On his comeback after two knee surgeries:
"The second time around, basically I’m focusing on keeping my legs as strong as possible and preventing injury, that's what I'm working for. Last time when I went to physical therapy, I went to the University of Michigan. I told them ‘Kick my ass, train me like I’m a college football player coming in here.’ And that’s what they did. They gave me the tools to be able to continue to maintain keeping up with my knees because obviously with the two knee surgeries, me training my legs is never going to stop. So that's what it was.
"I have to change my style definitely because the way I used to wrestle before, I wouldn’t even think twice about doing something. Take a risk? Sure no problem, I’ll do whatever. But now I have to think before I get into the ring. I need to protect my knees because if I want to be able to get up and walk tomorrow, if I want to have the rest of my career and continue to wrestle, that’s the one thing I really need to focus on – preventing injury."
On readjusting to the TNA locker room:
"It was definitely weird at first. We’re traveling now. We’re not taping at Universal Studios in Orlando anymore so we're on the road in new buildings. I was pretty much gone for two years so it’s like there’s a big turnaround. I’m meeting a lot of new people for the first time and everything, but the atmosphere and the energy of the locker room seems to have stayed the same. Everyone’s still really cool. Everyone still gets along well, and it’s a good vibe back here."
On the new format of triple threat matches in the X Division:
"There’s always positives and negatives to it, but I'm a bigger fan of just the one-on-one matches. I think you can tell a better story in the ring in a one-on-one match. I think you can captivate people’s attention better in a one-on-one match as opposed to a three-way. It goes back to the basic human emotion of ‘we like this guy, we don’t like this guy.’ You throw a third guy in there and it becomes ‘we kind of like this guy, we kind of don’t like this guy, this guy we don’t know what to think.’ It splits people’s attention too much as opposed to just the basic duality of human beings, that we love and hate. I think you can hold people’s attention and tell a better story in a one-on-one match. So for me personally, I prefer one-on-one matches."
On his goal to become the TNA World Heavyweight Champion:
"Well, that was me talking as a human being. Like I’ve said before, I didn’t do this just to be in the X Division or be a tag team wrestler. I got into this business to be the best. They didn’t tell me to say that. That was completely me coming out and just saying it. That's what makes my story kind of special, that it is real. I tore both my ACLs, had two knee surgeries and now I'm making a comeback. That’s how I really feel and that’s the reason I’m here."
