In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Adam Cole discussed recovering from multiple concussions over the past year and how it affected his quality of life at the time.
Cole was sidelined since June of last year and finally made his highly anticipated in-ring return against Daniel Garcia last month on Dynamite.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On learning about his second concussion at Forbidden Door: “I was leaning up against a wall. Britt was there, the doctor was there, a lot of my friends were there—and I felt so discouraged. This was my second concussion in a fairly short period of time. I couldn’t understand why it was happening. It was so frustrating. I can’t remember a lot from that match. I do remember the crowd giving us a standing ovation before the match started. I was standing beside ‘Hangman’ [Adam] Page, Jay White and [Kazuchika] Okada, and we could all recognize how special that moment was. It was scary. One minute you feel great, the next you feel terrible.”
On how bad he performed on brain tests: “I’ve never shared this before. Two months after my concussion at Forbidden Door, I was seeing a brain doctor three times a week. After two months of not being cleared for anything but going for walks, I took this brain test. I had to move my head back and forth, and there was a letter E moving up, down, left or right. I had to say which direction it was facing. Pro athletes are supposed to score a 120. I scored a 38. At that point, after two months of doing absolutely nothing, that’s when I got slapped in the face with reality. It went even deeper than wrestling. I was worried about my quality of life.”
On who helped him: “It is miraculous how many people reached out. It would be easier if I told you the people who didn’t. Britt was incredible. My family, my close friends within wrestling, like Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong. Austin Creed, Tyler Breeze and Claudio, were all in my corner. Christian [Cage] and Bryan Danielson. Bryan had suggestions to help the recovery process, and Christian kept telling me not to rush back and to make sure I was healthy. If I learned anything from the entire recovery process, it’s that I am very lucky to have the people in my life that I do. I’m surrounded by love and support.”
