Noam Dar has plenty to celebrate in NXT right now, but there was a point not that long ago when he genuinely thought his wrestling career was finished. After spending roughly two years dealing with back-to-back long-term injuries, Dar admitted that retirement started feeling like the logical choice.
Speaking with Josh Marks on The Certified Mark Show, Dar reflected on his recent run, which has included winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Romeo Moreno and receiving an invitation to the John Cena Classic. For Dar, those moments carry a little more weight considering he wasn’t even sure he would wrestle again.
“Absolutely. There’s a lot of validation that’s come from this period. But more specifically, just to the more recent timeline, I essentially sat out for two years due to two long-term injuries. So, coming back from one and then getting reinjured and having to go through that whole process again, especially with the majority of my wrestling career not really having that much time off, that really, the second one really felt like that was it for me. It’s probably time to hang up the boots. And then, you know, a year later, I’m winning the Dusty Cup that’s got shiny silver boots on it. So, as of right now, the boots are staying on.”
Dar has been wrestling professionally since he was 14, and lengthy stretches on the sidelines weren’t something he was used to. Before this run of injuries, he said the longest he had ever been out was around five months. The first injury was difficult physically, but Dar was able to accept it as part of being a professional wrestler. The second one was different. Even though the physical recovery was actually easier, going through the entire process again messed with him mentally.
“The second injury, however, wasn’t as physically difficult. It was much easier in a lot of ways, but mentally it was just so much more tough because I just, you know, it felt like I was living the same year again. Almost everything almost lined up like a complete mirror image of each other, of the time of the year, you know. And like, obviously it’s always sunny in Florida, right? But when you’re sitting in the house at summertime laid up on a couch, it’s not too fun.”
That was when retirement became a very real possibility. Dar said the people around him — including WWE’s team, his mentors and friends — helped him stop looking too far ahead and instead focus on getting through rehabilitation one day at a time.
“So mentally, the second one was really tough, and like I said, for me, in that moment, it felt like the logical thing to do was to call it a day. But luckily, the team that is here, the people that I leaned on, the mentors and friends that I have, and just coming back to taking everything one day at a time, right? I just understood that regardless if that’s the right decision or not, each day I had a task, and each day I was able to move a little bit more forward.”
The experience also completely changed how Dar looks at wrestling now that he’s healthy again. Instead of treating another live event, interview or major show like just another day at work, he tries to approach everything like it could be his final opportunity.
“I just decided that if I get back to it and the opportunity is there, every moment, whether it’s a live event, whether it’s an interview like this, whether it’s a massive PLE special, like I’m going to show up as if it’s my last time doing it. So that’s allowed me to be a lot more present and grateful for stuff and executing better.”
A year after wondering whether it was time to hang up his boots, Dar now has a Dusty Cup with silver boots sitting on top of it and another opportunity waiting in the John Cena Classic. Turns out those boots aren’t going anywhere just yet.
What do you think of Noam Dar’s comeback after nearly walking away from wrestling altogether? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
