Once viewed as one of the best wrestlers in the United States, Chris Hero has not been seen in the ring for over three years now – with little chance of a return to the ring.
Chris Hero has been a constant in the American indie scene for two decades. He wrestled all over the country for a wide range of promotions, including ROH, Chikara and many local promotions.
He even wrestled a three-hour match for charity in 2015, one of the most impressive feats in wrestling history.
He signed for WWE in 2011, alongside his Kings of Wrestling tag team partner Claudio Castagnoli. The pair were two of the indie scene’s biggest stars, and fans were excited to see just how high they’d go in the company.
Castagnoli was repackaged as Cesaro, and went on to wrestle on the main roster for a decade. Meanwhile, Hero languished in NXT, eventually being released in 2013 after little impact.
After a run on the indie scene, he re-signed for WWE in 2016, once again being sent to NXT. He did very little once again (apparently Triple H was not a fan), and the repackaged Kassius Ohno was sent overseas to NXT UK in 2019.
He wrestled for the British promotion for just one year, before his sudden release due to the pandemic in 2020.
It was in NXT UK where Chris Hero wrestled his last match ever.
Chris Hero’s Last Match
The last match Chris Hero, as Kassius Ohno, wrestled in WWE was as part of the NXT UK brand.
His final bout was as part of a 20-man battle royal, with the winner earning a shot at the NXT United Kingdom Championship.
The title at the time was held by WALTER, who now works on the WWE main roster as Gunther. WALTER held the title for 870 days, the longest title reign in WWE for years (until beaten by Roman Reigns).
Hero’s run in WWE ended anticlimactically. He was quickly thrown out of the ring by the entire pack, after failing to form an alliance with Flash Morgan Webster and Jordan Devlin.
He was the first man eliminated from the match, which was eventually won by the Russian superstar, Ilja Dragunov.
Since being released from WWE on April 16, 2020, alongside a host of other stars due to the pandemic. He remained absent from the business for three years, until his return to wrestling in 2023.
He returned this year as the matchmaker for West Coast Pro Wrestling, his first on-screen role in wrestling since is last match in 2020.
He also worked as a road agent for ROH in 2021, although never felt the need to step into the ring.
AEW have attempted to bring Chris Hero into the company to wrestle against Chris Jericho, although the former ROH Champion has refused any offers from Tony Khan.
While he may have wrestled his last match, Chris Hero is refusing to admit he is retired.
“If I was retired there would have been some kind of a celebration, a ceremony, a festival. A week long, month long thing. No, I’m not retired. I’m currently inactive. I just can’t stay away from wrestling in any way,” Hero explained.
“So as I bide my time and wait for the right thing to come back for and start having matches again, I have kept pretty active. I’ve done a bunch of seminars, I’ve done signings, of course.
Then I kind of dabbled into the world of producing. It’s funny, we use this term producing, but it’s kind of like directing. Directing is probably a better [term], but I’m not going to start calling myself a director,”
What did you think about Chris Hero’s last match? Would you like to see him signing for AEW in the near future? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.