Bear Bronson: If you are unhappy in a promotion, ‘you need to leave’
Bear Bronson hopes to have set an example that other wrestlers can learn from.
Last June, Bronson departed AEW when his contract with the promotion expired. He then spent time reestablishing himself on the indies before joining TNA Wrestling, where he’s received a bigger push than he did in AEW. Bronson was largely off television toward the end of his AEW run. He was best known as one half of the now-defunct tag team Bear Country/Iron Savages while with AEW.
The I Love Wrestling Podcast spoke with Bronson about his time with TNA so far. Betting on himself was scary, but Bronson is thrilled that it has paid off. He does not blame AEW for not utilizing him more. Bronson feels every wrestling promotion is just trying to do their best, and you’re not always going to be in their plans.
“This is just everything that I’ve ever wanted,” he said about TNA. “It’s something that I hope wrestlers can learn from. To where, if you are unhappy somewhere, you could point fingers and you can blame and whatever, whatever. But at the end of the day, every wrestling company is just trying. They’re just trying their best with the pieces that they have, and they’re not always thinking about you.
“So if you are unhappy, you need to leave. And you need to go get yourself battle ready. Because that’s what I knew I needed to do. I left one place and said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to even try to get signed anywhere else. I just need to reconnect with the wrestler that I know is inside here.’ And I think between then and now, I’ve had about 120 matches under my belt since leaving. Then I had places knocking on my door. And that’s where it feels right, and that is where — I’m a completely different animal than I was before. A completely different animal.”
It was officially announced this January that Bronson has signed a contract with TNA. He’s a member of The System with Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers, and Cedric Alexander. Bronson and his mentor Myers are the current number one contenders to TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.