Adam Cole says he still has a “little ways” to go before he’s ready to perform at 100% in the ring again.
Cole has not wrestled since AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on June 26, 2002, where he competed in the Fatal 4 Way for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title against Adam Page, current champion Kazuchika Okada, and the winner, former champion Jay White. It was reported that Cole suffered a concussion and was put on the shelf after that bout. He recently appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio to discuss his road to recovery and commented on how his health is.
“I still have a little ways to go until I get to a point where I think I’m ready to rock and roll as far as going to the ring and having a 35-45 minute match,” he said. “But compared to even two in a half to three months ago, I feel fantastic, I feel really good.”
Cole noted how he suffered a torn labrum and strained his rotator cuff while warming up for his loss to then-AEW World Champion Page at AEW Revolution in March 2022. He suffered a concussion during his Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals win over current AEW TNT Champion & ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe at Double Or Nothing in May 2022, then he suffered a second concussion during Forbidden Door match in June, and that concussion was much worse.
“I took a bump where I felt a little bit weird, and it wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was a normal bump,” Cole said of Forbidden Door. “And I remember thinking ‘okay, that felt a little strange’. And about thirty seconds go by, and then it’s like I have no recollection or memory of what I’m supposed to do [or] what happened in the match.”
In regards to his road to recovery, Cole noted that everything he said in last month’s Dynamite return promo was the truth. He talked about having memory issues due to the concussion, and said sometimes he would cry for no reason.
Cole also talked about how there was a test he needed to take two months after the injury, but he failed so badly that there was concern he would no longer be able to drive. He took the same test again two months later and “passed with flying colors,” exceeding the average. Cole said this gave him optimism about his in-ring return.
While AEW has hyped up Cole’s in-ring return in recent weeks, there is currently no announced date for his next match.
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(H/T to F4Wonline.com for the quotes)
