Adam Cole Discusses Mental Challenges of Recovery From Ankle Injury
Adam Cole has had to deal with two very tough injuries in the last couple of years. While the concussion injury in 2023 was a scary one because of all the symptoms, the ankle injury that kept him out for most of 2024 was even more challenging for completely different reasons.
The former NXT Champion recently appeared on The Takedown. He discussed things such as his break up with Britt Baker, his injury turning out much worse than first thought and more.
During the talk, Cole was asked about his injury affecting plans for not only him but his Undisputed Kingdom teammates as well. The 35-year-old explained that even though it was a freak accident, it crushed him to know that his injury affected his friends:
“Oh dude, it crushed me, yeah because exactly what you said. I can handle dealing with my own challenges that I have to deal with. But if it involves affecting other people, that’s a real big problem for me. So that was certainly tough and certainly challenging.
But fortunately all the guys that I work with are the most understanding wonderful dudes in the entire world. So I’m glad I’m close with guys like Roderick Strong and Mike Bennett and Matt Taven. So they understand that freak situations and freak circumstances do happen.”
It Was Really Tough: Adam Cole
Adam Cole was involved in a long-running storyline with MJF prior to his injury. He revealed himself as the mysterious Devil at the Worlds End PPV in December 2023. A reformed version of the Undisputed Kingdom as the Devil’s Masked Men was also revealed under Cole’s leadership.
The group now consisted of Wardlow, Roderick Strong, Mike Bennett, and Matt Taven. The faction has continued being featured on AEW programming in Cole’s absence, but they have been moved out of a prominent spot.
The former ROH Champion explained that the ankle injury was more challenging mentally in many ways compared to his concussion recovery. Though he is very thankful for the support system of his family and friends that helped him stay positive in this time:
“To say this was a challenging time mentally would be an understatement. In a weird way again the concussion injury that I had that was probably the scariest in the sense of like ‘Am I going to be able to come back from this injury?’
But to deal with the ankle injury which took even more time and knowing that it affected other people. Yeah, it was really tough. But again I’m so thankful that I have a great support system around me that includes not just my family but the wrestlers who were involved.”