A former WWE Superstar who held both the ECW Championship and Intercontinental Championship, is set to make his return after close to a decade out of the ring. On his YouTube channel, Ezekiel Jackson shared that he will be compering for FWE in North Carolina on March 15. In the video, Jackson reflected on how his full-time career ended.
“I keep asking myself if I ended my career the way I wanted to, and for the most part, I didn’t. So, I’ve always had that little chip on my shoulder, wanting to finish things on my terms. I’ve also had a bucket list of people I’d love to compete against, so we’re looking into scheduling a few things.“
Jackson is accepting bookings and the ex-Superstar, who remains “big as hell” is ready to have some fun. Despite his impressive physique, Jackson acknoweldged the importance of getting into “ring shape,” and shared his training strategy.
“I’m adding more cardio-based workouts, incorporating some rowing, and I’ll be getting in the ring a few times this week and in the coming weeks.”
Jackson, the final holder of the WWE ECW Championship, last competed in October 2015 as part of an event for the Germany-based wXw promotion. At the time, it was shared that this marked the end of Jackson’s in-ring career. Now fans can look forward to seeing the former WWE and TNA star back in the ring as he prepares to end his career on his own terms.
WWE has filed to trademark the name of another former star, Ezekiel Jackson, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office database.
WWE filed to trademark the name Zack Ryder following the previous lapse in trademark. Matt Cardona(formerly Zack Ryder in WWE) had previously attempted to secure the trademark to his former WWE name but “let it go” when WWE fought his attempt.
WWE files trademark for Ezekiel Jackson
In a trademark application filing dated February 23, the Goods and Services usage description for the “Ezekiel Jackson” trademark includes:
“intended to cover the categories of entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer rendered and through broadcast media including television and radio, and via the internet or commercial online service; providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment via an online community portal; providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information; fan club services, namely, organizing sporting events in the field of wrestling for wrestling fan club members; organizing social entertainment events for entertainment purposes for wrestling fan club members; providing online newsletters in the fields of sports entertainment; online journals, namely blogs, in the field of sports entertainment.”
For those who are unaware, Ezekiel Jackson was signed to WWE under a developmental contract in 2007. He went on to make his main roster debut in 2008. During his run in the company, he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship and was the final winner of the ECW Championship. He would part ways with the Stamford-based company in 2014 and announced his retirement in 2015.
Meanwhile, new listings for current WWE stars Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler both for February 23, 2023, are on USPTO.report
Wrestling fans who recently tuned into The Price Is Right saw a familiar face.
Fans saw “Big Zeke” on the popular and long-running morning game show. Here’s how he’s looking nowadays:
(Photo credit: WrestlingNewsCo)
It’s safe to say that Ezekiel Jackson, real name Rycklon Stephens, still keeps himself in tremendous shape. It may not come as a surprise as Jackson is only 43 years old. He will turn 44 in just a couple of days (April 22).
Ezekiel Jackson signed a developmental deal with WWE back in 2007. He made his main roster debut the following year, serving as The Brian Kendrick’s manager.
Jackson eventually became a singles star and he captured the ECW and WWE Intercontinental Titles. He and WWE parted ways in 2014.
After spending some time working for Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground, Jackson retired from in-ring action. Today, Ezekiel Jackson is a professional fitness coach.
Stephens left WWE last year after starting his career in the company in 2007. Since then, he has been working for Lucha Underground and various independent promotions under the name Big Ryck. He captured the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 2010, and is recognized by WWE as the final holder of the title. He is also a one-time Intercontinental Champion.
– WWE.com issued this poll today asking fans who is the greatest Divas Champion of all-time. AJ Lee, who won the title on three occasions, currently has over 50% of the votes cast thus far.
– It was reported last week that Jasmin Areebi will be known as Aliyah in NXT. She confirmed the name change on Instagram as her account is now located at instagram.com/wwealiyah.
Bill Jones of AVClub.com gave the book an A- grade and noted, “Yes! Daniel Bryan’s pro wrestling memoir is worth a read.”
Bryan kicks off a nation wide book tour this week – check out WWE.com for a full list of the scheduled appearances.
One of the notable passages from the book making the rounds this week is a story Bryan tells of the one time he was disrespected by a fellow WWE Superstar.
