Ezekiel Jackson: Where Is He Now?
After being kicked out of Nexus and making the move to SmackDown from Raw, the group consisting of Wade Barrett, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel attacked the Big Show leaving him down and hurt. The group known as The Corre was formed and the three members were joined by a fourth man, Ezekiel Jackson.
Born on April 22, 1978, Rycklon Stephens trained to be a wrestler under the guidance of Homicide and Tom Pritchard. Stephens was a big wrestling fan since the age of 8 and growing up in Guyana, South America; he watched wrestling along with his parents. Under the name Big Ryck Hytz, he made his wrestling debut for Ultimate Pro Wrestling before being signed to Florida Championship Wrestling. FCW at the time was a feeder promotion for WWE, a development system that allowed FCW to train WWE's next superstars.
Big Ryck didn’t stay too long in FCW, he was quickly promoted to WWE main roster as Ezekiel. On the July 18th episode of SmackDown, he made his debut as a bodyguard for ‘The’ Brian Kendrick. Later he began teaming with Kendrick and formed a tag team.
In the 2009 draft, Jackson was switched to ECW. After a brief storyline alongside William Regal, Jackson challenged Christian for the ECW Championship at the Royal Rumble. Unsuccessful on pay per view he received a rematch on the final episode of ECW, Jackson defeated Christian in an Extreme Rules match to become the final ECW Champion.
Ezekiel has spoken about finding out he was going to win the ECW Championship that evening.
“It’s kind of funny. I found out in Kansas City before the show. The agent told me I’m going over, and I’m just like “Oh! Thanks!.” It’s not as big of a deal as people make it. I could be the longest or shortest reigning champion ever depending on if you’re an optimist or a pessimist, either way I’m still a one-time world champion. I can’t complain about that.”
As the final ECW Champion, Ezekiel was drafted to Raw but suffered an injury that sidelined him for over six months. On his return to television, Jackson was picked as a member of Team RAW for the Bragging Rights pay per view and competed in the 2010 King of the Ring tournament. But in December he was traded back to SmackDown.
After a stop start run in WWE so far, Ezekiel Jackson was about to begin his most memorable run in WWE. Jackson along with Barrett, Slater and Gabriel formed The Corre. The group competed at Wrestlemania XXVII, The Corre would lose to their match to a team consisting of Kofi Kingston, Big Show, Kane and Santino Marella.
Tensions rose between The Corre members leading to the group attacking Jackson.
Jackson challenged Wade Barrett for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Over the Limit but Barrett got himself disqualified. A month later at Capitol Punishment, in their rematch, Jackson would win the championship for the first time. Jackson held on to the championship for 51 days before losing to Cody Rhodes.
The remaining 18 months of Ezekiel Jackson WWE career were tormented by injury. Jackson recalls his ongoing injuries at the end of his run;
“I had been off TV for almost 8 months before that. My last match was a Superstars match. I was wrestling with torn rotator cuffs for about six months. I figured they weren’t doing anything with me after taking the IC title off of me, so I figured I’d check out that shoulder. I tore the rotator cuff completely and almost couldn’t wrestle or lift ever again, so I caught it in time and saved my body.”
After being a participant in the 2012 Royal Rumble, Jackson would have a fair amount of matches before leaving. After leaving WWE, Jackson would wrestle briefly for TNA and have a short run in Lucha Underground forming a group called CrenShaw Crew. Working a Big Ryck, he would also have a storyline along with DelAvar Daivari. Big Ryck would work a couple of more independent dates before retiring from wrestling in 2015.
On leaving WWE, Jackson shed light on his contract expiring:
“I still haven’t received a phone call saying that (WWE) weren’t re-signing me. I knew my contract was going to expire the same day as WrestleMania. I asked if I was being brought in for WrestleMania for anything and was told no. I asked if I could look for bookings the day after and was told yes, and that’s basically how we parted ways. Never got a phone call, an e-mail, a text message, not a hey dude, we’re not bringing you back."
He also discusses his relationship with Vince McMahon during this time:
"For me, it was a boss relationship. He has the utmost respect for everyone, you can’t take that away from him. You pick his brain if you can, but the guy is always so busy. From the time he gets to the building and making sure the empire continues. Do you really want to be the guy that tries to have a deep conversation with someone who has so much on their plate? I got a big hug from him after my dad died and I came back after being gone for a week. I tore my quad and got a phone call from him and Stephanie. We talked a little bit about rehab. I wasn’t going to sit in his office and talk in the office. We’d see each other in the hall, hug and handhake and tell each other to have a nice day.”
Jackson started his own pro wrestling school called Bryckhouse Pro Wrestling, which is no longer operational. In 2016, he started his own fitness business called Bryckfitness Pro.
Currently, Rycklon is a personal trainer where his motto is “Real Workouts, Real Results.” His personal training website is available here: (https://rycklon.com)
Ezekiel also does a lot for charity, he started a non-profit foundation whilst recovering from injuries in WWE, its purpose was to motivate individuals to S.Y.S.B (Set Your Sights Beyond) everyday normality. Jackson discussed his foundation:
“I started the foundation in 2012/2013. It’s always been a brainchild of mine and I wished I had the time and resources to make it bigger but I’m still working on it. But the need for it to be noble for it be beside the everyday normalcy that’s what its all about. I was raised in New York and raised in Guyana and I’d always saw myself wanting to be a WWE champion which I had become so I had seen myself beyond the typical young Guyanese man where I lived in some of the roughest neighbourhoods in New York and I saw myself being beyond just another guy in the street and I would love to use my platform form as an entertainer to encourage young people to see you can become better. We can’t be caught up in yourself and caught up in your fame or your money or whatever but to me it’s always been that hey, I’m thankful that I was blessed to receive and travel and see the world and live my dream and now how can I help somebody else get some kind of experience that they didn’t think they would ever have so that’s what the foundation is all about.”
Ezekiel Jackson is happily retired from wrestling and lives with his wife of 17 years and two children. Looking back on his wrestling career, he has had many accomplishments that he can be proud of. He is the last ever ECW champion and the fifth black wrestler to be a world champion within the company, which is a recognition nobody will ever be able to take away from him.
Jackson remains active on social media where you can him below:
