Adam Cole has revealed the extent of the concussion issues that nearly ended his wrestling career.
In a recent appearance on the “Sports Guys Talk Wrestling” podcast, the All Elite Wrestling star spoke candidly about the physical and emotional toll of suffering two concussions in quick succession in 2022.
After the first concussion against Samoa Joe at Double or Nothing 2022, Cole returned to the ring but suffered another concussion just a few weeks later at Forbidden Door. Despite initially taking a break, Cole briefly returned to television before stepping away again in August. He made his return to Dynamite in January of this year, where he discussed his concussion issues before finally returning to the ring in March.
Cole spoke about the fear and uncertainty he felt after suffering the concussions and the difficulty he had in accepting that he may never wrestle again. He said,
“Getting two back-to-back head injuries was scary not only because anytime you mess with anything head-related, it’s incredibly scary. A shoulder can heal, a knee can heal, but you only have one brain, so that’s so important to make sure it’s protected and taken care of.”
He added that the idea of not being able to wrestle again was mentally and physically draining.
“But on top of that, the idea at 33 years old legitimately questioning whether or not I was going to be able to get back into the ring, after seeing doctors three and four times a week for months at a time was mentally and physically incredibly draining, again, aside from the side effects that I had with my sleep being terrible and feeling nauseous and dizzy. My emotions were all over the place. It was such a bizarre experience, on top of dealing with all of that, but then also having to try to mentally prepare for the possibility of not being able to wrestle again, it was the most challenging few months of my entire life for sure.”
Cole admitted that he initially didn’t realize how serious his condition was until he scored poorly on a medical assessment. He said,
“I took it incredibly serious, but I didn’t realize that potentially my life could be affected going forward. I think in my mind up to that point, I thought okay, I had two back-to-back ones. I’m getting a little bit older. This is just one of those things. I’ve been going hard for 15 years. My body just needs a little bit of time to recoup and recover and things like that. I thought I’m going to bounce back and be right back to normal in no time. Give me a month or two and I’ll be good to go.
Then two months after not being able to do anything but go for walks and scoring so poorly on this test, and then having the doctor look at me with sadness in her eyes and say, ‘You were so close to not even being able to drive out of here to go home.’ That was like such a giant wake-up call where at that point you realize how serious this really, really is.”
Despite the discouraging test result, Cole remained focused and determined to get back into the ring:
“I was so focused and determined that I am going to be at rehab every single day that I can go. I’m going to do everything necessary to make sure that I’m able to get back into the ring.
Of course, if doctors tell me, ‘Hey, this isn’t a good idea. No, you’re not cleared’, then that’s a hill that I have to cross when I get there, but I was so focused and determined to do whatever I had to do as long as it took to be able to get back into the ring. That doesn’t change how discouraging it was, especially to get that score on that test, but I still had the optimism and the focus going forward.”
Since his return to AEW, Cole has found himself embroiled in a feud with Chris Jericho and the Jericho Appreciation Society. The two are expected to face off at Double or Nothing 2023 on May 28th.
