Tyrus

George Murdoch (born February 21, 1973) is an American cable news personality, actor, and former professional wrestler known by his ring/stage name Tyrus.

As a wrestler, he was formerly signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he is a former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion.

As a cable news personality, he appears on Fox News, and its sister streaming service Fox Nation, primarily as a co-host/panelist on the late-night talk show Gutfeld!, as well as a contributor/fill-in host on other programs.

In 2024, Tyrus was named host of Maintaining with Tyrus on the streaming platform OutKick, which is owned by Fox.

After training in WWE's developmental territories, such as Deep South Wrestling (DSW) and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), Murdoch under the ring name Brodus Clay debuted during the fourth season of NXT, a WWE television show where rookies were paired with established WWE wrestlers as mentors.

He debuted on the main roster as Alberto Del Rio's bodyguard.

In 1990, Murdoch attended Quartz Hill High School in Los Angeles County, California, and then in 1992, Antelope Valley College in Lancaster.

By 1995, he was attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where he studied to become a teacher, and played college football for the Lopers.

However, Murdoch has stated that his football career ended when surgery to remove a ruptured appendix severed nerve endings in his leg, leaving him with a permanent limp.

Murdoch has worked as a bodyguard for Snoop Dogg.

After signing a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Murdoch was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), a WWE developmental territory.

He debuted in September 2006 and began using the ring name G-Rilla along with adopting the gimmick of a street thug.

In his first match for the promotion, he defeated Big Bully Douglas in a dark match on September 7.

The following month, G-Rilla became the enforcer for Urban Assault, a tag team composed of Eric Pérez and Sonny Siaki.

However, he got in a feud with The Bag Lady, which cost Urban Assault a match for the DSW Tag Team Championship against The Major Brothers (Brian and Brett) on October 26.

The group eventually won the championships from them on November 30, but the situation repeated on December 21, when G-Rilla started fighting with Bag Lady's ally Freakin' Deacon at ringside and it caused Urban Assault to lose to the Major Brothers.

The same night, Deacon defeated G-Rilla in a singles match, after which Perez, Siaki, and new member Afa Jr. attacked G-Rilla, throwing him out of the group.

In early January 2007, G-Rilla feuded with Urban Assault, attacking the members during matches.

He then formed a tag team with former enemy Freakin' Deacon, with the pair defeating Urban Assault in their first match together.

They went on to defeat teams including Frankie Coverdale and Bob Hoskins, the Samoan Fight Club of Siaki and Afa Jr., Shawn Osborne and Jon Bolen, and Robert Anthony and Johnny Curtis.

In March, they faced and defeated the DSW Tag Team Champions, Team Elite (Mike Knox and Derrick Neikirk) in two successive non-title matches.

However, in March 2007 Deacon was beaten up with steel chairs by Neikirk and Knox, the events of the night sent Deacon into a mental breakdown.

The team dissolved shortly after.

In June 2007, Murdoch made his debut at FCW's inaugural show on June 26, using the name G-Rilla and defeating Shawn Osborne.

Three months later, on September 15, G-Rilla won a battle royal to become the number one contender to the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship by last eliminating Teddy Hart.

He challenged Harry Smith for the championship on September 25, but lost via disqualification which meant that Smith retained the championship.

The following month, G-Rilla continued to feud with Smith and Hart, who had formed The Hart Dynasty with TJ Wilson and Ted DiBiase, Jr., allying himself with Osborne, Jake Hager and Afa, Jr. G-Rilla briefly formed a tag team with Robert Anthony in December 2007, but on February 4, 2008, Murdoch was released from his contract with WWE.

He would not wrestle for the next two years.

During 2012, WWE changed his gimmick to The Funkusaurus, a funk dancer accompanied by his backup dancers the Funkadactyls.

He wrestled in WWE until his departure in 2014.

From 2014 to 2017, Murdoch wrestled in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name of Tyrus.

In 2021, he joined the NWA, where he won the NWA World Television Championship, and later the promotion's primary title — the Worlds Heavyweight Championship.

His 2022 autobiography Just Tyrus: A Memoir was a New York Times bestseller.

His second book Nuff Said was released in 2023.

Murdoch is biracial; his father is black and his mother is white.

He has stated that when he was born, his father was 19 years old and his mother was 15.

In 2018, Murdoch disclosed a childhood incident in which his abusive father damaged his eye by hitting him; this incident led his mother to leave his father.

While Murdoch's mother moved back to her parents' home, Murdoch has stated that he and his brother were not welcome there because they were part black.

According to Murdoch, he and his brother lived with a foster family for many years; during this time, Murdoch was "obsessed" with changing his skin color, thinking that this would allow him to be reunited with his family.

Murdoch and his brother eventually lived with their mother again, but Murdoch left home at age 15.