What happened to Trytan? TNA's giant prospect

 

He was seemingly gone as quickly as he arrived, but what happened to Trytan, TNA’s prospect in the early days of Impact?

Real name Ryan Wilson, the six foot nine tall Trytan, billed as six eleven began his career in 2001. 

Around the time TNA was getting off the ground, Wilson was wrestling mostly for Nashville based

USA Pro Wrestling, as well as managing a chain of Golds Gym’s in the area. While injured he got to know some

of TNA’s wrestlers who would come to the gym, and that was his way in.

Wilson would serve as a member of Red Shirt security, hired guns working for Jeff Jarrett in a power struggle

with Erik Watt’s and his black shirt security. If you didn’t know already, early TNA was a bit weird sometimes.

After the dissolution of the red shirts, Wilson would disappear off screens in late 2003 following a loss to Raven,

the Sandman and Erik Watts. This would take place in Raven’s own gimmick match, the clockwork Orange House

of Fun.

In 2004 Wilson would wrestle a few dark matches for TNA under a new name, Titus. It seemed though, that

TNA might have big plans for Wilson, under yet another new name. For several weeks in early 2005, TNA aired

cryptic hype videos filled with stock footage and colour gradients. The videos claimed that a man with “superhuman

power from a distant beyond” was coming, which turned out to be a far cry from what we got.

Trytan’s first and only real feud would be with the Alpha Male of TNA, Monty Brown, who was coming off being

a main event level World title challenger in previous months. At Destination X the two would have their only singles

match, in which Wilson didn’t exactly look like a star. At one point he lifted Brown for a press slam, and almost

dropped him at a scary angle, despite just managing to help him land on his back. After about five minutes, as

Monty was going to attempt his Pounce finisher, the lights went out in the Impact zone. When they came back on,

a completely different bloke dressed all in black with a mask on was attacking Brown, who would promptly hit the

pounce on him. Despite this man clearly not being Trytan, Monty would pin him anyway, but the official decision

would be a no contest, as Trytan would be seen skulking up the ramp.

Trytan’s TNA career wouldn’t get too much more impressive from there. He would gain his one and only singles

victory on the following weeks Impact, a two minute victory over Buck Quartermain. While he would begin to

successfully team with Simon Diamond towards the end, Trytan would wrestle just seven matches, and would quietly

disappear by June.

After leaving TNA, Wilson would sign a developmental deal with WWE, which back then meant being shipped off

to Ohio Valley Wrestling. Wrestling this time as Jacob Duncan, Wilson would achieve some success in OVW, even

holding the OVW heavyweight title for fifty days. That same title had not long before him been held by CM Punk in

his stint in WWE developmental.

At times it looked like Wilson might get a chance on the main WWE roster, as he would wrestle a tour of house

shows on the Smackdown brand in Summer 2006, and another for the Raw brand in 2007, but as best I can tell he

never had a televised WWE match. Wilson would continue to wrestle in OVW through 2008, before seemingly

leaving wrestling.

What happened to Ryan Wilson once he left WWE in late 2008? Now Father of three and a manager of a in his

words ‘motorsports place’. He also noted that he had a proper job in medical sales from around 2010 until the

Covid pandemic hit, and that his last involvement in wrestling was around 2008, which is also when he left OVW.

Ryan says he left the wrestling business because despite spending time with Undertaker and Kane who he credits

as positive influences on him, he never got his big break, and so he chose to start a family with his wife when his

contract ended.

Sources:

Two man power trip podcast, February 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqxy8Cli_Do

TNA teaser video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqtBB1MCiE8

Trytan vs Monty Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kLSizUE6IM

Cagematch profile https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1776