AEW star Kyle O’Reilly was sidelined for nearly two years with what was known to be a serious injury, but the full extent was largely unknown. Speaking on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, O’Reilly detailed the severity of the injury, a “really scary” complication, and confirmed that retirement was a very real consideration.
“I Broke My Neck”
O’Reilly explained that the injury occurred months before he was actually taken out of action, during a match in the Owen Hart Tournament against Rey Fenix.
“For lack of a better term, I broke my neck,” O’Reilly stated. “It happened in a match with Rey Fenix in the Owen Hart Tournament. Um, I did like a move that I’ve been doing my whole career and it’s like a floating butterfly suplexes where I would kind of 50% of the time plant my on my own head… Such an unnecessary move now looking back.”
He revealed that the injury was misdiagnosed for months. “We thought it was a shoulder injury for like a few months… realizing it was a neck injury, it was a compressed, a few compressed discs, so I needed to go get the surgery and get fixed.”
A “Really Scary” Complication
Following the surgery, O’Reilly suffered a major setback. “There was some complications with my surgery,” he said. “It was called C5 palsy and my my arm basically shut off completely for like 10 months. I couldn’t really use it at all. It was really scary for a while.”
The complication led to serious doubts about his future, both personally and professionally. “especially at a time in my life, you know, where I have a a young daughter at home and I’m like, oh, like can I even pick her up, let alone have a career again, you know? So those are the things that were weighing on my mind.”
Retirement Was a “Very Real Possibility”
Co-host Will Washington noted that there were rumors his career could be over. O’Reilly confirmed those rumors were based in fact.
“I mean, the truth is we didn’t know how much of my arm would come back, if any of it,” O’Reilly said. “So it was a very real possibility.”
He continued, “Thankfully it did come back. I mean, it’s not the same… there’s a noticeable difference in my arms… but it’s who needs a pesky bicep anyways, it’s just getting in the way.”
The Silver Lining
Despite the struggle, O’Reilly explained that the extended time off ended up being a “gift.”
“It was an extra 18 months at home that was precious, valuable time for bonding with my daughter, you know,” he said. “it’s crazy how life and the universe kind of hands you little treats here and there when they seem like the worst thing at the time and then you look back and it was like, oh, that was actually a gift.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
