On his extended time away from AEW:
“That’s been the question. I guess I’ve been in and out over the last couple of years. Some of it has been due to injury, some of it due to bad luck. One thing I will say is there’s a narrative out that I’m just this injury-prone guy, like he’s gone for a long time and he comes back and he gets hurt again. That’s actually not the case. So I’m actually glad, I want to be able to address that. I did get hurt about two years ago but I was okay within like a couple of weeks. But the problem is when you fall out of the rotation, we have so much talent, that it’s hard to get back in the rotation. I always compare it to a Ferris wheel. Right? You’re up at the top at one point. But you’re gonna go down and you’d kind of have to wait your turn to get back up there and that’s a little bit of what happens. So I have had a couple of injuries over the last few years but for the most part, I’ve been healthy for 80% [of the time].”
On the injury that kept him out of action:
“I hurt my knee two years ago when I had the TNT title, somewhere along that [time], I don’t even remember what match it was. But somewhere in there, I think was one of our multi-man matches when we were working against Sammy [Guevara]. I don’t even remember what the exact diagnosis was, but it wasn’t anything too crazy. All I needed was about five or six weeks, I got some PRP and I was good to go after that. But it was just right after that happened Brawl Out happened. Everything kind of turned upside down after that. So I kind of moved to the back burner and there was a lot of things that needed to get worked out not involving me and I understood that.”
On being ready to return to the ring:
“I’m ready. I think we’re just waiting for the right opportunity, for the right situation. Again, there are a lot of guys in the company and people coming in all the time. Obviously, our relationship with other companies like New Japan, that provides us extra talent. So it’s just a little tough sometimes to work your way back into the rotation. It’s not unlike, say basketball or something, right? Like you get injured, you might lose your spot as a starter and maybe somebody else comes in and they kill it in that spot. So you come back and it’s like, hey, we’re winning without you. So you got to figure out a way to get yourself back on the floor.”
Honestly, he just needs a good mouthpiece or tag partner that compliments his strengths without overshadowing him (SCU was perfect for that, but I understand it ran its course). Big Stoke, Carny Hotdog, or even (dare I say?) The Learning Tree could be a huge boon. He just needs a jump start and he’ll be off and running.