Former WWE Superstar Adam Rose recently spoke with The Orlando Sentinel to promote his retirement match against Bull James (Bull Dempsey) at Friday’s Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling event in Cocoa, Florida. Rose said he requested James to be his final opponent.

“We haven’t seen each other in a while, but I couldn’t have picked anyone better to do it with,” Rose said. “He was there for the birth of Adam Rose, and in a world where you make many acquaintances, he’s one of the few true friends I’ve made in the wrestling business. It hasn’t hit me yet that this is the end. I think I’ll be more emotional when I’m in the ring and it actually happens. But it’s time to go.”

Rose left WWE in 2016 but has since praised the company for helping him get clean and sober. He talked to The Sentinel about the bad shape he was in when he left WWE, in the wake of a WWE Wellness Policy violation and a domestic violence charge, which was later dropped. Rose admitted he was very troubled during those final days with WWE, going through a spiral of abuse and addiction.

“I was an idiot at the end – a moron, a bumbling buffoon,” Rose said. “I made mistake after mistake, a lot of them out of self-sabotage because I was so unhappy. I developed a drug addiction and just acted out in every way. The fact that WWE let me leave on what I consider good terms and helped me get clean is a miracle.”

Rose said he now looks forward to being a fan of pro wrestling again, now that he is hanging up his boots. Rose said he’s excited about promotions such as AEW giving fans an alternative to WWE.

“I’m really happy that more companies are coming up to compete with WWE,” Rose said. “Everything is better when there’s competition – the creative teams push each other, wages go up, everybody’s happier, so they work harder.”