Kyle O’Reilly Comments on His Recovery from Neck Injury & Concerns He’d Never Wrestle Again
As noted before, Kyle O’Reilly made his official return to AEW at their AEW Revolution 2024 event earlier this month. Prior to his return, O’Reilly had been absent from AEW since June of 2022 due to a neck injury and neck fusion surgery. O’Reilly was recently announced to be making his in-ring return at tonight’s AEW Collision show.
AEW held a recent digital exclusive interview with O’Reilly. One of the topics discussed included O’Reilly’s thoughts about his long recovery from his neck injury and being concerned that he might never be able to wrestle again.
“I had neck surgery. I was expecting that, but I wasn’t expecting to have a seriously rare complication, where I would wake up in the hospital bed and no longer have the use of my right arm. No, I didn’t really bank on that one. I’ve been thrown so many curveballs in life. I feel like every single moment you spend in this business is one unexpected curveball thrown your way. We learn how to deal with those, we learn how to hit a home run every single time we step up to bat. Then what happens when you don’t really get a chance to step up to bat? So that’s kind of where my mind has been for the last two years. I don’t know. I really didn’t know if I was gonna wrestle again. For a long while, I was pretty damn sure that in June 2022, my match with Jon Moxley was the last match of my career, and I was okay with that. I really was. If I could just get my arm back and I can brush my teeth again, I can wipe my ass like a normal human again, and u can take care of my daughter and be a father, that’s really all that I was focused on. That’s all that mattered. It took a long time to get any of that back. I couldn’t move my arm for damn near ten months. But I just had a lot of support, man. So many of the boys reached out. So many fans wishing me well and hoping to see me wrestle again. The fact that one person, anyone in the world wanted to see Kyle O’Reilly in the ring again, one person that gave a damn about me, that was enough motivation that I would ever need, in this lifetime or the next. I’m a kid that had type one diabetes that’s from Canada that was told he could never pursue a career in wrestling, and somehow was able to. So I have that with me, that shred of confidence. I know I’m a good wrestler, I know I’m a damn good wrestler. I know I’m technically proficient. I know deep down, I can still go, in my mind. If the body can hold up, that remains to be seen. We’ll have to see. We’ll have to see what happens when that first crack on the mat and my body hits, and all the air just shoots out of your lungs, how I’ll be able to recover
O’Reilly also gave his thoughts about his upcoming match against “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith for his in-ring return.
“I’m very excited to wrestle Bryan Keith. I’m very impressed by him. I think he’s a fantastic wrestler, and he’s a good opponent to really try and see if I still have that beast in me. Because I know he’s not gonna pull any punches. He’s not gonna take it easy on me. He’s gonna test me. He’s hungry. He’s hungry like I was. He’s trying to prove that he belongs here too, so who am I to say that he doesn’t? That’s exactly why he’s the perfect opponent for me. What better way to test your mettle, against one of the best? Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say. I appreciate you all so much, from the bottom of my heart, and the fact that I just get to be here and throw on some tights and go out in front of the crowd again, even if I never win another match as long as I live, that is a victory.”
Transcript h/t: Fightful.com
Mercedes Mone’s Advocate Keven Undergaro Comments on Mone’s Decision to Sign with AEW & Offer from WWE
As noted before, Mercedes Mone made her official debut for AEW at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Big Business show in Boston, Massachusetts.
A recent episode of the Heal Squad podcast featured Mone’s advocate and musical producer of her new “CEO” theme song Keven Undergaro as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Undergaro’s thoughts about Mone’s decision to sign with AEW and WWE’s offer for her potential return being a “generous offer.”
“A few months ago, we get a call from her old home saying they wanted her back and they put out a very generous offer, but the rival company that exists now also put out an offer and Mercedes (Moné) is really smart, she went with her gut and she felt the other offer was right and I agree with her. It was just a hella lot more and not money necessarily but, opportunity, creative and mental health and one of the things I got to do was write her opening song and that was a lot of fun to do.”
Undergaro also gave his thoughts about Mone’s new “CEO” entrance theme song for her career in AEW.
“Whenever they (AEW) announced Boston, we all had butterflies in our stomach but leading up to it, the day before I think it was, the day before we were supposed to premiere, someone from her (Mercedes Moné’s) team — I should say our team — but, came in and kind of tore me a new one about something I did to facilitate the deal for the music, without getting too into it. But I was right because there would be no song Wednesday night if I didn’t do what I did. The song wouldn’t have played and she would have missed a giant opportunity and it’s a song that she owns and it was the best thing but I think ego got involved because I had to step in and wear another hat that I didn’t normally wear but, you have no choice and so, it really came down hard on me and then started even bringing other people to come down on me and you know, the Boston-Italian came out. Not to them. I really have learned, honestly, I always say respond, don’t react but I wanted to react. I wanted to just be like… you can fill in the blanks (Undergaro chuckled). Crazy Italian from Boston. How do you think we’d react? But I didn’t. Luckily I had Maria (Menounos), so I called Maria and she was able to say, ‘Okay, let it go Kev. But you can’t show that side…’ It really rattled me and thank God my brother Joe, who does security for Maria but also now does security for Mercedes. He was in town so he was like, ‘Wait, what? What’s going on?’ And you know, Joe has a way of not — he’s got the amazing case of the don’t cares. He’s spectacular about that and he got me to that place of like, hey, don’t let this ruin your thing. This is your time, you’re the one in control of the deal. You ultimately made it all happen…”
Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com
AEW Dynamite Big Business March 16th Show Ratings Update
As noted before, this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Big Business show drew 801,000 viewers and a 0.27 key demographic rating. AEW’s ratings numbers did not include numbers from their overrun at the time due to a error by Nielsen that ended up omitting the overrun.
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that the numbers for AEW’s six-minute overrun were recently revealed and this past Wednesday’s show actually performed slightly lower in overall viewership. Thurston reported that this was due to the overrun had actually lost viewers to the point it managed to drag down AEW’s overall viewership for the night. AEW’s key demographic rating nor key demographic ranking were not impacted by this issue.
Thurston reported that AEW’s actual numbers for the show was 798,000 viewers and a 0.27 key demographic rating.
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WWE Announces SmackDown Officially Expanding to Three Hours Starting in January 2025
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