AEW Star Recalls KENTA’s Reaction When He Broke His Jaw

The Revival (now known as FTR in AEW) made an immediate impact after they were called up to WWE's main roster in April 2017. But weeks later, their initial push was derailed by an injury. Cash Wheeler suffered a broken jaw during a match against Shinsuke Nakamura and KENTA (then known as Hideo Itami) at a non-televised WWE live event in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

"The GTS was the very last thing of the match anyway," Wheeler recalled on The Sessions with Renee Paquette. "Like I was coming in, that, Kinshasa, that was it. You know, no matter what, it was going to be the last thing to happen to me and it just so happen to be the thing that put me in wires for two months."

Cash Wheeler says KENTA felt bad about the injury. In fact, Wheeler says KENTA started apologizing almost immediately after the match.

"He felt so bad about it," Wheeler said. "I had the video somewhere, I still might have it, but as soon as – like, as soon as it happens, you can see I'm out on my feet like I'm like Frankenstein. Then I fall to my a**, and like, as I'm falling, I kind of coming back to, and I grab my mouth, and roll off the apron, and he comes around the other side. He grabs me, he hugs me, and he pulls me to the floor and he's saying, 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry'. Like, he felt so bad."

Cash Wheeler says the recovery from his injury was not easy. He says he had an anxiety attack after he woke up following the surgery and doctors started talking to him.

"I'm still groggy at this point too and they're like, 'Here's some medicine for the next week or so, here's this, here some wire cutters in case you vomit so you don't choke to death,'" Wheeler recalled. "And I was like, 'Why would you tell me that right now?' That's when I had a bit of an anxiety attack, for sure. Like I had to go to a room for a little bit and get drugged up because they told me that when I wake up and I'm like, 'Yeah, please don't tell me those things. I have this wire up for two months. I wouldn't wish the wire, like the broken jaw wire in anybody, because you can't lick your lips. Go one day without sticking your tongue out your mouth, then imagine doing that for eight weeks."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Sessions with Renee Paquette with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.