The bully in question is Ezekiel Jackson, who now wrestles as Big Ryck in Lucha Underground. Jackson had been with the company for several years when Bryan was still a rookie and tried bullying Bryan into giving up his aisle seat on a flight to WrestleMania. Not only did Bryan stand up for himself and put Jackson in his place, but he got backed up by a locker room veteran who schooled Jackson about his place in WWE.
The following is an excerpt from Daniel Bryan: “Yes!” – now available at Amazon.com:
The following are highlights of a new interview with Big Ryck, aka Ezekiel Jackson:
On growing up a Wrestling fan: “The long version of the story is, at eight years old I saw wrestling for the first time and a neighbor of ours used to allow us to watch television through their windows and one day, I saw wrestling for the first time. It was 1986 or 1987 and I was eight years old. It was “Iceman” King Parsons and I was smitten, so I’ve been a fan of wrestling forever.”
On his debut and working with Brian Kendrick: “The thing about Brian Kendrick is that he’s not going to try to hold his tongue, he’s not going to baby you, he’s not going to try to please you just to please you. If it is wrong, he will tell you it is wrong, but it if it is right, he will tell you it is right. He’s not going to walk on eggshells around anybody, he’s a straight shooter, he lets you know straight up if he doesn’t like you, he doesn’t like you. Kendrick chose me for that role, he came, sat, met up with me when I was in Florida Championship Wrestling, told me his plans and asked if I was interested. The dude came to Florida and asked if I was willing to come into that role, that earned my respect on a whole new level for him. I think we had for whatever reason, we didn’t hit it the way I thought we could have, whether it be writing, creative, myself, himself, I don’t know.”
On his time working with William Regal and Vladimir Kozlov as The Ruthless Roundtable: “With Regal combined, the three of us, I felt it was, we did the whole he won one, one-upsmanship. He would hit me with his finisher, then we did the thing at SummerSlam, myself and Christian, where I turned on Christian. You had Christian as Champion, you had Dreamer, you had Goldust, you had, you know Regal working with us, Hurricane, I thought, let’s see what happens again, put two big guys together and we worked well. I had a chance to learn more in the wrestling aspect of it, it was fun for while it lasted. I thought again that The Ruthless Roundtable thing, I thought it could’ve been phenomenal had it gotten a chance on Raw or SmackDown.”
Check out the complete interview at MainEventMadness.com.
Former WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson was a recent guest on the v2 Wrestling Podcast. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Working with William Regal: “[Regal is] a teacher. He loves this business and wants everyone to understand this business is special. He was one of the guys I wanted to be like growing up because of his style. You would watch him on WCW and you would really think he was beating the crap out of somebody. It was really cool to be in there with a legend of this business”
Planning Out His Matches: “[I prefer] to see where a match takes you. Thats the fun part of it. You know if the fans are in to it, you can give them more. If not, its like, “I guess we’re done”.”
Who He Wishes He Could Have Worked With: “There’s a bunch. Again, as a fan, anyone would want to work [with] The Undertaker. He’s a big athletic guy who can still go, and he proved that at Wrestlemania 30 that he can still go. Triple H definitely. But my ultimate would have been The Rock. I was a Rock fan. I think I could have good matches with anybody given the opportunity. If you have two guys who love the business and love to fight, you are going to get great matches.”
Vince McMahon’s Quad Tear: “His injury was the same as mine but both quads. He was out for 5 months but the guy [Vince] was a monster.”
Winning the Intercontinental Championship: “I only found out on the day. That day was special to me as it was fathers day and I was thinking about my dad (who passed away). It was on the East coast and I saw my mum the night before. My mum saw me perform in the ring for the first night in New Jersey the night before. I was wearing the championship on fathers day and that was really exciting.”
Feedback from Vince McMahon: “I remember from my first night on TV with Brian Kendrick his [Vince’s] reaction was that he liked what I did. The first physical thing I did was with Stevie Richards. I snatched him up and torture racked him for the first time and Vince said “I like that. I was ecstatic. This as my second or third week on TV and I was impressing the boss which is what you are supposed to do – impress the boss. So I was excited from the get go.”
Being Released: “I knew my contract was coming to an end but I was still hoping that I might get the call [to renew] but it never happened that way. I got to live my dream for 7 years, so I am not unhappy with the way things happened.”
