Ken Shamrock sacrificed his dreams in mixed martial arts to take care of his family but through the process found a new love in professional wrestling.
IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock recently sat down with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about Bruce Prichard’s belief that he always had one foot in wrestling and one foot in MMA during his time in WWE, Shamrock admitted there was some truth to that.
“Oh, I did because when I left, like I said, it was more of a necessity,” Ken Shamrock admitted. “But when I got into pro wrestling, I fell in love with it. No question, it was awesome. I loved it. I enjoyed it. But it was always in the back of my head that I was gonna go back.”
The former WWE Intercontinental Champion revealed that he made a promise to himself when he started in mixed martial arts that he would continue to do it as long as he could support his family. But if that wasn’t possible, he would have to get a job outside of MMA, which brought him to professional wrestling.
“Like I said, it’s something that I told myself when I was fighting when I first got into it, and I was young, that I would pursue this. But if it got to a point to where I couldn’t support my family, I would stop, and I would go get a job,” Ken Shamrock revealed. “And I always told myself my family came first. And so I was able to become very successful at it, but then it got to a point to where I had built this massive world with helping at-risk kids and helping fighters that were living in a house, six to eight fighters, and I had three different gyms for them to train at I had trainers.
“I had all this world that I built. I have a family. I had all these things that are there, and that I needed to make a certain amount of money in order for me to continue to keep doing that. And I couldn’t do it in the mixed martial arts because they were struggling and going to court all the time. So it wasn’t their fault. It was just that was the scenario. So I had to step away.
“I had to sacrifice my dreams, and what I love doing so is that all these other people like Frank Shamrock, like Gary Bolender, like Mikey Burnett. So they could continue to keep doing what they were doing and have the gyms open for them to keep training at and be able to take care of the kids, take care of my family. I had to sacrifice me going in and the ring and being able to fight because I built this, and I felt it was my responsibility to keep it going. So I had to go and do something else.
“Fortunately for me, when I went into pro wrestling, I loved it. Once I got in there, and I started doing it was just awesome, and I enjoyed it, and it was a great opportunity and feeling to get involved with something when you’re not quite sure at first. But then, once you’re into it, you realize this was a different type. But it was just as enjoyable as it was when I was fighting. It was so satisfying to get in there and hear those fans screaming and yelling; it was a great time.”
READ MORE: Ken Shamrock Comments On Daniel Cormier Refereeing Fight Pit Match At WWE Extreme Rules
What do you make of Ken Shamrock’s comments? Did you think of him more as a professional wrestler or a mixed martial artist? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit NBC Sports Boston with a link back to this article for the transcription.
