In January 2022, Samuray Del Sol (formerly Kalisto in WWE) revealed that he had a near-death COVID scare in August 2021 where he was hospitalized for a month.
Samuray Del Sol was released by WWE in April 2021 and things started to take a turn for the worse shortly after.
"After getting released from WWE, I was like, 'I'm going to get back on the grind, I'm motivated,' [COVID] just hit me out of nowhere. I waited two weeks because I didn't want to pay a damn hospital bill. That was my mistake because I was starting to be delusional. My brain was fried. My wife was sick, but not as sick as me. My fever wouldn't go down, I was coughing up blood every day for two weeks. I guess I passed out a couple of times and hit my head. I was white. I didn't tell anybody, not even my parents. They were pissed off," Del Sol revealed to Renee Paquette on the Sessions.
He continued, "I don't like showing my medical history to the world and I don't want any sympathy. I'm a private person. I can take care of myself and do this. It scared the shit out of me. In the hospital, they were going to put me in a coma, but my wife said no. 'He's not going to come back. He's going to die.' My heart stopped beating, they needed to revive me. My heart stopped and kicked back. It was like three times. I was in and out with that. I was super tired and just wanted to sleep. From what my wife was telling me, it was really bad. I ended up staying in the ER for two and a half months. I was on close watch because my heart kept stopping. It was scary because I was alone. Only a few people knew."
When he got out of the hospital, Del Sol said he would cry when he brushed his teeth because he was so grateful to be out and still be alive.
"In my mind, I was already set for retirement. 'I don't think I have the lung power.' I tried walking outside and I couldn't breathe. I had light asthma and this was like, oh man, I developed blood clots in my lung, my high blood pressure, I almost has diabetes on top of that. It was a life scare. Once I got out of the hospital, three weeks later, my phone rings. It's Tony Khan. We talked and he offered me a match with FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler). I'm excited, I'm not even thinking of being sick. I hung up, looked at my wife, 'what the hell did I just do?' I went to the bathroom and started bawling. 'Can I do this? I'm going to roll the dice on this. Baby, you need to support me on this.' She was kind of mad. 'No, your heart. You need to stop. This is a sign.' No, this is a sign too. My first major injury back in 2011, I messed up my head really bad and I had the same scenario. I had a drink and WWE called me for a tryout. Let's keep going," Del Sol recalled.
Del Sol teamed with Aero Star to face FTR on the November 3, 2021 episode of AEW Dynamite.
"I had to tell FTR. I worked with them for a long time. They took care of me. They're the best. I'm forever grateful for them. I told them, 'If I have a heart attack, just roll me underneath the ring.' I didn't tell anybody. That's why I felt so emotional," he said.
Del Sol noted that he was still on an oxygen machine at the time of the match. He said he got through the match thanks to coffee, pre-workout, and CBD.
"My lungs were burning," he recalled when asked how he felt during the match.
Del Sol was able to get through the match and was grateful he was able to finish the match. The bout was clouded by his post-match tweet to Jon Huber where he misspelled his name. Del Sol said his emotions got the better of him and that he was depressed after the fallout.
Del Sol remains active on the independent scene and in Japan.
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