Ex-AEW Star Marko Stunt Bounced Back With New Career After Hanging Up Boots

Former pro wrestler Marko Stunt was once a staple on AEW television and, alongside Jack Perry and Luchasaurus, formed the original three-man lineup of the Jurassic Express. At 5-feet-2-inches tall, Stunt was never used beyond enhancement talent or to play to the emotions of both Perry and Luchasaurus, but he's since found a new – and arguably more successful – career outside pro wrestling.

During an interview appearance on "Busted Open Radio," Stunt commented on his newfound career as a car salesman, but revealed this wasn't the first thing he did following his exit from pro wrestling. "I was actually waiting tables before I was doing this, just to get by and everything, but I decided ... that's not gonna cut it out; that's not gonna cut it for me," he explained. "So I ended up just riding down the road, and I didn't actually know if they were hiring, but I went into Homer Skelton Ford, where I work now."

Stunt recalled that his manager was aware of his background and saw him competing in AEW. At the time of the interview, he noted that he was already the third best in the showroom during his first month working for Homer Skelton.

Marko Stunt then opened up about his AEW release, revealing the circumstances that led to his departure. "I wrestled on the independents for quite a while. I ended up getting hurt pretty bad," he revealed, recounting a match in GCW where he did a Missile Dropkick from the top of the turnbuckle, overshot his jump, and ended up kicking off of his opponent and landing on his back, knocking himself out. 

"I don't remember it. I remember seeing the video of it and it was pretty dumb. I kept going and everything. The finish of the match was me taking a Brainbuster, of all things," Stunt recalled. He added that this injury happened before that year's Jericho Cruise, which also took him out of AEW right after returning to the promotion following the injury. "They ended up sitting me out for a few months, which caused my contract to expire. I was told that they were not going to renew my contract," he recounted. "I was pretty devastated."

Despite all of this, Stunt originally didn't want to give up, and instead wrestled in GCW and other independent promotions but sustained another injury at this time. "My back was really, really messed up, and I didn't know what was going on," he added, claiming he eventually went to the doctor after the pain bothered him too much. "They did the X-Rays and stuff and I'd actually broken my back – my L5 was cracked and had a chip in it."

The back injury Marko Stunt sustained during his time on the indies bothers the former wrestler to this day, but he claims that this has simply become something he deals with. "They told me that my right hip was rotating forward and so was pulling my tailbone off to the side, which ... caused a whole bunch of pain and is kind of pretty daily," he explained. "They did advise me to go and hang up the boots and so I did – reluctantly – and kind of have just been going about life without wrestling."

Stunt now focusses on his family instead, and specifically his infant daughter, whom he provides for. Despite having a new career in a whole other industry, Stunt claims a few fans have recognized him during his work day. Stunt's love for wrestling is also still rooted in him, as the former wrestler revealed he still has wrestling action figures at his desk. "[Being recognized] happens all the time, more than I'd think it would, and it's super cool to me!" he noted.

"It's not something I'm ashamed of, at all, I just... I don't know why, I didn't think to use Twitter to my advantage," he claimed after commenting on the retirement post he made and the advertisement of his career as a car salesman, noting that the viral nature of his post happened organically. "It's been mostly positive, as well, which is rare – I feel like – with wrestling Twitter!"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio," and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.