Former WWE superstar Adam Cole has revealed how he needed a cadaver bone put into his ankle after a horror injury in a freak accident.
The 35-year-old wrestler, who has worked for WWE rival All Elite Wrestling since 2021, suffered a brutal injury on AEW Dynamite in September 2023 when he fell off the entrance ramp while running to the ring.
He did make some appearances before being taken off the road, and he hasn’t wrestled a match in over a year.
Now, the former NXT Champion has revealed the injury was ‘way worse’ than everyone thought, and he had to have bone from a donor put into his ankle to fix the issue.
‘The first piece of news that I heard was, your ankle is way worse than we anticipated. You have to get another surgery in seven days,’ he told The Takedown on SI.
‘So, not only did I have to get double the amount of screws in my ankle, but also, I had to get someone else’s bone put into my ankle because the bone piece within my ankle just completely disintegrated.’
The decision to use a cadaver bone was made instead of a metal plate, as the latter can limit range of motion for the recipient.
Cole added he is ‘incredibly thankful’ to the donor and their family, and he admitted it’s ‘certainly a better option’.
He said: ‘I definitely notice a difference in my left ankle as opposed to my right one, but I think that comes with the territory. I still feel like I can be Adam Cole and do the things that I wanna do. And I’m certainly not even close to wanting to be done with wrestling.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Cole also confirmed he has split from fellow AEW star Britt Baker after seven years together.
‘We are no longer a couple,’ he said. ‘I want her to be as happy and successful as humanly possible, and I know she feels the exact same way about me.
‘We did decide to go our separate ways, but that doesn’t mean that she will not be an incredibly important part of my life.’
A year before the freak accident which led to his ankle surgery, Cole had to take time out over a concussion, which kept him out for several months.
In April 2023, shortly after his return from the post-concussion issues, he how tough it was making his comeback and opening up to his fans about how scary a time it was.
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‘It was stressful, because of what I was going through, this very legitimate, very serious head injury. The idea of showcasing that to the world was very intimidating but I’m so glad that I did,’ he said. ‘The fans were so supportive the whole way through, and they’re gonna get to see a totally different side.’