Davey Boy Smith Jr. hopes others can learn from his experience.
Dabey Boy Smith Jr. has not wrestled since January, as he wrapped up his latest tour with AJPW. He is set to return to the promotion for their Champion Carnival, which begins in April. However, Smith Jr. was recently sidelined, as he underwent surgery.
Speaking on Cafe de Rene with Rene Dupree, Davey Boy Smith Jr. noted that he recently had surgery after he got cataracts in his eyes.
“I came back home in January from a really successful trip, and I somehow got cataracts in my eyes from the 20 years of those shitty tanning beds. Hopefully people can learn from that. But I had seen people not using the glasses…I didn’t like the lines [it would leave] around your eyes when you go tanning, so a lot of times, I just put a towel on, and the last six months or so, I was using the old tanning beds over in Japan, you gotta lay in them for 30-40 minutes, and they’re the old UV, they’re lousy bulbs. So I had to get the surgery, and both eyes, it was weird. It was like it just sort of came on. It was like my body knew that I had three months off, and I was like, let’s get this taken care of. One thing that I can say is that it cost me about fourteen grand and I had to pay it. For people, with wrestlers, it’s always like, learn from this guy, don’t do this. Hopefully, they learn from me and yourself and your dad to save your money because you don’t know when stuff like that will happen. Luckily, I had the money to pay for it," Smith Jr. said.
Smith Jr. went on to say that he had the surgery in the United States, as he could not fly or drive. He noted that his eyesight went back to 20/20 after the procedure. Smith Jr. also said that the experience gave him a new lease on light.
"I had to get [the surgery] in the states. I couldn’t even fly. I couldn’t drive or do anything. [My eyesight] is perfect. It’s great. All the post-op exams were great. My eyesight went back to 20/20. Prior to this happening, my eyesight was always 20/20, and then it just started getting blurry. I flew back, and I had the jet lag from Japan, so I stayed in for two days, and I go outside, and the sun, I go, ‘Holy, man, I can’t see.’ So I drove to Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee and wake up, and I couldn’t really the menu outside because it’s on a whiteboard. I said, ‘What’s going on?’ So I got all the exams and stuff. But the good news, and believe me, I had to pay for it, the retina’s attached, all the veins and everything were healthy, so it wasn’t from getting hit. So there was a good thing. They said it was a protein buildup behind the eye. But you know what, it gave me a whole new lease on life. When you don’t have your eyesight for three week, there were bad times. I couldn’t even watch YouTube, I had to order in Uber Eats, and I had to scroll and really zoom in to actually see the menu. Since I’ve come back from it, I’ve been extra motivated and doing great. So it was a lousy thing, but it was something that made me appreciate how important your eyesight is," Smith Jr. said.
During the interview, Smith Jr. said that he signs five-month contracts with AJPW, and he would be returning to the promotion. Check out his comments here.
Click here to see what Smith Jr. had to say about potentially working with AEW.
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