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After a lengthy absence from the ring, James Street officially
announced his retirement this week. A serious injury suffered
during a bout with AZ Vegara in late 2007 has
resulted in Street giving up his dream of returning to the ring.
“I didn’t think that much of the injury at the time,” said a
contemplative Street this week. “Wrestling is a tough sport and
I’ve been hurt plenty of times in the past so when I left the
show that night I was sure it would just be a matter of weeks
before I could return.”
But unfortunately for James, the pain would not subside as the
weeks went by and as the weeks turned into months he was forced
to admit that his chances of getting back into the ring were
slimming.
“I suppose it just came down to being able to justify the risk I
would be taking. I have managed to enjoy success in my life away
from the ring and I couldn’t put my future health and wellbeing
at risk just to attempt a comeback.”
James debuted in 2003 and faced the Vagrant in his first bout.
The match only lasted 16 seconds but Street was off and racing.
Over the next few years, James’ character would strike a chord
with the EPW faithful and he would become a fan favourite. Over
that time, he worked extremely hard to be taken more seriously
in the ring and was starting to develop a tougher edge to his
wrestling.
“I’ve managed to accomplish a lot of my goals that I set myself
when I started,” Street said. “I was able to appear on
Re-Awakening several times. I wrestled some of the top guys in
EPW and I was able to travel Australia and wrestle for various
promotions.”
While never scaling it to the top of Explosive Pro Wrestling,
Street would always give his all and was a great entertainer who
will be missed by many fans and wrestlers.
EPW Perth would like to wish James Street all the best in his
life away from the squared circle.
(In the coming weeks, EPW will be hosting an eBay auction for
James Street’s tights and ‘SLUT’ neck tie.)
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