Working With Other Promotions: “I just love wrestling. I am open to work with any promotion, whether that be WWE, TNA, ROH or any other promotion.”
– New episodes of WWE Slam City, which features Brock Lesnar, Sheamus, Rey Mysterio and Damien Sandow, are now available at WWESlamCity.com. They will also be added to the WWE Network in the near future.
– The following is a new video blog from former WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson:
– There will be no WWE SmackDown post-show on the WWE Network tonight. There will, however, be a SmackDown pre-show before this week’s episode begins.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair is scheduled to appear at a wrestling convention at the Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California on May 17th. Also scheduled to appear are Scott and Cody Hall, Chris Masters, Ezekiel Jackson, Molly Holly, Daniels and Kazarian.
– For statistic junkies out there, Daniel Bryan and Kane have had nine singles matches against each other on television over the past two years. Of those nine, Bryan has won seven, with two of those wins coming by way of disqualification. One of his losses was also by disqualification. Bryan has won their last six meetings, as Kane’s last victory over the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion came back in June of 2012.
– Alexander Rusev will now be known as simply “Russev.” This continue’s the trend of Cesaro dropping “Antonio” and Big E dropping “Langston.” Russev’s WWE.com bio and his official Twitter account.
Interestingly, he is also now billed from Russia, so don’t expect to hear his “Bulgarian Brute” nickname ever again.
– Former WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson was asked by a fan on Twitter if he’d be interesting in wrestling for TNA or Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling. He replied, “If opportunity arises.”
– Former WWE NXT talent Oliver Grey is now taking bookings at joel.redman@outlook.com.
Ezekiel Jackson made the following announcement on Instagram today:
“In July 2008 I made my #smackdown television debut with “Thee Brian Kendrick”… much love to TBK for seeking me out and choosing me. I was fulfilling a dream I had as an 8 yr old kid who saw and fell in love with professional wrestling for the first time through my neighbors window in#Guyana South America… On April 6th 2014 my contract expired so #WrestleMania 30 was#bittersweet. I thank God for all the blessings he’s bestowed upon me in the last 7 years. In my time in the #wwe I became the last #ECWChampion and a one time Intercontinental Champion… I’ve also traveled the world given the opportunity to do what I love. Encountering some of the most passionate and reliable fans in the world… I am deeply appreciative to Vincent McMahon and the #WWE for allowing a snotty nose lickle bai from Victory Valley Linden Guyana to live out my childhood dream on the highest level. #Godspeed to the company and all of my friends and colleagues. #beblessed Extremely excited for the next chapter in my life. I’m looking forward to this new season…. I’m still 290 pounds and #healthy. I can be reached for bookings, sponsorship and signings through my manager at: Rjsmanandco@gmail.com #Godbless”
– WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson is now seven weeks out from hernia surgery and has resumed working out. There is no real definitive word yet as to when Jackson will be making his WWE return.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted in a recent tweet that part one of his interview with William Regal will be available on tomorrow’s edition of his “Steve Austin Show” podcast. Austin tweeted the following earlier today:
– The WWE NXT television taping will take place at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida tonight. The NXT taping is set to feature The Wyatt Family, The Miz and The Bella Twins. Check back here at the website later tonight, or early tomorrow morning for a complete spoiler report.
– A new documentary on the life of WWE Hall Of Famer Bruno Sammartino is said to be officially complete. Several groups are currently negotiating for the distribution rights to the project, including WWE.
– WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson posted the following post-surgery update to his fans on his official Twitter account:
That feeling you encounter after laying in bed for 5 days and knowing you won't be able to workout for… http://t.co/EMwU6bXwjL
Former ECW & Intercontinental champion Ezekiel Jackson announced on Instagram that he’s undergoing another surgery this weekend:
“This is what I look like one day before surgery, and was limited in what I did in the gym… what will I look like when I’m completely healthy? Being HOME and HEALTHY for 10 months became a problem because all I did was weight train. I tried a few different methods and techniques which I’ve adopted to create something extremely special (more on that coming #soon… stay tuned)…. I trained and trained and trained and got strong as an ox because of increased flexibility, healthier joints and and healthier muscles due to smarter training, stretching and warming up which I owe all to joe defranco @DeFrancosGym (really good dude and extremely knowledgeable). It didn’t matter how much stretching and warming up I did my body found a way to slow me down. I’ve developed 2 hernias which has SLOWED my training down for the last 6 to 8 weeks. I am finally having surgery today my 3rd (procedure, mountain, stumbling block, distraction) in 4 years. BUT in 2 weeks, I’ll be starting over and #SOON I will be back better than ever. #prayformyjourney #trulyblessed #freakofnature #freak #Zfreak #beastmode #damyth #WWE #RAW #smackdown #superstars #MainEvent”
-Catch WWE Divas The Bella Twins making the following media appearances next week to promote the debut of WWE’s new reality show on E!, “Total Divas:”
–Wednesday, July 24th on The Crossover with Michelle Beadle, NBC Sports at 6pm EST
–Thursday, July 25th on The Today Show, NBC at 7am EST
–Friday, July 26th on The Couch, CBS WLNY at 7am EST
–Friday, July 26th on New York Live, WNBC New York at 12:30pm EST
–Friday, July 26th on Fashion Police, E! at 10pm EST
-WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson continues to tell fans that he’ll be returning to action in the ring with WWE in the near future. Jackson has been out of action since WrestleMania 29 Axxess, where he worked a tag-team bout. Prior to that, Jackson had been out of commission for nearly a year.
– Sin Cara returned to Mexico City last weekend for the grand opening of a gym that will feature a wrestling school starting in March. His father, Dr. Karonte, will be one of the trainers at the school.
Sin Cara was asked about the rumors of him leaving WWE, which he shot down. He said he’s very happy in WWE, especially since Rey Mysterio is mentoring him, which is is a dream come true for him.
He was also asked about his thoughts on Mexican Dragon Lee taking over his old Mistico gimmick. Cara said he likes Dragon Lee and his brother Rush, but thinks the Mistico character is a lot to live up to and hopes the pressure does not get to Dragon Lee.
– Ezekiel Jackson was recently injured again while training for his WWE comeback, according to a report at PWInsider. He’s expected to be back before the summer.
– Here is latest episode of The JBL & Cole Youtube Show:
– As seen on RAW, WWE brought back several former superstars and legends for cameos. Expect to see more familiar faces on WWE television in the coming weeks and months.
– Following Big E Langston’s debut on RAW and attack of John Cena, several fans tweeted WWE superstar Ezekiel Jackson thinking it was him who appeared at the end of RAW. They’re both really muscular and have great tans, but we’re not sure what the confusion was about.
– Here is video of John Cena on NBC’s Today to talk about WWE’s Tribute to The Troops:
– Ezekiel Jackson, who has been out of action for several months with an injury, mentioned on Twitter that he’s begun working out with weights again.
– WWE broke two company records with the first day of WrestleMania 29 ticket sales. Saturday’s launch saw WWE sell 52,029 tickets, which broke the previous company record, which was for WrestleMania 18 (2002) in Toronto, which sold 51,620 tickets on day one.
The 52,029 tickets sold also helped WWE break the company record for the highest single-day gross ticket revenue, taking in more than $10 million. This beats last year’s record, when WrestleMania 28 for Miami generated $6.3 million in revenue on the first day tickets were on sale.
– Jim Ross and JBL will be joining Michael Cole on commentary for next week’s WWE RAW from Sacramento, California.
– Randy Orton was asked by a fan on Twitter how long he’ll be away from his family while filming, “12 Rounds: Reloaded.” He responded, “Up to 2 months total”.
– WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson is returning to the United States today after visiting his home country of Guyana today, where he did some promotional work for WWE. Zeke is still rehabbing an injury and is telling fans on Twitter that he’ll be back in action soon.
– Ezekiel Jackson will be visiting his birth country of Guyana next week and will be “paraded around” in a motorcycle, according to a local news report at Stabroeknews.com. Jackson will visit city schools and Georgetown Public Hospital to promote Guyana’s annual “Guyexpo” festival.
– The actress who plays Randy Orton’s wife in the new WWE Studios film, “12 Rounds: Reloaded” is Cindy Busby who is from Vancouver (where the movie is being shot).
Cindy and Randy, announced it on Twitter this weekend:
Yup! Playing @RandyOrton 's wife in 12 rounds! Say what?!?!
