Adam Cole was scheduled to take part in a big match against Kyle Fletcher at AEW All In 2025. However, that would not be the case as hours before the show it was announced that he was not medically cleared. He would still appear on the show, delivering an emotional speech that opened the door for more questions than answers.
“It’s really hard to put this into words. I’m very sorry that I let everyone down and I can’t wrestle tonight,” Adam Cole said with tears in his eyes. “I have some health issues going on at the moment that will not only not allow me to defend this championship tonight, but I am going to be gone for a while.”
The fans would give him a standing ovation while as he continued on and was joined by Kyle O’Reilly and Rodderick Strong. Cole would not say if this would lead to retirement, but said he wanted to be sure to come out and talk to everyone.
“I don’t want to think about retiring because I’m not in the right headspace, but I wanted to have this opportunity to come out and talk to you all if this is indeed goodbye because you are the best wrestling fans in the world.”
Cole has struggled with injuries throughout much of his time in All Elite Wrestling. At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in 2022, Cole suffered a severe concussion in a four-way match against Jay White, “Hangman” Adam Page, and Kazuchika Okada that would force him out of action for nearly 10 months. He’d return and enter into a main storyline against MJF, only to suffer an ankle injury that pushed him out for another year.
The TNT Championship match was changed to a four-way featuring Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, Kyle Flecther, and Daniel Garcia. Rhodes would come out on top, capturing his first singles title in All Elite Wrestling.
As of this writing, there’s no telling when or if Cole will return. Daily DDT wishes him a healthy and speedy recovery.