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EXCLUSIVE: Adam Cole Grateful For Cadaver Bone Donation, Thrilled To Be Back In AEW Mix
It doesn't matter who you are, sooner or later life is going to throw you a curve ball or two. Or in the case of Adam Cole, multiple tosses with the kind of 12-
www.si.com
EXCLUSIVE: Adam Cole Grateful For Cadaver Bone Donation, Thrilled To Be Back In AEW Mix
Adam Cole needed a cadaver bone installed in his foot after his was disintegrated at AEW Grand Slam.Rick Ucchino
It doesn't matter who you are, sooner or later life is going to throw you a curve ball or two. Or in the case of Adam Cole, multiple tosses with the kind of 12-6 drop that put Dodgers great Sandy Koufax in the MLB Hall of Fame.
The last two years have been the most physically and mentally challenging of Cole's professional wrestling career.
He suffered a concussion during his match with Samoa Joe at Double or Nothing 2022, and then a month later, he was severely concussed again during a four-way battle for New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door.
It was a scary time for Cole as he had legit quality of life concerns, let alone questions about whether he'd ever be able to step foot in a wrestling ring again. Miraculously he was back in action nine months later and soon would become a central figure in one of the hottest storylines in all of professional wrestling.
Adam's masterful manipulation of MJF, that could have culminated in Cole capturing his first AEW World Championship toward the end of 2023, was sadly cut short. Halted by the most ill-timed and fluky lower extremity injuries in AEW history, save for maybe CM Punk's stagedive that shattered his foot after he had just won the World Title from Hangman Adam Page two years ago.
“Ankles and shoulders are the two things with athletes where it can make no sense whatsoever. Every now and then, there are freak accidents or freak incidents that happen.”
That was a lesson that Cole learned from his surgeon during an examination after AEW Grand Slam in September of 2023. That's when Adam broke his ankle while running down to the ring during MJF's match with Samoa Joe.
Cole told The Takedown on SI that he knew almost immediately that his ankle was in pretty bad shape, but it wasn't until after his first surgery that he learned the true extent of the damage. The initial procedure was supposed to take an hour to complete, but ended up lasting three times as long.
“The first piece of news that I heard was, your ankle is way worse than we anticipated. You have to get another surgery in seven days. So, not only did I have to get double the amount of screws in my ankle, but also, I had to get someone else's bone put into my ankle because the bone piece within my ankle just completely disintegrated.”
The cadaver bone was put in place during Cole's second surgery in lieu of using a metal plate, which can limit the recipient's range of motion. A silver lining to suffering a more significant injury.
"Incredibly thankful to [the donor] and the family," Cole said. "It's certainly a better option. I definitely notice a difference in my left ankle as opposed to my right one, but I think that comes with the territory.”
This is not a completely unfamiliar sensation for Cole, who went under the knife in 2014 to repair his left shoulder. Even today he notices a bit of a different feeling when compared to his right side, but he says that surgery did not have any impact on his in-ring style.
Cole does not anticipate this latest ankle procedure to be any different.
“I still feel like I can be Adam Cole and do the things that I wanna do. And I'm certainly not even close to wanting to be done with wrestling.”
By today's industry standards, Adam Cole is still a young pup. The 35-year-old has been going strong in the professional wrestling business for over 16 years and has plenty of stories still to tell.
After missing over a year of action due to the extensive rehab involved with the double ankle surgery, the first order of business for Cole upon returning to AEW was finishing what he started with Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
Dealing with a number of injuries himself, MJF took time off from AEW after he dropped his World Championship to Samoa Joe at Worlds End. It was on that December night that Adam Cole revealed himself to be the man behind the Devil mask that had been tormenting the Max for weeks.
Cole did his best under extreme physical limitations to keep the story alive and help put the newly formed Undisputed Kingdom in a prominent position, but eventually he had to be pulled from the road as his travel schedule was hindering his rehab process.
Adam's send off came at Double or Nothing back in May when MJF returned for some payback against his former 'Brochacho'. Being no where close to ready for an in-ring return, Cole was easy pickings for Max. He delivered a low blow and brainbuster to a huge ovation and sent Adam hobbling to the back.
It would have been very easy for Tony Khan to just move on from the MJF and Adam Cole storyline, especially considering everything that went wrong toward the end of last year and Max's recent heel turn. When the time came to lower the boom at WrestleDream, however, the call was made to bring legitimate closure to their journey together.
“I'm sure there were a bunch of different thought processes or ideas as far as where Adam Cole was gonna go,” Cole said. “I do feel like that, at least for a little bit, acknowledging the feud, the storyline that we are in, I feel like that's incredibly important going forward. Now, what happens after that? I don't know, but I certainly think that going that route was the right direction.”
Even though the Undisputed Kingdom, comprised of Roderick Strong, Mike Bennett, Matt Taven and Wardlow (currently out of action due to his own reported injury), played a significant roll in Max's downfall in the lead up to World's End, Adam Cole has chosen to go it alone this time around.
In no way does his decision mean that he is finished with the group he founded. Quite the opposite. While maintaining his relationship with the Undisputed Kingdom is paramount, the last thing he wants is for his friends to be burdened by his lingering issues with MJF.
“I know that Roddy, Mike, and Matt have been very insistent on wanting to be involved. I don't know if I want them involved or not. Time will tell, but right now, I feel like leaving them out of the situation is incredibly important for me and my closure with Max.”
No matter what the future holds for the Undisputed Kingdom, together or separately, Adam Cole is genuinely thrilled to be back in the fold. He's wrestled just 12 matches since Forbidden Door 2022 and he's ready to put together a consistent body of a work that both he and his loyal fanbase can look back on with great pride.
"If you could say there's any positive to the situation that I've been in, as far as injuries go, it has constantly reminded me of how much I love and want to be a part of pro wrestling. I am so unbelievably amped, so unbelievably stoked, excited to get back into the ring and have matches and be on AEW TV every single week. I'm 35-years-old, but I have so much more of my career left to go.”