– The Connecticut Democratic Party continues to attack Linda McMahon with racy WWE footage that occurred while she reigned as the sports-entertainment organization’s CEO.
After releasing an attack video Monday showcasing clips of Edge and Lita’s “Live Sex Celebration” and Triple H dressed as Kane simulating mock sex with a mannequin in a casket, the party posted a video of the infamous “Hot Lesbian Action” segment that occurred on Raw ten years ago. The video, which was posted on Vimeo.com, was quickly removed due to a third-party notification by WWE claiming copyright infringement.
Eric Bischoff, the then-figurehead of Raw, announced on September 9, 2002 the introduction of an exciting and revolutionary new segment—“H.L.A.” Roughly an hour later, Bischoff returned and introduced two women—Looney Lane and Savvy from the California-based independent promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling. They were given no names—the on-screen graphic simply identified them as “The Lesbians.” The two young ladies proceeded to kiss each other deeply and strip down to their undergarments in front of the audience. Bischoff them summoned the enforcer tandem Three Minute Warning, who proceeded to assault the two young women into unconsciousness.
– Ezekiel Jackson, who has not appeared in a WWE ring in over two months, tweeted an update regarding his whereabouts Wednesday. The one-time Intercontinental Champion suggested he has been sidelined with an injury.
“Met with Doc. here in beautiful Birmingham Alabama… I’m on the right track, healing well and can begin training… #myjourneycontinues,” he wrote.
– William Regal has dismissed online reports attributed to F4WOnline.com claiming that he said WWE was searching for “ROH style” wrestlers while evaluating five prospects at this week’s television events in Canada.
He wrote on Twitter, “Someone has just tweeted me about something that I’m supposed to have said over the last two days while spending time and giving invaluable advise to wrestlers who come to be looked at by the WWE. I know I’m old and my standards are different to most but it really sickens me that someone out of the five people I saw this week would do that. Whats more appalling to me is that I never actually said what was quoted and so it shows that they weren’t even listening. Such a shame.”
Regal was also asked whether he is retired from the squared circle since he now works behind-the-scenes. He responded, “I do bits of it all.”
– The October 2012 issue of MuscleMag features a profile on Ezekiel Jackson’s workout routine. Enclosing a photo of the article, the SmackDown Superstar tweeted, “Article in the Oct issue of Musclemag. the first fitness mag I bought in 1992 that has helped me.”
– The official WWE website has publishedWWE Magazine exclusive photos of Natalya.
– WWE Superstars The Usos turn 27 years old today.
– Ezekiel Jackson is featured in the new issue of Muscle Magazine. He’s been re-tweeting messages from fans talking about how they have to pick up his issue.
– As reported earlier, Randy Orton will wrestle Alberto Del Rio on Friday’s SmackDown in a match to determine the #1 contender to World Heavyweight champion Sheamus. In the event that Del Rio wins that match and goes on to wrestle Sheamus at Night of Champions, there has been talk of Randy Orton being the special guest referee of that match.
WWE has used Orton sparingly since he returned from a 60-day suspension, including not booking him at SummerSlam. Despite the fact WWE now has one of their top stars back in the mix, Orton will be leaving television again soon to begin filming the WWE Studios movie, “12 Rounds.”
– Monday’s post-SummerSlam episode of Raw rebounded from last week’s 2.84 rating to draw a 3.1. The program averaged 4,478,000 over the course of three hours, an improvement from 4,134,000 the week before. Viewership peaked during the second hour with 4,657,000, while the first and third hours both drew 4,352,000 viewers.
– The second edition of the WWE Encyclopedia is now scheduled to be released on November 19, 2012, according to Amazon.com. The 400-page book was originally scheduled to be released on September 3.
– Eve Torres has launched a store at evetorres-com.myshopify.com. She notes, “I created Shop Eve to connect and share special items and memories with my loyal fans. All photographs and specialty items are individually signed. The article products are all items I’ve worn in actual matches, photo shoots, or special milestones in my career. I hope you enjoy your purchases, and please send your feedback regarding items you would like to see in the store to ShopEveTorres@gmail.com!”
– Ezekiel Jackson noted on Twitter that he will be not on hand for tonight’s SmackDown taping in Bakersfield, California.
