Sheamus Talks Retirement Rumors And Reports On His Neck Injury

Earlier this week, Sheamus returned to the ring after being away for nine months due to a neck injury.

For a time, there rumors that Sheamus would retire from wrestling due to his injuries, but Sheamus told talkSPORT a larger part was due to being just burnt out and at a creative roadblock.

"The truth is, I wasn't ready to be done," Sheamus began. "There are things that pop into your head, like doubts and that saying 'I might be done.' I got back to that question just after 'Mania and I felt I was kind of burnt out too. I felt like me and Cesaro ? as great as a tag team we were, we'd already won the titles five times.

"And I just feel, creatively, there was no direction for us at the time. And I guess we were both burnt out. Then we went back for that RAW after 'Mania, man. We interrupted that Kofi [Kingston] and Seth [Rollins] match. And we weren't supposed to be there. We got a call a couple of hours before we were supposed to go on there, and, you know, the crowd just s— on it. And it was just like, we hit that point where it felt like we'd hit that roadblock.

"And I was burnt out too, I wasn't feeling great and I went away for a while. [Then] I just worked my ass off, man. I had so much fun wrestling with Cesaro and we created a legacy with The Bar and you don't want that to be diminished.

"So sometimes it's good to get away for a while, you know, we can always go back to that. But I felt like it was time and there's a lot more to accomplish as a singles wrestler ? the Intercontinental Championship, for example. And I went back and I worked my ass off, mate. And I'm not trying to be like 'Oh, I'm great' this and that, but I could have easily come back and been like I've won all these titles, I'm just gonna live off that and collect a paycheck ? for me, I went off, started doing fasted cardio every morning. I started kickboxing. I started tuning up my diet with the help of a really good friend of mine, Jerry. I started taking my training to another level and in my mind, I was starting again.

"That's what I was talking about earlier on. I feel now when I go out to the ring, I'm going out there thinking I haven't achieved anything. Because that's how passionate I am. Sometimes you feel like 'Well, I have this, this and this' and if you wipe that out of the equation, you go in there like you're starting fresh and you got lots to prove, which I do.

"It just keeps the hunger, keeps the passion there. And that's the same with the YouTube channel. I'm super passionate about that. And the one thing that makes it work is because there's no ego, man. I put myself in these positions where I don't come out on top. I always come out on the floor, wrecked and knackered and that's the whole idea.

"All I know is I know is I know nothing, and the reason I say that is because I'm the person watching at home who's wants to make that change, that brave change to start working out and they see me, they see me fail and falter, but I get through the workout. And that's what it's all about. Same with wrestling. I'm going in there with the mentality now that I've got no accolades behind me and I want to prove to everybody what I can do and what I can achieve. The first one was warm up ? that's what I wanted to say earlier!"

Sheamus then confirmed that his neck is good to go and since being away, he's changed up his diet and training regiment.

"Yeah, it forced me to think. I got physical therapy too ? nothing injured, but like working on my form, working on my posture, my thoracic spine," Sheamus said. "A lot of stuff that people have anyway ? and not by being in the ring ? even by sitting at a desk all day or something. And so I've worked on fine tuning my body, I'm working on stuff that needs to be strengthened and I'm working on my weak points.

"I don't throw heavy weights around anymore. I think that's another ego thing and I feel better. I feel better than they did 10 years ago. I feel better than I did when I started the WWE. Also, no gluten, no dairy. I feel so much better without dairy."

Now appearing on SmackDown, Sheamus is currently feuding with Shorty G and will meet his opponent at the Royal Rumble on January 26 in Houston.