Ken Shamrock has come a long way from his year outside of wrestling to challenging for the world title. Shamrock returned to Impact Wrestling in September for TV tapings but prior to his return, Shamrock needed a year off to rehab his body.
“I took a year off, stepped away and let my body recover because ever since I’ve become a professional fighter I was always grinding, training for the next fight, and never took time off. So that’s probably 25 years of just grinding so when I stepped away and a year later, I started training again. I started working out. I started feeling good,” Shamrock told SLAM! Wrestling on Wednesday.
Ken Shamrock. Photo courtesy Impact Wrestling.
“I took a match over in Australia. I felt great when I had the match. I did a couple more. I was like, ‘Wow, I feel better than I’ve felt in 20 years.’ So then I got an opportunity to get in the ring with Moose and had a match with him. I felt like I’m at 100% now, and that’s when I make it my determination that this is where I was going to be. I am going to commit myself to challenging for the belt. I made a commitment to Impact. I’m going to be here for a while. I’m going after the strap.”
Shamrock has continued to set goals throughout his career. “I am doing some contract stuff with them (Impact Wrestling) and I don’t have a timeframe. I’m going to keep doing it. I have a goal set in my mind and that’s to win the strap and what happens after that, I’ll set myself up with other goals.”
The Bound for Glory match between Shamrock and Moose displayed Shamrock’s incredible athleticism at age 55. “The biggest thing is me being committed to my training and at the same time I made sure that the year off I didn’t train or do anything. I allowed my body to recover. I think that was probably the biggest thing that could get me an opportunity where I am right now and where I can be out there and in the wrestling ring and do the things that I’m doing. I allowed my body to completely reboot.”
In addition to his wrestling career, Shamrock enjoys the opportunity to connect with at-risk children. Youngsters from the Boys and Girls Club challenged Ken Shamrock to a battle of rock-paper-scissors. “I work with at-risk kids. So any time that I get a chance to have some fun with some kids and make them laugh, it’s something that’s important to me. So when they gave me a call and asked if I wanted to do this for the Boys and Girls Club, I said absolutely. I’m excited about that,” said Shamrock.
“I was one of those kids. At a young age I got stabbed and ended up doing some strong-armed robbery. I was in and out of juvenile homes and ended up in a group home. I was adopted by the group home owner. He showed me how to live life and gave me an opportunity to be able to have a better life. I figure whenever I have that chance to past it on and be able to help other kids do the same, then I would.”
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