Michael Tarver Retiring From Pro Wrestling

Former WWE talent Michael Tarver will wrestle his final pro wrestling match on Saturday, May 23. It has been announced that Tarver will face Kno at Extreme Fight World 5, which will take place at The Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio.

Tarver wrote on Instagram: "This is emotional week. This is my official goodbye to the pro wrestling Biz (in ring). I finish my now 22 year journey with the 2 brothers who took me in 22 years ago in Barberton in a little dive bar called the Shamrock night club. Josh E Robinson, Lamont Williams my brothers for life. I will be sharing some of my favorite moments of my career over the next week. Drew Jeffrey Andrew Taylor, from my start in UWC, CAPW, AIW, PWU, NWA to WWE/NXT and NJPW. From Akron Ohio to Japan to London to India to Puerto Rico to South Africa. From signing a @wwe contract homeless to being a part of a WrestleMania main event and main eventing SummerSlam."

May 23 will be Tarver's first match in five years and he has not wrestled on a regular basis since 2019. Tarver has instead focused on his Christian rap career as Monster Tarver, but he suffered a stroke in 2025.

Real name Tyrone Evans, Michael Tarver made his pro wrestling debut in 2005 and wrestled on the indies until he was signed by WWE in 2008. Tarver would go on to compete in the first season of the NXT game show with Carlito as his mentor, but he was eliminated in the first round along with Bryan Danielson.

After season one of the NXT game show finished, Tarver would be one of several wrestlers from the show to debut on Monday Night Raw as part of The Nexus in 2010 in what would become one of the most infamous invasion angles in WWE history.

Tarver was kicked out of The Nexus in October 2010 due to an injury. Upon his return, he was featured in the background of backstage segments across WWE programming but nothing came of this and he was released in June 2011.

Following his WWE exit, Tarver competed across National Wrestling Alliance territories and on the indies. This included him reforming The Nexus with Fred Rosser and PJ Black at the 2018 CHIKARA King of the Trios tournament.

Tarver also had two matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2014 as a representative of the NWA, defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan at The New Beginning in Hiroshima before Tarver and Big Daddy Yum Yum lost to Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima at The New Beginning in Osaka.