Sami Zayn is not putting a firm date on it, but he is fully aware his in ring career is heading into its final stretch.

Speaking with Witty Whittier, the 41 year old reflected on achieving his lifelong dream and how his mindset has shifted as time goes on. While he still has ambitions like becoming World Champion, he is now focused on appreciating every moment he has left.

“I remember several years ago being on a European tour thinking like, ‘I don’t know how many more of these there really are.’ When you’re in it, you think it’s just going to keep going forever,” Zayn said. “It’s kind of like when you’re in high school, you just feel like those years are going to last forever. But then when you’re an adult and you’ve been out of high school 10-15 years, like, ‘Man, high school was nothing.’ It’s a blip in your life.

“So I’ve been lucky that WWE and my time in this business has been more than a blip. But I realize that this time will probably be coming to an end within the next , I don’t want to put a number of years on it, but definitely closer to the end than the beginning. So I’m just very, very grateful to be a part of it still. It’s just not lost on me. It’s not lost on me. This is great.”

Zayn recently dropped the United States Championship to Trick Williams at WrestleMania 42 and admitted the overall feel of the event caught him off guard. He pointed to his own shifting character direction and mixed crowd reactions as part of the uncertainty.

“My character at the time of WrestleMania was a bit more undefined than it’s been in many, many years,” Zayn said. “Usually, I walk into Mania and I know exactly where I’m at and what I’m doing. This year, it’s like this character shift and this sea change has been going on at the same time with Trick kind of rising and me getting these , I would say polarizing reactions, but it’s kind of started to swing all the way in the other direction now to where I’m unliked and I’m kind of, as a character, saying like, ‘What did I even do here? Why is this happening?’ and all of that kind of stuff. Week-to-week, audience-to-audience is all different, so it felt a little less sure-footed, you know what I mean?

“And then the vibe around WrestleMania was a little strange this year, like with the Pat McAfee thing being added at the last minute. I don’t know. There was just so many things that felt a little strange about this year’s WrestleMania.”

Despite the unpredictability, Zayn acknowledged WrestleMania week can feel chaotic but remains something he does not take for granted.

He now heads into a United States Championship rematch against Trick Williams at WWE Backlash this Saturday. Before that, SmackDown will feature Williams holding a funeral for the Gingerbread Man mascot that Zayn attacked last week.