Adam Cole opens up about his recovery from a broken ankle.
Cole suffered the injury at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam 2023, and while he initially continued to make appearances, he was later taken off the road. Ultimately, the ankle injury has prevented him from wrestling for over a year. He made his return at AEW WrestleDream, where he confronted MJF.
Speaking with Rick Ucchino for The Takedown on SI, Adam Cole detailed his recovery. He recalled learning that his broken ankle was worse than initially thought, and the initial surgery took longer than expected.
“The first piece of news that I heard was, your ankle is way worse than we anticipated. You have to get another surgery in seven days. So, not only did I have to get double the amount of screws in my ankle, but also, I had to get someone else's bone put into my ankle because the bone piece within my ankle just completely disintegrated," Cole said.
Ucchino noted that the cadaver bone in Cole's second surgery was used instead of a metal plate; the latter method can limit the recipient's range of motion. Cole expressed his gratitude and said that it was a better option.
"Incredibly thankful to [the donor] and the family. It's certainly a better option. I definitely notice a difference in my left ankle as opposed to my right one, but I think that comes with the territory. I still feel like I can be Adam Cole and do the things that I wanna do. And I'm certainly not even close to wanting to be done with wrestling," Cole said.
Moving forward, Cole is excited to return to the ring. He reflected on dealing with injuries, especially during his time in AEW, and he emphasized that the setbacks have reminded him of how much he loves wrestling. Cole said that he has much more of his career left to go.
"If you could say there's any positive to the situation that I've been in, as far as injuries go, it has constantly reminded me of how much I love and want to be a part of pro wrestling. I am so unbelievably amped, so unbelievably stoked, excited to get back into the ring and have matches and be on AEW TV every single week. I'm 35 years old, but I have so much more of my career left to go,” Cole said.
During the interview, Cole confirmed that he and Britt Baker are no longer together. Check out his comments here.
Fightful will have coverage of AEW Dynamite as it airs on October 23rd.
