The Blade said he’s very grateful to AEW for covering his spinal fusion surgery.
The Blade hasn’t wrestled for AEW or ROH since early January 2024 due to a back injury, which eventually required spinal fusion surgery. In September 2024, he successfully underwent the procedure.
Recently, speaking on the Talk N’ Shop podcast, The Blade revealed that AEW covered both his surgery and physical therapy. “I had a back fusion, spinal fusion, on September 10th of ’24. It’s been about a year now, and I’m getting close to going back to doctors, getting cleared, the whole thing.”
“I’ve been wrestling 25 years, you know, I’ve had a bad back for a long time. Like, AEW f**king took care of my surgery, they took care of my physical therapy, like they’ve been taking care of me for like over a year now; I’m really, really grateful for that job.”
He also shared how his back injury worsened over time. He recalled a 2020 match with The Young Bucks where he attempted a risky move similar to one made famous by Jeff Hardy. He said, “It’s like embarrassing to say… Me and Butcher had a f**king killer Falls Count Anywhere with the Bucks. And I’m in my 40s, and I was thinking that I was Jeff Hardy.”
“I went to do the exact same thing [front flip over a table], I mean, I can remember when I slid in the ring and I was hitting the ropes and I just, my legs weren’t there and I was like ‘I don’t have this. I remember my, just, felt the right side of my back just…going like completely numb… And just kept wrestling.” [H/T: WrestlingInc]
