AEW: Kyle O’Reilly on His In-Ring Return From Injury Plans, Jim Ross Health & Potential Return Update, More News

AEW

Dec 8, 2023

Kyle O’Reilly Comments on His Current Plans for Potential In-Ring Return from Injury by AEW’s 2024 Canadian Tour

As noted before, Kyle O’Reilly has been out of action for AEW since June of 2022 due to a neck-related and other injuries. O’Reilly had underwent neck fusion surgery in September of 2022 to repair his neck injury. O’Reilly most recently has been backstage at several AEW shows leading to AEW officials feeling his potential return to AEW programming being more promising than before.

O’Reilly recently provided an update on Instagram stating that he might be able to make his return to in-ring wrestling by AEW’s new tour of Canada next year.

“I might be a wrestler again by this time [fingers crossed emoji]”

Kyle O'Reilly Instagram update🥹🙏🏽: https://t.co/7rHQUM1w4W pic.twitter.com/ijKtRgJSDd
— AIR (@AIRGxld) December 7, 2023

Jim Ross Health & AEW Break Status Update

As noted before, AEW commentator Jim Ross has been on a break from AEW since this past November due to him needing to heal up his leg some more from a injury he suffered from a fall incident this past June.

A recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast featured co-host Jim Ross providing an update on his current health status and potential return to AEW.

“My goal is to get healthy, and drinking was not working well with my meds, my diabetes medications. I’m taking a new one, so it was a conflict. It’s a conflict of interests, so to speak, because I want to get healthier, and these meds gotta work, and I was diluting their strength by drinking, so I hung it up. I haven’t had any withdrawal, I haven’t had any sleepless nights. I haven’t cheated. I was tempted a couple nights ago, maybe it was Sunday, to go have a shot of Crown Royal, and I resisted the urge. I know that somewhere down the road, I’ll have that shot of Crown Royal, but I’m gonna do things in moderation, not like a massive 400-pound King Kong Bundy or something. But this has put a lot of weight off me. I’m losing weight, I feel healthier. I hope to go back to work sooner than later, but I’m not sure what the doctor’s gonna say. It’s not up to me. I gotta get released to go back to work because of this wound. The diabetes, I can handle and treat that on the road. But anyway, the drinking was just something that I had to do to maximize the investment, and it is significant, of all my medicines. So that’s why I did it, and it’s working out fine.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

AEW News & Notes

AEW recently announced that they will be holding a new AEW Collision show on February 10, 2024 at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. It was also announced that tickets for this upcoming show will officially go on sale starting on December 15th.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the people who are currently portraying the masked AEW Devil and masked minions on AEW programming are still the same people who AEW officials have planned for the actual unmasking reveal angle.

Bryan Alvarez reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources stated that they have not heard anything about Bryan Danielson having the power within AEW to issue fines to AEW talent over their social media conduct. The origin of this rumor came from Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp who reported in a recent episode of The Hump podcast that he was informed by his sources that Danielson has already fined at least two wrestlers over them complaining about their bookings and status in AEW on social media.

In a recent interview with DAZN, Bryan Danielson gave his thoughts about which matches are currently his favorites for his career in AEW. Danielson stated “I really love the match I had with Moxley the night the Blackpool Combat Club was kind of formed where Regal comes out as it’s a special moment for me. I love the first one with Kenny Omega. I’m gonna name four. I actually love the Okada match. When you do something that is really hard, it has a special place in your heart. That was the Okada match. I broke my arm and wrestled for another ten minutes. That’s very rewarding. The other one, and this is someone who I think is fantastic, the strap match that I had with Ricky Starks. I love that match and I think Ricky Starks is fantastic. I love wrestling him.“

Following this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Montreal, Canada, AEW held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Jon Moxley discussing his thoughts about his upcoming Continental Classic match against Swerve Strickland at next week’s show. Moxley stated “Will next week against Swerve be a hard match? Yeah, hell yeah. But as they say, it’s a shame for the helmsman to be surprised when the wind is unfavorable. This is the Continental Classic baby, it’s supposed to be hard. Swerve Strickland’s got a lot of buzz… he’s cheap. Being at the top of this sport and staying there is another thing entirely and it’s very, very costly. For a guy like you in your position, it’s right about now when you realize that it’s a price you’re not willing to pay. Are you going to be the guy who takes me out? Whatever will be, will be. Next week, Swerve Strickland, Jon Moxley, and the ghosts and demons that always chase me to the ring. This is gonna be something you’ve never attempted to do before, and it’s gonna be a long night, so I suggest you pack a lunch.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Following Moxley’s comments, Strickland recently responded on Twitter stating “I’ve always been atop this sport” and posted photos of his championship achievements throughout his career.

In a recent interview with Wrestling Shoot Interviews, Tully Blanchard gave his thoughts about the abrupt ending to his pairing with FTR in AEW. Blanchard stated “Obviously somebody didn’t like what I was doing, or lack of what I was doing.” Blanchard also gave his thoughts about his belief that FTR are probably the best tag team currently in the world. Blanchard stated “They are probably the best tag team right now. I would have a hard time saying best tag team of all time since Arn and I are already in that position [laughs].” Blanchard also gave his thoughts about The Young Bucks. Blanchard stated “The Young Bucks are very talented, and they would probably rival FTR.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)