Quotes About Transition

Coming back to your native land after an absence of many years is a surprisingly unsettling business, a little like waking from a long coma. Time, you discover, has wrought changes that leave you feeling mildly foolish and out of touch.

It is often pointed out to me that, in a brief time, I have gone from unknown film editor to star of 'Gomer Pyle,' guest star in two TV specials, and a night club headliner, and that this must necessarily have wrought some deep changes in me.

'Smallville' gig was another one of those things I got through WWE. At that point, I had absolutely no aspirations to pursue acting.

Ronda Rousey is coming to WWE at such a great time because we're a big family here, and we try to help everyone succeed. She has passion for it, which is awesome, and she respects the business, which is awesome. Everyone has been helping her and walking her through everything.

The transition to WWE has been an incredible road. It's been great, it's been difficult, it's been motivating, and it has allowed me as a person to just completely see myself differently and allowed me to grow in a different perspective with their input.

NXT is its own kind of animal, and you're never quite sure how much of that transfers over into WWE and into Monday Night Raw.

A lot of times, guys leave WWE or get fired by WWE, but there's always that little bit of buzz right when they get out on the scene, but like all buzz, it fades. But I feel really flattered that, for whatever reason, it seems to be trending upwards.

I love Nakamura, but it's a transition for anybody who comes to WWE.

I knew I wanted to do a movie, an action movie, and when I left WWE in 2011, I didn't specifically know. I didn't leave to do 'Boone: The Bounty Hunter.'

Pro wrestling was there, and I was good at it, thank God. I started getting a lot of offers, but unfortunately, at WWE I was under a tight leash. I think it had a lot to do with The Rock making the transition, and me possibly being the next guy - you know, the company didn't want to lose another top performer.

I have never even considered a future outside the walls of the WWE. However, sometimes life takes an unexpected turn, and while it is the most difficult decision I have ever made, it is time for me to move on.

I do recall at one point being part of WWE and other guys taking the risk of stepping away, and a lot of guys don't do it because of the fear that it's not going to be the same.

WWE prepares you for so much other stuff in entertainment.

Really, I didn't even want to go to WWE in 2001. I knew that it wasn't my favorite style, my favorite showcasing of my abilities, but it was definitely the best business move. At the time, there was nowhere else to go anyway - ECW was gone, WCW was gone. So, when I first came in, I was seriously frustrated trying to adapt.

When I signed with WWE and moved to Orlando, my wife and my two kids came with me.

When we started training with WWE, coaches were impressed and asked if we had had boxing training. I said no, it was all soccer. As a defender, I had to learn to stay on my feet, track backwards, and I feel all the movement I do in the ring was helped by my soccer background.

If it wasn't for the Internet, I might never have left WWE. Then again, if it wasn't for the Internet, I probably wouldn't have been brought back.

When I signed with WWE, a lot of people, even close friends, told me that this place was going to chew me up and spit me out, just because of the way my personality is. It's been an adjustment for me as a human being.

WWE is home; it's a family. I'll always be a part of this as long as I can contribute in some positive way. But I know there's a time when the sun sets on everything.

The talk of the town has been Finn Balor. Finn Balor has been killing it down there in NXT, and the fans love him. He looks like one of those guys who could be ready to be up here in WWE, but who knows what's going to happen?

I started out thinking I was going to play in the NBA; now I travel the world as a WWE Superstar. Life changes.

I had seen a lot of people who had been released from WWE, or asked for their release, and gone out into the wild unknown. There's more cases of it being unsuccessful than successful.

After 10 years of WWE, in a somewhat dramatic fashion, it just didn't feel right, so I stepped out of my contract, and after 10 years of that schedule, I had all this time.

I really got struck by lightning when it came to my decision to leave WWE. If I literally think about that day and who I was then, it's drastic. It almost happened overnight for me.