Chris LeRusso retirement

On February 28th, Chris LeRusso, a longtime pro of the squared circle, took a final bow, closing a chapter of his life that was almost 23 years in the making. 

In many respects, it was a full circle moment for the athlete that cut his teeth on independent wrestling when he was still in high school. LeRusso stood in the ring as a pillar of support for 880 Wrestling, an upstart league that took a DYI approach when it launched a few years ago, with the name as a nod to the postal code of the original location of New Kensington, a city just north of Pittsburgh.

"Chris has been integral in my journey as a pro-wrestler, and I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to learn so much from him. Beyond such an honor to have wrestled him last night," Marco Narcisso, one of the standout performers on the 880 roster, posted on social media following the bout. 

LeRusso, who broke into the sport with the moniker "Chaotic," wearing karate pants inspired by Rob Van Dam for that pro debut, went out with his shoulders on the canvas, giving back to a talented youngster, the same way many had done for him in the past two decades.

"Not only was it an honor that I never knew I'd have, mostly because of the impact that he had on Pittsburgh independent wrestling, but he's honest, genuine, and one of the best of us," said Chris Taylor on giving LeRusso his first match in 2003.

The decision to hang up his boots wasn't spur of the moment. In fact, it was quite the opposite, rather a reflection of the path he was on his entire adult life. 

"I think I sat down and took a long look at where my career could be going moving forward. I still love wrestling and love performing, but I’ll fully admit I have not kept up with the national products very much, save for a few of my students and friends. Nothing really happened, I just haven’t really connected with the modern product very much. That was kind of my first red flag," he explained.

The career of Chris LeRusso runs the gamut of professional wrestling. He has shared a ring with Adam Page and Jimmy Jacobs, while also working with local yokels like Love Boy Lou. He competed inside a former school building that looked so post-apocalyptic that it undoubtedly should've been condemned for an alphabet soup league, whereas he also eventually stood inside Stage AE, one of the most well-known Pittsburgh venues that is just minutes from Heinz Field, for Ring Of Honor during one of the promotion's hottest eras.

Along those same lines, he wore more or less every hat possible in the sports entertainment industry since the time he first burst through the curtain as a scrawny, fresh-faced kid that grew into a well-respected veteran that the next generation looked to during his two decades in the sport. He was a trainer, an in-ring performer, a matchmaker, an occasional announcer, and a valuable resource for his peers. With such an extensive and versatile skill set, it's no surprise that the man once dubbed "The Heir Apparent" had tenures with every major promotion within the flourishing Pittsburgh scene. As his career evolved, so did his roles and responsibilities within the genre.

"I’ve definitely relaxed and tried to find perspective. I look back at things I got mad about or blew up about or lost sleep about over the past 20 years in wrestling and I’m just embarrassed. Family and friendship means so much more. I think it’s important to care about wrestling and to treat it with respect and hold it to a higher standard. But at the end of the day, the people you make friendships and relationships with are more important,"

He was the heavyweight champion for the now-defunct Pro Wrestling Express organization, he was the header trainer of the Iron City Wrestling Academy under the International Wrestling Cartel banner, He was a matchmaker for Ryse Wrestling, he had the previously mentioned mentorship of those within 880, and even dipped his toe into the national scene with a handful of ROH bouts, including a few matches on their television show that was aired on Sinclair Broadcasting across the country at the time. 

He traded hammerlocks with Davey Richards and Johnathan Gresham before he taught those maneuvers to AEW's Wardlow, and NWA's Spencer Slade.

"My best pure match was probably against Davey Richards back in VOW or Jonathan Gresham at IWC, but part of that was just the insanely talented opponents. My greatest moment was my match against John McChesney with Ricky Steamboat as the ref, it was loudest pop I’d ever heard. My favorite match might be the dog collar match against Jack Pollock. I haven’t even mentioned my ROH time and that was so important to me too. As far as students, I can’t pick a top or a favorite. They’re all special to me," Chris commented.

With such a list of professional accomplishments, the decision to step away from the sport that molded him into the man today carried an amount of personal weight to it. The live entertainment business has a history littered with cautionary tales as the schedule can be a meat grinder for those that want to push themselves to their fullest potential. There's a reason that there are dozens of episodes that cite tales of the dark side of the ring. Thankfully, for the man that makes his living outside of the ropes as a lawyer to grapple with legal jargon, LeRusso made it passed his 40th birthday without falling into any of the traps of the wrestling business.

"I have made it through 20 years of wrestling without major injury thus far, but I know as I get older and slower, the chances for a major injury go up. On top of that, I didn’t want to continue wrestling past the point of good taste. People have told me 'wow, you can still go,' and I wanted to retire when that was still the case. I’m proud of the fact that I left the game still as Chris LeRusso rather than a shell of himself. I look back on my career with incredible fondness and gratitude. Wrestling gave me my wife, my best friends, and the most fun I’ve ever had. I can’t ask for much more,"

While the squared circle  played such a pivotal role in his life, there was an even more important ring that he discovered through professional wrestling, the ring he used to propose to his wife, former grappler, Laura Loveless After years together, the couple recently announced that they are expecting their first child in the coming months.

"I can't wait to meet him," LeRusso said enthusiastically.

At 41, Chris LeRusso never "made it big" in the business, but he undoubtedly made it big in life. A successful 9-to-5 career was balanced with in-ring mayhem on the weekends, adventures that yielded him professional and personal happiness. That's a rousing success story.

Given that LeRusso was independent throughout his career, working with a myriad of groups, it was fitting that 880 Wrestling, the league built on the same type of ambition, would host his last match.

"880 is something I’m actually quite jealous of. I remember when I first saw what was MV was doing in New Ken and I thought, 'this is exactly what I would want to do if I had the money and resources.' His focus on developing new talent and a new scene outside the legacy groups in the area is something I admire so much. I really didn’t help them as much as they helped me. They gave me a place to do Chris LeRusso on his own terms," he said.

With the benefit of a few months of hindsight since he unlaced his boots for the final time, LeRusso had a chance to reflect on the journey that shaped much of his professional and personal life.   

"My legacy isn’t for me to decide. I know how I would like to be remembered, but that isn’t up to me. It’s up to my students, the fans, and the next generation to decide how to tell my story. Regardless of the final verdict, I have no regrets," LeRusso concluded.