Sami Zayn is getting candid about where he stands in his wrestling journey, acknowledging that the clock on his in-ring career is very much ticking.
The 41-year-old WWE veteran recently spoke with Witty Whittier and reflected on how much he appreciates still being active at this stage of his career.
“I remember several years ago being on a European tour thinking like, ‘I don’t know how many more of these there really are.’ When you’re in it, you think it’s just going to keep going forever,” Zayn said. “It’s kind of like when you’re in high school, you just feel like those years are going to last forever. But then when you’re an adult and you’ve been out of high school 10-15 years, like, ‘Man, high school was nothing.’ It’s a blip in your life.”
He wasn’t finished there.
Zayn continued, “So I’ve been lucky that WWE and my time in this business has been more than a blip. But I realize that this time will probably be coming to an end within the next — I don’t want to put a number of years on it, but definitely closer to the end than the beginning. So I’m just very, very grateful to be a part of it still. It’s just not lost on me. It’s not lost on me. This is great.”
Zayn most recently held the United States Championship before losing it to Trick Williams at WrestleMania 42.
He also noted that there was a “strange” feeling surrounding this year’s WrestleMania, particularly as his on-screen direction became less defined and crowd reactions began to shift.
“My character at the time of WrestleMania was a bit more undefined than it’s been in many, many years,” Zayn said. “Usually, I walk into Mania and I know exactly where I’m at and what I’m doing. This year, it’s like this character shift and this sea change has been going on at the same time with Trick kind of rising and me getting these — I would say polarizing reactions, but it’s kind of started to swing all the way in the other direction now to where I’m unliked and I’m kind of, as a character, saying like, ‘What did I even do here? Why is this happening?’ and all of that kind of stuff. Week-to-week, audience-to-audience is all different, so it felt a little less sure-footed, you know what I mean?”
Zayn added, “And then the vibe around WrestleMania was a little strange this year, like with the Pat McAfee thing being added at the last minute. I don’t know. There was just so many things that felt a little strange about this year’s WrestleMania.”
Sami Zayn challenges Trick Williams for the WWE United States Championship in one of two matches airing as part of the special first hour of WWE Backlash, which airs live on ESPN 2 from Tampa, FL.
