Chuck Taylor gives an update on his injury.
Chuck last wrestled on the April 27 episode of AEW Rampage, losing to Trent Beretta in a Parking Lot Fight. On the subsequent episode of AEW Dynamite, Orange Cassidy said Chuck would never wrestle again.
Before the Parking Lot Fight, Chuck had not wrestled since October 2023 due to injury.
"In October, I believe, I injured my ankle originally. My foot was down, it was in a match on Rampage, we were tagging with the Hardys. I took a dropkick in the ropes and as I was going out, I left my ankle out, and Angelo Parker fell on my ankle. It was honestly my fault. I went to the doctor and they told me I had a bruised talus, which is a bone inside your foot that connects [other bones] to your foot. I had some ligament damage and they thought I could rehab it," Chuck told Renee Paquette on Up Close. "I did rehab, it didn't get better, and I went back and they believed I needed surgery."
Asked what the time off was like for him, Chuck said he played a lot of video games, watched a lot of movies, and stayed on the road helping with backstage stuff.
"I've been wrestling for 23 years and the longest I had off was the beginning of COVID. The longest I had gone without taking a bump was the five weeks when COVID started, before we came back. It was the first time I had off. You never want it for an injury. It was interesting because I'm so used to, 'Okay, time to go wrestle.' To not do that is weird," he said. "Finding out, 'Now your career might be over,' was an odd feeling."
Asked if his career is officially over, Chuck said, "I can get surgery, and once I heal from that, I can hopefully reassess."
Renee commented, "So, there is hope?"
"Maybe it is me hoping. We've seen a lot of guys and gals come back from a 'career ending injury,'" said Chuck.
Chuck noted that there is no surgery scheduled, and he wants to take the summer to keep learning the production side of AEW.
Chuck said the pain isn't bad and he can walk fine, he just wears a brace on his foot. He noted that he probably won't be doing backflips and landing on his feet anymore.
"Wrestling, as a verb, I didn't love it as much as I used to," he said.
Asked what he didn't love about it, as a verb, he replied, "Just getting old and beat up. It just hurts. Knowing you're reaching the end of your career kind of puts things into perspective. I don't want to be a broken down guy just because I wanted another couple of years."
Chuck noted that he would still like to do something on camera, potentially as a manager or commentator.
Fightful will continue to update fans on Chuck's status when more is known.
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