4-Time WWE Champion Reveals How COVID-19 Nearly Ended His Wrestling Career

Former WWE champion Kalisto reveals he nearly died after contracting COVID-19.© NDTV Library

Kalisto says COVID-19 almost killed him, and it almost finished his wrestling career too. The two-time WWE United States Champion, who now performs as Samuray Del Sol, caught the virus shortly after leaving WWE in April 2021 and ended up hospitalized for around two and a half months. Speaking on David Otunga's The Wednesday Hang podcast, the luchador said he went through it alone during the pandemic and that retirement was on his mind again once he came out the other side, because he was struggling to move forward.

Kalisto spent over two months hospitalized after nearly dying from COVID-19

He called the experience extremely hard, mostly because he had no company while COVID restrictions were affecting hospitals. “I was in the ER for like two and a half months ... it was hard, man. I mean, I was alone,” Samuray Del Sol said.

It isn't the first time he's talked about it. In an earlier interview with Renee Paquette on The Sessions, he said doctors were close to putting him into a coma.

The illness hit only months after his release, which ended an eight-year WWE run that started in 2013. It also wasn't his first brush with death. He suffered serious skull injury in Mexico, and he counts that as another near-death experience.

So when he got through COVID-19, Kalisto was ready to walk away again. He thought about retiring and going back to teaching instead of competing, and his future in the business looked a lot different than it had before.

A charity event with a young fan helped Samuray Del Sol find his passion again

What changed things was Mojo Rawley inviting him to a private charity event for children with autism. In the main match he teamed with a young fan named Little Joey.

That brought his love for pro wrestling back and gave him a renewed sense of purpose, so he kept competing instead of leaving the ring behind. He's now active on the independent wrestling scene.

The podcast also went into a big moment from his past with Penta. Kalisto said that before he signed with WWE in 2013, he was supposed to unmask Penta in a Mask vs. Mask match in AAA. 

That would have ended Penta's identity and sent him back to the Dark Dragon character. “I knew the minute he went to WWE, I knew he was going to go above and beyond, and he still is,” Kalisto said of Penta.

The match never happened once WWE signed Kalisto, which let Penta keep building his identity.

Penta won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match on October 10 in New Orleans, and the briefcase gives him a world title shot at a time of his choosing within the next year.