Alex Zayne is back in Ring of Honor, as he won the Honor Rumble at the promotion’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. This surprising return sets the stage for a potential clash between two high-flying fan-favorites. Through his win at the event, Zayne earned a shot at the ROH World Championship, which is currently held by Bandido. In Zayne’s debut with the company, he defeated Bandido, so it’s easy to connect the dots for a potential clash between the two.
In a recent appearance on, Hot Tag Hooligans Wrestling Podcast Show, Zayne hinted at this possibility by bringing up his previous bout with Bandido. He also expressed his excitement about his return by calling it a case of good timing that will let him pick up where he left off with the company.
“Actually Ring of Honor reached out to me shortly after my release,” said Zayne. “Very thankfully because I worked with them a little bit. I only actually completed two shows with them before I was signed [by WWE]. And then the third show I was doing with them, we were in Vegas, and it was the day the pandemic was announced, and that show got pretty much wiped so I didn’t get to do that show.
“And then a few months later, through the pandemic, is when I started talking with WWE and working on the paperwork through. Yeah, we pretty much just picked up right where we left off. It kinda felt like my debut, like I said, I completed two shows for Ring of Honor before I signed with WWE and before the pandemic, in my debut, I defeated their now World Champion Bandido, so yeah it felt like good timing. It felt cool.”
Zayne also praised the ROH locker room; whereas he was expecting his return and his victory in the Honor Rumble to ruffle some feathers, Zayne stated that everyone in the locker room was awesome,” as they were all very helpful. He went on to describe how everyone in ROH is focused on doing what’s best for the show in every way.
“It’s such an awesome place,” said Zayne. “Walking in and knowing that the position that I’m put in and the opportunity that I’m being given and just kind of, especially to a lot of the guys, just walking in fresh and they’re like, ‘Who’s this guy, coming in and getting such an opportunity?’ That’s kind of what like I expected, but there was none of that.
“Everyone was just awesome and ready to work and ready to just do their best. And [they] helped me out so much. Like everyone there helped me out a lot. It really makes me looking forward to just going back there and everyone’s just so, they just want what’s best for the show.”
Zayne also made it clear that he’s excited to see how independent wrestling is booming across the board right now. He described how, personally, his schedule is packed; now that he’s free to compete throughout the wrestling landscape, he’ll be flying across the country in order to work for various promotions. Zayne generally emphasized that he’s happy to see this “craze” for wrestling.
“Wrestling now is booming, and I love to see it,” said Zayne. “I mean, I’m all over the place. Like these next couple of months, it’s like every date’s booked, pretty much. It’s crazy, I’m flying one city to the next, constantly, doing about four flights per week. And I couldn’t be doing that without the just craze of wrestling in general right now.
“Indie companies are just selling out left and right, all the GCW shows for however long have been selling out, I don’t even know the last one that didn’t sell out. It’s just crazy right now, you love to see it, it’s awesome.”
The full interview is available here:
