AEW star Kyle O’Reilly discussed his neck injury, which sidelined him for nearly two years, during an interview with Andrew Dettelbach and Jesse Grund on Fellowship of the Gains.
O’Reilly said, “That was a crazy, almost two-year span. I had been dealing with neck injuries for years. Nature of the beast. I have a specific move, which I know is what did it over time, where I land on my head repeatedly three times while suplexing a guy. It was pretty foolish for me to continue that. There was one incident in a match, I think June 2022, I did that in the match and my arms and legs completely shut off and I couldn’t move for a second. It felt like an eternity. Watching back, it was like a second, but it was something bad.”
On working with the injury and finding out how serious it was:
“We thought it was my shoulder. I kept wrestling for another four months on basically a broken neck. Eventually, my arms started getting bad and weak. I had an MRI done on my neck and tons of compression on a bunch of nerves. ‘We’re gonna have to get surgery if you want to wrestle again.’ That kind of made the decision for me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be cleared to wrestle unless I got it fixed.”
On undergoing the surgery:
“I’ve got guys that I trust and know who have had this surgery. Speaking with Adam Copeland, amazing inspirational guy, he’s dealt with these injuries and surgeries. He put my mind at ease. A lot of friends who have had these injuries and surgeries, I knew I was in good hands and would be okay, but for me, I did have a complication with the surgery and I ended up waking up with what they call C5 palsy. Because of the nerve compression on that nerve, it shut down everything on my C5 completely; bicep flexion and my shoulder completely shut off. It was rough. I started working with Jesse three months after that. I could still barely move my arm. Lo and behold, it took a while, I knew it would eventually get better, but having someone to really lead my rehab in a positive direction. I just remember the first time I did a full CARs rotation with my shoulder after eight months of not being able to move my arm, it was a huge victory. I might never wrestle again, it’s not a big deal, my priorities have shifted, but that was a huge emotional victory. ‘Okay, I will be able to come back. I might never be the same again but I’ve grown and evolved.’”
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(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
