Ember Moon spent the past year on the sidelines after suffering an Achilles injury in September 2019.
On WWE Backstage in May, Ember feared that her career might be over due to the injury and in July said she was fighting against a second surgery, which could have ended her career.
Speaking to Daily DDT, Ember opened up more regarding her injury.
“January was when COVID really started to affect everything,” Moon said. “Originally, I was on par to be okay, but then March came around and my therapy center shut down. The gyms shut down and I didn’t have the adequate equipment or massage access to stimulize my foot, if that makes sense. Then the complications started happening because I was doing the same PT workouts I was doing there and I probably should have been progressing. We just didn’t have any way to safely progress. That was before Zoom became the most viral thing in the world. My foot started clenching and getting wonky and stiff, it started clicking, and then I was in pain just walking. The complications started happening around March or April.
“In May or June, I found out I’d have to have a second surgery because the scar tissue had built up so much into the joints that it was preventing movement,” she continued. “I’m such an introvert and I hate showing real people emotions because I’m a crazy werewolf, vampire thing. I was crying because I just found out the day before I might have to have that second surgery. On Backstage, they were like, ‘What do you want to change in my career?’ And I was like, ‘My foot.’ I was crying and I think that was the most real I’ve ever been on TV. Not saying I haven’t been real, but that was the first time I allowed myself to be vulnerable as my real self.”
During her time away from the ring, Ember got some big encouragement from Edge, who suffered an Achilles tear in 2009, but was able to return after just six months.
“I was so distraught in my own feelings and Edge reached out to me. I didn’t think it was Edge, I thought it was Braun playing a trick on me. I was like, ‘What? How did you get my number?’ He goes, ‘No, this is Edge.’ I said, ‘Oh! Hi, sir. How are you doing today?’ Honestly, because of him and Triple H, that’s how it started turning around. Edge was basically like, ‘Do this, get a sauna, get a bike, you have to do this.’ He basically sent me a Cliff-noted version of what he was doing because he had such a bad Achilles rupture, too, that they said he would never come back. When the complications started happening, that’s when they told me I might not be coming back.
“The surgeon was top five in the country, but he hadn’t seen that ever,” she admitted. “Part of me is a little proud that if I did it I did it all the way. It was just insane. Edge helped me out so much with telling me what type of therapy to do and routines that would help. I sent that to my therapist and everything started to turn around. It was slow, but it started turning around. I remember the surgeon telling me in July, ‘Your foot’s actually looking a lot better now. This is what we’re going to do. We’re either going to clear you in six weeks to do in-ring procedure or you’re going to have the second surgery. That’s what it came down to, so it was one of the most nerve-wracking appointments I’ve ever had in my life. If I had that second surgery, I probably wouldn’t have come back.”
Ember returned to WWE television at NXT TakeOver 31 on Sunday and wrestled her first match in over a year on Wednesday's NXT, teaming with Rhea Ripley to defeat Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez.
If you missed anything from Wednesday's NXT, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
