Pro-wrestling star Ezekiel Jackson was the latest guest on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast to discuss his career in WWE, which included his thoughts on dropping the Intercontinental championship to Cody Rhodes shortly before the 2011 SummerSlam pay-per-view. Highlights from the interview are below.
Recalls losing the I.C. title to Cody Rhodes on the final SmackDown before the 2011 SummerSlam:
Because in the past, the I.C. Championship had meant once you drop that, it’s like you know, we saw it with Shawn [Michaels], Bret [Hart], all these cats. It’s like next level so I’m like cool, I’m ready to go. Then they’re like, you know, we got this feud going with Cody [Rhodes]. I’m like, ‘Cool. We’ll probably make it to SummerSlam. I’ll get my SummerSlam match with Cody and whatever which way, I’m ready for whatever.’ To lose the title the SmackDown before SummerSlam was really weird. I was like, ‘God damn, really? Couldn’t even get a SummerSlam match?’ I showed up and I didn’t even know I was losing the title that night. I just found out from Cody just like, ‘Oh, so you’re dropping the title.’ I was like, ‘… oh, okay,’ you know what I mean? But again, they were building Cody. I thought, ‘Okay, cool. Maybe I’m going on this level. I’m ready to move on’ and it just fell off.
On realizing that his run in WWE was coming to an end after suffering a shoulder injury:
I was just backstage, doing Superstars and then they had me doing NXT, dancing with The Great Khali and we did a bunch of dark matches and stuff like that and then it just got to that point where after the pec injury had healed somewhat, but the rotator cuff was doing all the work so I ended up popping that rotator cuff in a match in Vancouver and after I realized that, you know, I suggested something for Royal Rumble and then I see Mania season coming up, I was like, ‘Cool, we could do this.’ Then that switched. I just was like — I was in so much pain. I couldn’t sit without holding this arm up, my left arm. I would sit like this to hold this arm up and I just had went and had it checked out and like this — ‘If you didn’t come in now, you’d probably never be able to use this arm again.’ So I went in, had the surgery and basically that was it for my WWE career. I sat at home for almost — that was 2012, my contract went until 2014 and they never brought me back. They brought me up to Mania in New York [WrestleMania Axxess 2013], I did a match. My last match was [me and Yoshitatsu vs. Tanga Loa & Hunico] … and yeah, that was it. I stayed home and started figuring, ‘Okay, life may be changing soon’ and that’s when we moved from Georgia to L.A. so that my family could get back into acting, just in case.
Says he would love to step into the ring again:
There’s still some stuff I would love to do [Jackson responded when asked if he’s officially retired]. I’m always in shape. You know, I’m a bit bigger now than I was when I was in the WWE. When I was there, I was about 285. Now, I’m 330. I… there’s a few things I would love to do, be real. I still get that itch every so often but it’s not going to be anything small. I’m not just — sorry, I can’t. I’m okay with where I am [in life], but that itch is always there that I may want to scratch.
(H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling
)