Action Andretti Reflects On How The Pandemic Stunted His Development

The COVID-19 pandemic thwarted a number of young wrestlers' careers. For AEW's Action Andretti, he managed to hang on until independent promotions came back, but he said the shutdowns kept him out of the ring for a year at a time when he was finally feeling confident between the ropes.

"Honestly, the pandemic, it really did kill my momentum," Andretti said on the most recent edition of the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast.

Andretti said he was training for a year while his home promotion, MCW Pro Wrestling in Maryland, was waiting to use him for an angle, and he finally wrestled on four shows before COVID-19 shutdowns began in March 2020.

"I was just getting a bit of momentum for myself and it all just stopped right there," he said. "All I could do was watch tape, train here in my room as much as I can, and just shadow wrestle. I did a lot of shadow wrestling during the pandemic, no lie. But [I was] just telling myself, 'One day, we'll be back. This is just a pause right now.' "

When the pause ended, Andretti had a newfound energy and made it a point to hit the road as much as possible. His career skyrocketed after defeating eight-time former world champion Chris Jericho in his AEW debut late last year.

"I tried to stay positive during the whole pandemic because it really did suck just having to sit at home and not do any wrestling," he said. "It messed with me mentally a little bit, but when we came back, I came back stronger than ever."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "AEW Unrestricted" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.