In June 2020, John Skyler suffered a torn ACL on an episode of AEW Dark. Skyler was teaming with Brady Pierce in a bout against The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) when the injury occurred. Skyler had made multiple appearances on AEW Dark during the pandemic era, including working a singles match against Billy Gunn in May 2020.
He returned from injury on the February 2 episode of AEW Dark when he teamed up with Ray Jaz against The Gunn Club.
Speaking to Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling, Skyler discussed how AEW took care of him while he was out.
"Right out of the get-go, the injury that happened was nobody’s fault whatsoever. It was absolutely a freak accident that I don’t even think could be replicated if we tried. That’s how crazy it was. Getting injured on a roll of all things out of all the things I’ve done in my career, doing a roll under a clothesline is what did me in so that’s — it’s just one of those freak things but, I was very, very blessed it happened when it happened and it’s tough to see it as you’re going through it but in hindsight, I could’ve blew my knee out at an independent show somewhere and then you know, I’m kinda up the creek without a paddle. There’s nothing that anybody can do for me except me at that point and as soon as I got hurt and I was being taken away to the trainers room to get checked out, one of the first people that was there in the training room to check on me was Tony Khan, and he rest assured me right away, ‘You have nothing to worry about. We’re gonna bring you back, make sure you’re taken care of’ and right away, my mind was kind of put at ease, as much as it could be at the time. I’m still thinking about this eight-month recovery I have ahead of me so, for them to be as gracious as they were, just inviting me back and to give me [a paycheck] every week I was there even though I couldn’t wrestle, that was, I mean, a huge blessing in disguise because especially during a pandemic where an independent wrestler doesn’t have the independents to rely on and in my case, I was a part-time teacher at one point and there’s no need for part-time teachers when everything goes virtual online in terms of classrooms. So, it was just a huge, huge blessing for me. It’s something I’ll never forget. The way that they’ve treated me and the way they’ve taken care of me especially during that injury. I mean that should speak volumes of Tony, his heart and really the way the entire company operates," said Skyler.
Skyler has been active on AEW Dark since his return and even made an appearance on the March 3 episode of AEW Dynamite when he teamed with D3 against PAC & Rey Fenix.
When discussing the mental struggles that came with the injury, Skyler said, "For me, it was especially difficult because it was my first injury that I’ve had in my 13-year career. Yeah, I’ve wrestled hurt. I had little minor dings here and there in terms of getting hurt but this is my first actual injury and serious injury so, it was a tough pill to swallow, especially hearing that you’re not gonna be able to do anything upwards to eight months. So, it does kinda wear on you a little bit but I really tried to find new hobbies and kind of reignite some of the flames in the old hobbies that I used to have so, I spent a lot of time on the lake, a lot of time fishing, stuff like that to occupy my time outside of wrestling but also, the big one for me was the day I got cleared to get back in the gym and do a little bit of minor upper body training and stuff like that. I mean, pretty much as soon as I found out I was able to do that and was cleared to, I went straight there and started working out so that was a big out for me, especially because I knew I had to get in shape again for my return so I had to maintain what I had."
Skyler most recently wrestled on the March 30 episode of AEW Dark. If you missed anything from the event, check out Fightful's full results by clicking here.
You can watch the entire interview with Skyler in the video above.
