Tyrus (wrestler)

George Timothy 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 signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he is a former NWA World's 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. 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 World's 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.

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.

Murdoch married his longtime girlfriend Ingrid Rinck Herbert on January 7, 2024. She is an entrepreneur and fitness trainer. Together they have a daughter named Georgia born on May 7, 2014.

After signing a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Murdoch was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), a WWE developmental territory, where he worked as G-Rilla, adopting the gimmick of a street thug. He worked in DSW until June 2007, when he was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling, another WWE developmental territory. Murdoch worked in FCW, wrestling for the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship against Harry Smith on September 25, but lost via disqualification, but he was released from his contract on February 4, 2008.