Released WWE star on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn's real-life issues with him
Jaxson Ryker believes Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn should have spoken to him privately if they had a problem with his controversial tweet in 2020.
Ryker faced backlash after sending a message of support to former US President Donald Trump during the Black Lives Matter movement. Many wrestlers responded negatively to the tweet, including Owens and Zayn.
Speaking on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Ryker said he would rather have had honest face-to-face conversations about politics with his WWE co-workers:
“Nobody had to comment. They could have pulled me aside in the locker room and said, ‘Hey, man, I don’t really agree with what you said,’ and I would have said, ‘Why do you not agree?’ and we’d have had a conversation.” [56:04-56:15]
At the time, Kevin Owens branded Ryker “absolutely f***ing pathetic” for using his “forgotten no more” WWE catchphrase in the tweet. Sami Zayn also disagreed with his view that America was “built on freedom.”
One WWE Superstar had a different approach to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Thankful for the @POTUS we have! God bless America. Built of freedom. Forgotten No More
Jaxson Ryker received death threats following his public show of support for Donald Trump. His WWE faction, The Forgotten Sons (Ryker, Steve Cutler, and Wesley Blake), was also removed from television for several months.
Ryker added that one superstar contacted him via text message instead of berating his views on social media:
“I won’t name a name, but there was one gentleman that was good buddies in the locker room that worked for WWE at the time. He texted me and said, ‘I don’t agree with your tweet,’ and we had a little conversation. At the end we agreed to disagree, but we left it at that. He didn’t attack me online, he didn’t tweet me.” [56:15-56:37]
Ryker received his release from WWE in November 2021 after four-and-a-half years with the company. His former Forgotten Sons stablemates, Cutler and Blake, were also let go by WWE earlier in the year.
Please credit the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.