Tony Khan Reflects On “Hard Conversation” With Adam Cole Ahead Of AEW All In

Adam Cole has been forced into a hiatus.

Just hours before AEW All In was set to begin, it was announced that the planned match between Adam Cole and Kyle Fletcher for the TNT Championship had been called off. Not only that, Cole would be vacating the title.

With Cole out, Dustin Rhodes beat Fletcher, Daniel Garcia, and Sammy Guevara to claim an emotional victory in front of a delighted Texas crowd.

However, before the match, Cole confirmed that he would be giving up the title, and said that although he didn’t want to talk about retirement, he was aware his career could be over. It was later reported that Cole had suffered a concussion days earlier on Collision.

Tony Khan Hopes Adam Cole Will Return

During an appearance on Good Karma Wrestling, Tony Khan broke down what happened in the hours before All In and how it was decided that Cole would miss the show. He noted that Cole told him he wasn’t feeling well, and it was agreed that wrestling would be a bad idea.

“It was a hard conversation, but I’m glad he told me the truth—that he just didn’t feel well, he was having trouble sleeping, he didn’t feel good, and he was having… just not feeling like it would be a good idea for him to wrestle. And I agreed with that.

“I knew that it would be the right thing for Adam Cole—and it was what he wanted to do too—to go out and speak to the fans from his heart and explain that he wouldn’t be able to wrestle. Even though we are all sad we don’t get to see Adam Cole wrestle for a while, hopefully, he will be able to return in some capacity. But definitely, he needs time off after talking to him.”

Cole previously suffered two concussions in quick succession in late May and early June 2022 and didn’t return to the ring until early 2023. During this period, there were very real fears that he’d never wrestle again.

H/t to WrestlingNews.Co