Christian On When He Was Told He Was Going To Be In The Royal Rumble

Christian made a surprise appearance in the Men's Royal Rumble, and he explained when he was told he was going to be a part of it on WWE's The Bump. Christian hadn't worked a match for WWE since 2014.

“It’s been a long process to get to the point where I could get myself in physical condition to step into the ring again. Everyone knows that I retired from injuries seven years ago. I’d be lying if I didn’t say Edge returning last year at the Royal Rumble kind of made me think a little bit. We had different injuries, but it put a bug in my ear thinking, ‘Man, maybe this is a possibility.’ But I put it off to the side and didn’t really think anything of it.

In the summer when I had that Unsanctioned Match with Randy Orton, I kind of looked at where I was in my life…I started thinking, ‘Do I want that to be the lasting memory that people have of me getting punted in a 10-second match?’ The way my career ended before didn’t sit well with me. I knew I needed to get back in there and to finish this on my terms and in my own way. If it was just that one match at the Royal Rumble, then so be it. I needed to end it on my own terms.”

He found out early in the morning after getting a call. 

“I found out at 7:30 on Friday night. Yeah. It was kind of a whirlwind from there. I was nervous when I got the call. I was like, ‘Where’s my gear? Where’re my tights and my boots?’ Once I pieced those things together, there was no time to think. There was so much I had to do to prepare for Saturday before going to the arena on Sunday. For not stepping into the ring for seven years, there were no nerves. I was like, ‘This is what I was born to do.’”