Sami Zayn recently appeared as a guest on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast for an in-depth interview. During the discussion, Zayn spoke at length about why he is “not itching and clawing to return.” Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On actually enjoying his time off the road and away from the business while recovering from injuries: “Oh man, a whole lot [is going on], I would say, and nothing all at the same time, 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?
“Maybe I’m overstating my lack of desire to return. 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!”
On deciding to take time off to address his injuries when he began worrying about hurting other wrestlers in the ring: “It was really when the second one started getting bad. 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.”
On being just another guy at the WWE Performance Center while recovering from injuries: “Now I’m at the PC doing my rehab. 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!”
Check out the complete episode of Talk Is Jericho featuring the Sami Zayn interview at Player.fm.