament. It was sent to the hotel at ROH. I signed it and sent it back out. After my match, I talked with the guys at ROH quickly and they were like, 'What's your status?' I was like, 'I apologize, I just signed with WWE.' I reiterated that I love ROH and if anything happens, I would be in touch. I'm really happy to be back."
Rust was released by WWE on August 6. He returned to ROH at Death Before Dishonor to defeat Jake Atlas.
Elsewhere during the podcast, Rust discussed nearly quitting wrestling following his WWE tryout in 2012. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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