Love him or hate him (and many wrestling fans now seem to fall into the latter category thanks to that interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin on the WWE Network), there's no denying that Dean Ambrose is one of the hardest working WWE Superstars out there. It's remarkable then that he's never suffered a serious injury or even a minor one which has kept him on the shelf for a small period of time.
However, during a recent chat with the Top Turnbuckle podcast, Ambrose made it clear that WWE's gruelling schedule has left him hurting, something which no doubt isn't helped by the fact he's had more matches than anyone else on the roster in the past three years.
"People will never know how hard it is sometimes. I’ve been sick — I’ve had like a walking pneumonia for like months, where I don’t know, or nobody knew what it was, so I was just taking antibiotics. My adrenaline receptors are burnt out, probably, by this point. That’s part of a thing that people will never understand. They don’t see that [hurt] side of me, they just see that [side of the televised character].
"A lot of [not getting hurt] is just luck. I was trained very well, very old school, so I’m very good at taking care of myself in precarious situations in the ring. I do a shit-ton of yoga, I do a lot of stretching, meditation, stuff like that. As I’m getting older, I’m becoming sort of a super weird hippie. I’ve found a really good balance. I’ve been lucky to have never been injured, nothing catastrophic, but like I’m hurt all the time. Every single day. I’ve been hurt for four years. Longer than that. I’m always hurt, but never injured.
"Some of this stuff, maybe I should have been like, ‘Hey, maybe I should take six months off to heal this,’ or whatever it is. Especially last year. But I’m just kind of hardwired to be like, ‘I’m not hurt, I’m not hurt, I’m not hurt.’ And I just kind of like work through it until it heals or whatever, you know what I mean? It’s just the way that I do it, which is not smart. Not that I’m walking around [like I’m] the walking dead, you know?"
Many fans don't appreciate just how hard WWE Superstars like Dean Ambrose work, hence why they're not often all that receptive to being harassed in airports and outside hotels for autographs and photos! With any luck, Ambrose will keep an eye on his health as he's consistently one of the most entertaining parts of SmackDown Live as the current Intercontinental Champion.
Right now, it's thought Ambrose will defend his title against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania next month.
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