Former WWE Wrestler Was "Dodging Death" During Bout With COVID-19
Samuray Del Sol revealed he had a serious bout with COVID-19 last year. He indicated that it was one of several health issues that nearly led to his death.
"COVID nearly ended me," Del Sol stated in a post on his Instagram. "The whole month of August I was hospitalized... dodging death again in my life, nearly having two heart attacks on top of COVID and a stomach ulcer."
Samuray Del Sol appeared on an episode of AEW Dynamite last November. He teamed with Aero Star to unsuccessfully challenge FTR for the AAA Tag Team Championship.
It was Samuray Del Sol's first match since last April. At that time, he was still working for WWE under the ring name Kalisto. WWE released him on April 15, 2021, after eight years with the company.
In his Instagram post, Samuray Del Sol expressed regret about his match on Dynamite. He said he was not physically ready to return to the ring.
"Only had a day to prepare for my return on TV," Del Sol stated. "Beyond my belief, I thought I never get this bad, but I took that as a sign, really trained hard, and rolled the dice and Lucha. 2022 is all I focus on...LUCHA always like there's no tomorrow.. LUCHA is my life and my LIFE is LUCHA."
Since his match on Dynamite, Samuray Del Sol has worked a handful of other matches. His most high-profile match since his release from WWE was at AAA's TripleMania Regia show last December. He was part of a 5-way match for the vacant AAA Mega Championship. The match was won by El Hijo del Vikingo.
Samuray Del Sol was a 2-time United States Champion during his time in WWE. He also held the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Prior to being called up to WWE's main roster, he teamed with Sin Cara as The Lucha Dragons and won the NXT Tag Team Championships.