Wrestling star Tyrus moves to Monmouth while recording with OutKick

George Murdoch made a name for himself busting heads.

Now he’s known for going one on one with some of the biggest names out there.

Murdoch is better known as Tyrus, the former professional wrestler who was a star in World Wrestling Entertainment, Impact Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance.

Whether he was a bad guy beating people up as Tyrus or a good guy, dancing and fighting as Brodus Clay, Murdoch always entertained the crowd.

But wrestling is a tough sport and after putting in nearly 20 years to the sport, he retired. But that doesn’t mean he’s done entertaining.

Now that he's wrapped up his wrestling career, he's using his head and voice in his new career. He hosts Maintaining with Tyrus, which streams on Fox's OutKick.

“They asked me to do interviews with celebrities and have a conversation, but I’m not a journalist, I’m just happy to do conversations,” Tyrus said. “I don’t have an agenda. Journalists, it always depends on what narrative they’re trying to tell. Journalism is hard to find these days because if you’re a journalist, you shouldn’t have an opinion.

“I do more of that than we see on so-called ‘news.’ It’s easy to decipher. Before, they would say when something was an editorial. We don’t do that anymore. We should get back to journalism.”

So far he’s had some huge guests on, and his show continues to grow and improve every time he’s there.

“We’ve had some great guests, we just had Lara Trump,” Tyrus said. “We had K.T. McFarland, she solved all the world’s problems in 10 minutes. She was great, she served on every administration, very old school, but it was cool. We just have people on and we have conversations. Just talk.”

It’s a much different way than Tyrus used to earn a living.

He was a professional wrestling fan his entire life, and the Boston native was the world champion of his neighborhood as a kid, and he defended a belt he made himself out of cardboard.

As he got older, he turned his attention to football. He played at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, but an injury meant the end of his career.

He hung up the cleats, but continued his studies, earning a teaching degree.

But the 6-foot-7, 375-pound monster was built to be a professional wrestler, so he followed that dream and lived it for nearly two decades.

A fan first and then a wrestler, Tyrus became a star because he knew what the people wanted.

“I liked messing with the crowd, I loved being (a bad guy),” Tyrus said. “I love that they love me, and I love when they hate me. (Being a big guy and being a bad guy) fits better with the story. David and Goliath is still the greatest wrestling story ever told.”

But it wasn’t always easy for the crowd to hate Tyrus.

When he was Brodus Clay, he was a dancing dinosaur. He was a huge fan favorite and one of the most popular wrestlers with children.

“I was proud, it was a tough challenge being the “Funkasaurus,” but it proved a lot to myself,” Tyrus said. “It gave me confidence that I can do anything. I started betting on myself, and it launched me to where I am today.”

And while Tyrus was willing to do whatever it took to get the fans behind him, he credits other wrestlers with helping him get where he was, including some of the icons of the business.

"Luke (Hawx) probably helped me get my push after we had a dark match in WWE," Tyrus said. "A lot of guys had to get approval. A guy like Luke, TJ Kidd, Cesaro, technically sound wrestlers. They forget more than most guys know, and they went to bat for me. It’s like being in the ring with Bret Hart. Especially for big guys, I'll never forget Arn Andreson once told me ‘never wrestle like a big guy,’ so that’s how I did it.

But a long career in the ring can take its toll. Now Murdoch is enjoying retirement from wrestling. He’s living in Monmouth County, has a job at the shipyard and of course, his successful show, Maintaining with Tyrus.

He also stays busy reading and preparing for his show.

“I’m an avid book reader, I read about five or six books a week,” he said. “That’s my thing. I’m always learning. I’ve been having conversations for a long time, but I learn new things about people. I go a different route, talk about the human side.

“I enjoy doing the show because I get to talk to people, hear different opinions. That’s what I enjoy about it.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: OutKick's Maintaining with Tyrus gets people talking