Trevor Murdoch announced his retirement from professional wrestling on today’s episode of NWA Powerrr, the show’s first regular Saturday broadcast on its new home of Comet TV. The two-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion stepped to the microphone at the OC Theatre in Forney, Texas following his match against Pretty Boy Smooth at the 2026 Crockett Cup, told the crowd he could no longer give them what they deserve, and walked away after 27 years in the business.
Murdoch is staying with the NWA as a producer and will continue working with new talent at World League Wrestling and Harley Race’s Wrestling Academy in Eldon, Missouri, where he has been a trainer since his first retirement in 2018.
Murdoch’s full retirement announcement, delivered into the microphone in front of the OC Theatre crowd:
“What’s going through my mind is I’m not sure if I can do this anymore. I’ve been wrestling for 27 years and I have seen guys that come in here and they’re only here for a payday. They don’t give the fans what they deserve. And I always told myself that if I ever got to that point, I wasn’t gonna be that guy. A little harder than… I don’t want to embarrass myself. I don’t want to embarrass my family. I don’t want to embarrass Harley Race. So at this moment, I am announcing my retirement from pro wrestling. I want to thank the fans. I want to thank you guys. Because of you guys, I’ve been able to put two of my kids through college. You know? It’s all good, you know what I mean? Like, for a fat guy from a small town, 27 years ain’t bad. I want to thank one more dude. He doesn’t get enough credit. His name’s William Patrick Corgan. Billy, you believed in me and gave me an opportunity when even wrestling didn’t want me. You extended my career for seven years man and that I can’t ever give that back to you. All I can say is thank you man. Thank you so much. Thank you.”
“Billy, you believed in me and gave me an opportunity when even wrestling didn’t want me. You extended my career for seven years man and that I can’t ever give that back to you.”
Murdoch (real name William Theodore Mueller) was born September 10, 1980 and broke into wrestling in 1999 under Race’s training. WWE signed him in 2005 and paired him with Lance Cade as a redneck tag team on Raw, where the duo won the World Tag Team Championship three times before Murdoch was released in 2008. Cade died in 2010 at the age of 29.
After a brief TNA run as Jethro Holliday and over a decade on the independent circuit, Murdoch returned to wrestling at NWA Powerrr’s debut taping in October 2019. He defeated Nick Aldis at NWA 73 — Wrestling at the Chase in 2021 to win his first NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, then captured the title a second time in a four-way at Alwayz Ready in 2022. He and Mike Knox won the NWA World Tag Team Championship and the 2023 Crockett Cup before dropping the belts to The Immortals at the NWA’s 77th Anniversary Show in November 2025.
How To Watch NWA Powerrr On Comet
NWA Powerrr airs every Saturday at 4 PM ET on Comet, the free over-the-air broadcast network owned by Sinclair, with an encore presentation at midnight. The show debuted on Comet on Friday, May 1 in primetime and rolled into its weekly Saturday slot the following day, marking the NWA’s return to broadcast television for the first time in more than 30 years.
For viewers without a Comet station in their area, the network streams live at CometTV.com/watch-live, and a channel finder is available at comettv.com. Past episodes of Powerrr also stream on demand via The Roku Channel.
