AEW star Juice Robinson recently opened up about the two severe injuries that have kept him out of the ring for the better part of the last two years, including a previously undisclosed spine surgery that he found particularly “scary.” In a candid interview on Up Close w/ Renee Paquette, Robinson detailed the grueling physical and mental recovery process he has endured, which has given him a new perspective on his career.
Robinson revealed that his recent eight-month absence due to a broken leg was made even more difficult because it came so soon after he had returned from another major surgery on his back. “I haven’t really went into detail about either of them, but I had spine surgery,” he said. “I ruptured a disc in my lower back, and it was pressing on a nerve, and I was having issues with my leg. As far as like, it was, I was having trouble using it. It was the beginning of what could have gotten much worse.”
The Mental Toll of a Spine Injury
The former IWGP United States Champion described the unique fear that comes with an injury to such a critical part of the body, admitting that it forced him to confront his own mortality in a way other injuries had not. “Yeah, it’s not only scary, but it has this like… I guess scary would be thinking, ‘Oh, I’m not invincible,'” he said. “We get hurt a lot, but like, spine, that’s like brain, heart, those are… you break, I’ve broken my hands… but spine, yeah, you know, you need that. Every little thing is controlled by that stack of dimes.”
After a long recovery from the back surgery, Robinson had just started to get back into a groove when disaster struck again, sidelining him for another extended period. “I came back, I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. I was up moving pretty quick. It took a while to get back in the ring, and then when I was, I was just starting to get going, and I snapped my leg,” he said.
A Grueling Second Recovery
He explained that the recovery from the broken leg was, in many ways, even more challenging than the spine surgery. “And that one, you know, that was a lot harder than the back. I didn’t realize it, but it’s hard to sit down for four months, five months, and then, you know, now you’re in a walking boot, and then… just a long, long process,” Robinson recounted. The extended time on the shelf took a significant mental toll, forcing him into a period of deep self-reflection.
“Everybody says that that’s the hardest part is like, one thing to physically mend, but it’s the mental aspect of what you do in that downtime,” host Renee Paquette noted. Robinson agreed, “Yes, a lot of introspection. ‘What am I doing? How long have I been doing this?’… What’s where am I at in my career? What’s left? You know, I’ve been doing this 17 years, which is like crazy to think about for me… This is what I do. This is just what I do. I’m a pro wrestler.”
A Fresh Slate
The back-to-back injuries have given Robinson a new perspective and a desire to redefine his legacy in the second half of his career. “When you do the math, 17 years, you know, I’m about halfway through. What do I want to be known for?” he pondered. “A lot of those, a lot of mental gymnastics, I guess, just trying to make sense of things, trying to, you know, be at peace with where I am, where I want to go. And it’s hard, you know, it’s a fresh slate. That’s the way I’m looking at it. Part two of a two-part series.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Up Close with Renee Paquette with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
