Chris Jericho spoke with WWE Superstar Sami Zayn on Talk Is Jericho Podcast. Among many other things, Zayn talked about loving his time off due to injury and not being in any rush to return to action. Also, Zayn talked about how he knew it was time to take time off and rehabbing at the WWE Performance Center.
On the subject of Zayn’s back-to-back shoulder surgeries, the former El Generico divulged that he has loved his time off. According to Zayn, he does not miss being on the road and is surprised that he has not missed it after several months of being away.
“Oh man, a whole lot [is going on], I would say, and nothing all at the same time,” Zayn shared. “And I know [pro] wrestling fans maybe don’t want to hear this, but I’ve been loving being off. I think maybe wrestling fans want to hear, like, ‘I can’t wait to get back and I miss everything,’ but I don’t know. I had both shoulders [operated on]. I don’t miss it! What is up with that?”
While Zayn clarified his statement saying he does miss performing, ‘The Underdog From The Underground’ admitted he is not “itching” to get back to WWE.
“Maybe I’m overstating my lack of desire to return,” Zayn prefaced. “I do miss performing, but like [Jericho] said, I’ve been doing this a super long time. We’re on the road a lot. [Jericho] know[s] how it is. I just know that when I’ll be back, I’ll probably enjoy it. But I’m not sitting there itching and clawing [to return]. And I don’t know that my employer will want to hear that, like, ‘does this guy not care?’ But, no, I’m not even close [to being cleared to return]. I need a couple more months!”
Zayn claimed that he decided it was time to take a break from WWE when he started to worry about hurting his fellow performers.
“It was really when the second one started getting bad [he considered taking time off],” Zayn recalled. “I was a little concerned for other people’s safety. If I can’t [catch someone or bodyslam someone], yeah, yeah. I’m starting to get a little worried about it and it was really when the MRI came in and it confirmed my worst fears, which is something was torn because I thought, ‘oh, it’s just bothering me.’ And we’re on the road so much just trying to maintain, but then there comes a certain point where it’s like, ‘this isn’t going away’ and so at a certain point, you have to confront it.”
In Zayn’s view, he has not been in a rush to return to action because he knew he had to exercise great patience to fully recover from his surgeries. Additionally, the former NXT Champion admitted that he has enjoyed having time off for “introspection”.
“I swear to God, this whole time off, maybe that’s why I haven’t really been drooling to get back,” Zayn considered. “One, because I knew I had a long road ahead of me, but also, in this time off, it’s more time than I ever had to just stop and think, and just think about everything. And [Jericho] know[s], me already. I’m already somewhat of a pensive person, right? Right, I don’t know. I just think about things. And now, I have more time to think about broader things, but also more time for introspection.”
nterestingly, Zayn is now rehabbing his injuries at the WWE Performance Center. While Zayn indicated that he is receiving no fanfare from up-and-coming talent at the PC, he is fine with it as he feels like “more of a complete person” and is working on his ego.
“Now I’m at the PC doing my rehab,” Zayn continued. “I don’t try to, like, pass on knowledge and what’s great is I don’t feel, it is a part of the wrestling culture and that respect, but, like, I genuinely go trying to keep my ego in check. So I walk in the PC and no one’s kissing my ass and I don’t care. It’s great!”
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
LATEST NEWS var numposts = 5;var showpostthumbnails = true;var displaymore = false;var displayseparator = true;var showcommentnum = false;var showpostdate = false;var showpostsummary = true;var numchars = 100;
