Zoey Stark Explains How Her Knee Injury Helped Her Become A Better Wrestler For WWE

After nearly nine months on the shelf, Zoey Stark made her return to WWE programming in July 2022 and secured herself a shot at the "WWE NXT" Women's Championship. Prior to her comeback, Stark had been rehabbing a torn ACL and meniscus while simultaneously working as a backstage producer for "NXT." 

Despite being unable to compete in the ring during this time, Stark says her producing gig actually helped her become a better wrestler. During a recent appearance on "WWE Die Woche," Stark explained how the experience benefited her. 

"With the injury, you watch a lot behind the scenes and you kind of figure out what people are doing and what could be different. I helped out with producing matches a lot to where you kind of get to sit and see from a different perspective and you think outside of the box now," she said. "So that helped me become a better performer in so many different ways because now I'm just watching, I'm studying, I'm not in the ring. It might sound weird, but I'm just outside, I'm just watching. And I think that was one of the biggest blessings in disguise because it made me better."

In storyline, Stark's injury was attributed to an attack from Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin of Toxic Attraction. In reality, though, she sustained the injury during a triple threat ladder match for the "NXT" Women's Tag Team Championships a week prior. 

At one point in the match, Persia Pirotta (aka Steph De Lander) pushed Stark off a ladder. Upon her descent, Stark springboarded off the top rope and dove into a group of talent on the outside, landing on her feet. She later revealed that was the moment she blew her knee out.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "WWE Die Woche" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.