Tony Khan Provides Injury Update On Trio Of AEW Stars

Tony Khan has given his take on how the recovery from injury of Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega and Adam Cole is going.

The injuries seem to keep racking up for AEW. Going in to Forbidden Door, the company lost World Champion CM Punk as well as Danielson. Omega had been out for a while already whilst Cole was injured during his match at the event, and the list extended further at Blood And Guts when Santana picked up a serious knee injury.

In a discussion with the New York Post, AEW President Tony Khan went through a number of the injured stars to give an insight in to what had been happening, including the discussions he had with Bryan Danielson ahead of 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.

Tony Khan also confirmed that at present there is no return date set for Kenny Omega, who has taken an extended period off to rehab multiple injuries.

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.

‘The Best Bout Machine’ has recently commented that another injury would see him step away from the squared circle, however Tony Khan feels this won’t be the case.

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.

When it comes to Adam Cole, there had been concerns that he had suffered a concussion facing Samoa Joe at Double Or Nothing, however Tony Khan confirmed that Cole was cleared to compete at Forbidden Door and his injury at the event wasn’t connected.

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.

Jon Moxley was crowned interim AEW World Champion when he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door, and will likely be heading for a unification bout with CM Punk upon his return after also successfully defending his crown against Brody King.