Tony Khan has offered an update on his injured stars Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega and Adam Cole.
In recent weeks an injury crisis has hit the world of professional wrestling and arguably no one has been hit harder than AEW.
Heading into Forbidden Door the company was without it’s World Champion in CM Punk, as well as other main event stars such as Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson. Adam Cole also had an injury interrupted lead-up to the event, while it has since been confirmed that Santana picked up a serious injury just days after the show at Blood and Guts.
Naturally there is always concern around a performer when they get injured, this recently came into sharper focus as Bryan Danielson continues to be absent. It had initially been believed that he would be back very quickly, however that hasn’t happened. Due to Danielson’s lengthy history with concussion related injuries, Dave Meltzer described the situation as “very concerning.”
Speaking in a new interview with the New York Post, AEW President Tony Khan discussed the injury problems surrounding a number of his top stars. First on the list was Danielson, as Khan broke down the conversations he had with the star before Forbidden Door.
“I don’t think it was a good thing Bryan [Danielson] got hurt. I think that’s one of the worst things, but he’s doing much better. I talk to him a few times a week. I had talked to him on Wednesday when were were in St. Louis for “Road Rager” and I talked to Bryan. And Bryan was like, ‘I feel f—king great! I’m ready to come back and I’m gonna fight Zack Sabre and we’re gonna go to Blood and Guts. Let’s f*king go man.’
Then I talked to him the Saturday, eight days before the pay-per-view and he’s not doing as well. So I immediately was like, ‘You’re not wrestling. If you’re not feeling great eight days out, I don’t care if you have seven straight days. I’m shutting you down until further notice.’ He has scans coming up. I’m like, ‘I don’t care what they say. They could be perfectly clear.”
Turning his attention to Kenny Omega, Khan said that he’s optimistic he will return, but there is no date pencilled in for a comeback.
“I’m always concerned whenever a wrestler has an injury, but in Kenny Omega’s case he carried the load through more injuries than probably anyone I’ve seen in terms of working through a sustained period where he was limited and still having great matches in the ring, and also doing great box office for the company as a great champion.
It is a little bit different because you’re dealing with multiple injuries as opposed to one injury. I’m optimistic. I don’t want to put a timetable on it. I’m still optimistic Kenny’s coming back.”
When asked about Omega’s recent comments where he said he would be “done” if he suffered another setback, the AEW President said he still feels good about the situation.
“I think it’s gonna go well. I think he’s gonna be OK. I don’t know when and I’m optimistic. Nobody can put themselves in his shoes, but I feel good about it. I’m gonna talk more to him too. I know he’s been through a lot but I know he’s still trying to get back.”
Although Adam Cole wrestled at Forbidden Door he sustained a concussion during his match with ‘Switchblade’ Jay White, Hangman Adam Page, and Kazuchika Okada. It was also reported that he was concussed during his match with Samoa Joe at Double or Nothing just a couple of weeks earlier.
Khan explained that he made sure Cole did nothing physical ahead of Forbidden Door, but he will now be taking some time off.
“He had no contact between “Double or Nothing” and “Forbidden Door.” He was on commentary. He had been cleared to wrestle. So now I’m also gonna take some time [off] for him. We had already taken some time and I’ll take some more time make sure he’s right and wouldn’t want him to wrestle until he’s feeling 100 percent. He was feeling 100 percent going into “Forbidden Door.” That’s how unpredictable these are.”
With CM Punk out of action Jon Moxley was crowned Interim AEW World Champion at Forbidden Door. He has already defended his newly won title, defeating Brody King on the July 6th episode of Dynamite.