Dirty Dango Confirms Upcoming Surgery And Clarifies 'Retirement' Tweet

Back in March, Dirty Dango stunned fans around the world by tweeting, "I'll be stepping away from the ring in a couple of months. Goodbye forever." While it appeared the 38-year-old wrestler was set to hang up his wrestling (and dancing) boots, the former NXT Tag Team Champion has opened up about that jaw-dropping tweet for the first time.

"First of all, I just want to get rid of Twitter in general. It's a very negative platform," Dango told the Dropkick Podcast. "It's kind of my own fault for just reading the comments. It's good if you want to build your brand ... I'm getting surgery this summer on my knee. I never really said I was retiring, I said I'm gonna step away for a little while, but of course, the dirt sheets picked it up and said I was. I kind of get a kick out of it. I'm gonna get surgery on my knee, it's been bothering me for about a year and a half now, and then kind of re-evaluate this summer. I'm gonna take the summer off and spend it with my girl and my dogs and see where we are at, man. Wrestling ain't going anywhere, you know?"

Dirty Dango, AKA Fandango, first came to prominence when he debuted in 2013 with a flamboyant ballroom dancing gimmick in WWE. His first match under the guise of Fandango came at WrestleMania 29, where he defeated Chris Jericho. The night after, his popularity soared when fans from all over the world, still in town for Mania Week, descended on "Raw" and chanted his catchy theme song throughout the show. While the phenomenon took off in Europe, it never really caught fire the same way in the United States.

The Portland-born star eventually formed a tag team with Tyler Breeze called Breezango. The duo became a popular hit on "SmackDown" for their weekly comedic "Fashion Files" segments. The pair would go on to appear on "NXT", capturing the NXT Tag Team Championships, before being released from their WWE contracts in June 2021. Since having his contract terminated, Dango has been regularly performing on the independent circuit for promotions such as GCW and the National Wrestling Alliance.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Dropkick Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.