Kyle O'Reilly Reflects On Long Injury Absence From AEW

AEW star Kyle O'Reilly has been back in the fold for just under two years at the time of writing, which is around the same amount of time that he spent away from the ring with a serious neck injury. O'Reilly missed a total of 21 months of action after exacerbating an underlying neck injury, which he originally believed was a shoulder injury until he started having serious problems with his arms. His career was almost taken away from him, and during a recent appearance on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast, O'Reilly opened up about how his time on the shelf was very difficult. 

"There was some complications with my surgery. You're supposed to get that arm strength back post-surgery and start feeling better post-surgery, But I kind of had a complication that happens in like 8% of these injuries, or a really small percent, it might even be as low as like 4% or something, but there's nothing we can really do. It was called C5 Palsy and my arm basically shut off completely for like ten months. I couldn't really use it at all, it was really scary for a while, especially at a time in my life where I have a young daughter at home and I'm like 'Oh can I even pick her up?' Let alone have a career again."

O'Reilly went on to say that he stayed true to the process and trusted the idea that everything would work out, and if anything the time away from the ring was a blessing in disguise. The reason for that is O'Reilly explained that he was able to spend some quality bonding time with his daughter that he wouldn't have had if he was constantly wrestling, and that's something he wouldn't trade for anything.

Please credit "AEW Unrestricted" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.