Update On Sami Zayn After Undergoing Second Rotator Cuff Surgery

Sami Zayn

After WWE Money in the Bank on June 17, the word started making the rounds that Sami Zayn is injured and that’s why he was booked to lose to Bobby Lashley without putting up much of a fight. In an interview with WWE.com on June 21, Zayn revealed that he’ll be out of action for an extended period of time due to two torn rotator cuffs.

Zayn said, “Well, right now I’m in Birmingham, Alabama. I just underwent surgery for my right shoulder, aka my good shoulder. So, I’m out for a little while with that. I guess people don’t know about this injury; I’ve been working with it for some time. I don’t know exactly when I tore it. I think I tore it, or initially injured it, on a Montreal live event. Which is ironic because I injured my left shoulder — now somewhat famously — in Montreal in my [Raw] debut against John Cena. And at a live event this past August wrestling Jinder Mahal, I think I injured it then.”

He continued, “But then my left shoulder, aka my bad shoulder, started to act up again as well. That shoulder hasn’t quite been the same since surgery anyway, so I had just kind of gotten used to the fact that that shoulder was the bad one. But it started to get progressively worse, so basically, long story short, it turns out I have two torn rotator cuffs. The left one and the right one are both torn. I just underwent surgery on the right one, and then in about six or seven weeks, I’ll be undergoing surgery on the left one, and hopefully, I can come back healthy and happy.”

Zayn underwent bi-lateral rotator cuff surgery on Tuesday and tweeted a selfie on his status.

Zayn updated fans via Twitter on Thursday to say that he’s feeling “shockingly great.” The Raw Superstar is getting through his rehabilitation without the assistance of pain medication as well.

As previously reported, Zayn traveled to Alabama to determine how serious his shoulder injuries are. Zayn said he learned surgery would be required after getting an MRI on “the bad shoulder.”

No exact return estimate was given, but Zayn says he’d “love to be in the mix for WrestleMania season” and believes he’ll be ready in time for the event taking place on April 7, 2019, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Zayn injured his right shoulder on August 5, 2017, at a WWE live event in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The injury occurred during a match where he unsuccessfully challenged Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship.

Meltzer adds, “That probably explains his softer physique because you couldn’t do much in the way of serious weight training with a rotator cuff tear since it impacts every movement for chest, shoulders, and back.”