text: In February 2006, after 17 years in the ring, Awesome announced his retirement from wrestling, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and adding that he felt underpaid for his work at the One Night Stand event and that he would only return to the ring "if the money was right".
  Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003)
  In April 2003, Awesome debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He wrestled several matches for the promotion before leaving in May 2003. His TNA in-ring debut was on April 16, 2003, where Awesome defeated Perry Saturn by DQ when The Sandman and New Jack interfered. On April 23, Awesome teamed with Brian Lee and Slash in a losing effort against Perry Saturn, New Jack and The Sandman. On May 14, Awesome competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Mike Sanders in a Tables Match.
  Return to WWE (2005)
  Awesome made an appearance at WWE's (formerly the WWF) ECW One Night Stand reunion pay-per-view on June 12, 2005, defeating Masato Tanaka. The crowd greeted Awesome with jeers at the beginning of the match, and commentator Joey Styles made frequent references to Awesome's leaving of ECW for WCW and during the match, Styles infamously said, "And it's a shame he didn't succeed in taking his own life", but by the end the crowd were chanting "this match rules!" and gave both men a standing ovation.