Roop retired from wrestling in 1988 due to a neck injury suffered in a car crash. At the time he also handled booking duties and trained wrestlers at a school in Davie, Florida. An early student of his was Lawrence Pfohl, the future Lex Luger, who Roop broke into the business before turned over training duties to Hiro Matsuda. Looking back on his career in 2000, Roop stated "I had a hell of a lot of fun doing it, and it was quite an education."