AEW: Adam Cole Concussion Injury & Potential Return Status Update, Tony Khan on His Praise of John Cena and AEW’s Partnership with DC May Be Closest He & Cena Ever Get to Work Together in Wrestling, More News

Adam Cole Concussion Injury & Potential Return Status Update

As noted before, Adam Cole has been out of action for AEW since this past July due to a concussion injury.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported in a recent Q&A article that his sources stated that Cole is nowhere near ready to return to the ring. Sapp reported that without getting into too many details, Cole knew he would likely face issues dealing with his latest concussion injury.

Sapp reported that AEW CEO Tony Khan is “fiercely loyal” to Cole but he is currently unlikely doing any coaching or anything similar for backstage work due to traveling would likely hinder his recovery.

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Tony Khan Comments on His Praise of John Cena and AEW’s Partnership with DC May Be Closest He & Cena Ever Get to Work Together in Wrestling

Z100 New York held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts about John Cena’s legacy in pro wrestling and how AEW’s current partnership with DC might be the closest he ever gets to work together with Cena.

“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that but it was a great question. John Cena’s absolutely a legendary pro wrestler who came into the space and became a huge star very quickly on television because he has so much charisma and he’s one of the hardest working people as far as I know in pro wrestling. I’ve never actually met John Cena and I have a ton of respect for him as a wrestler. He seems like a wonderful person. Everybody I know that’s worked with John Cena has only the very, very best things to say about him, and he’s known for being the utmost professional. I think he’s also a very, very talented actor. I’m a huge fan of the Peacemaker show on HBO Max. AEW Full Gear is presented by DC. DC being the presenting sponsor, we had a great partnership going with DC. So even though I’ve never worked with John Cena in any wrestling capacity, we are partners now with DC. So that may be as close as we ever get. But, I think that he’s absolutely fantastic in the ring and he seems fantastic out of the ring. Certainly on screen, one of the all-time greats, and he came into the wrestling business after many of the top stars were either getting ready to retire or entering the final phase of their career and he really stepped up as one of the biggest wrestling stars of all time and even though I’ve never met him or talked to him, I have a ton of respect for him.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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AEW News & Notes

Warner Bros Discovery announced that they have recently increased the price of subscriptions for their HBO MAX streaming service. The Basic with Ads tier now costs $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year, the Standard tier now costs $18.49 per month or $184.99 per year, and the Premium tier now costs $22.99 per month or $229.99 per year. HBO MAX is the current streaming home of AEW’s weekly Dynamite and Collision shows and one of the providers for AEW’s live pay-per-view events.

Thunder Rosa recently announced on Twitter that herself and Nyla Rose will be launching a new podcast series within the near future.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported in a recent Q&A article that his sources stated that Max Caster and Anthony Bowens’ recent reunion as a reluctant tag team was not AEW officials original plans for the duo. Sapp reported that AEW officials had originally planned for Caster and Bowens to compete as singles wrestlers but those plans were changed after Billy Gunn was written off of AEW television. AEW officials then made the decision to put Bowens and Caster back together but with their current storyline of them being reluctant tag team partners. In regards to Caster’s open challenge getting him over like it did, Sapp speculated that this was likely something that AEW officials had not expected for Caster when they had split up The Acclaimed.

AEW and Ring of Honor talent AR Fox recently launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help keep open his WWA4 training school in Atlanta, Georgia. In the fundraiser page, it was stated that the training school is currently facing unforeseen financial hardship and the school likely will shut down without immediate support. It was stated “We’re asking for help from the wrestling community; alumni, fans, and supporters, to keep the lights on, the ring up, and the doors open for the students who call this place home. Every dollar raised will go directly toward rent, utilities, and training equipment to stabilize the school and secure its future.“

The Young Bucks recently released a new episode of Being The Elite on YouTube titled “Backstage at AEW WrestleDream 2025.” This video focused on a backstage look at this past Saturday’s AEW WrestleDream 2025 event in St. Louis, Missouri and the Young Bucks’ backstage reactions after their loss to Jurassic Express in a $500K Tag Team match at the event.

AEW recently released three new videos to their official YouTube channel. The first new video was a “Top 10 WILDEST Coffin Match Moments in AEW! | AEW Top10.” The second new video was a singles match of MJF vs. Darby Allin from AEW Full Gear 2021. The third new video was an AEW Women’s World Championship match of Emi Sakura vs. Riho (c) from AEW Full Gear 2019.

As noted before, AEW CEO Tony Khan had announced during this past August’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door post-show media scrum that this year’s Continental Classic tournament will be kicking off in the United Kingdom. In a recent interview with Z100 New York, Khan confirmed that Continental Classic matches will be taking place at each of AEW’s upcoming events in the United Kingdom this December. Khan stated “We’ve been to the U.K., we’re going back. We’re gonna debut in Manchester later this year. I’m really excited about that. I’m excited to bring to bring the Continental Classic to Manchester and back to Cardiff which is a great venue for us.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the AEW Close Up with Renee Paquette show, Eddie Kingston gave his thoughts about his recent return from a broken leg injury and how he had quit AEW eight times during his time away due to the mental struggles he was dealing with. Kingston stated “I’m not perfect. I’m flawed. I make mistakes every day. Do you understand, I must have quit this company eight times when I was out because of my own mental shit. I am not a good employee. I’m not. I’m a pain in the fucking ass because I’m passionate about it. I don’t want to hear shit because guess what, I can still walk through the airport and catch a domestic flight. I’m trying to get this place to a level where we can have private flights. That’s when I’ll tell you and everyone else, ‘I did good. I’m over.’ Until then, I don’t want to hear shit because it’s not happening. Until that happens, until everyone is eating like that, then I’ll tell you, ‘I’m over. I’m this. I’m that.’ Until then, no.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent episode of the Marking Out with MVP and Dwayne Swayze podcast, co-host MVP gave his thoughts about how he has never been a guy to politic for his spot in wrestling and how he is willing to pass the knowledge of his wrestling experience on to the younger generation if they want it. MVP stated “If a young talent comes up to me and asks me for my opinion or advice or feedback…you have a thing in wrestling where rookies are told to ask veterans for advice and feedback. Some do it because it’s the things to do and others do it because they genuinely want the feedback so they can get better. They want advice from someone who has been around and made money. I would always take that advice and put it to work. When somebody like Undertaker, Finlay, or Arn Anderson tells you how to do something, if you don’t do it, you’re an idiot. When I try to give advice, my reason for giving advice is because I genuinely want you to do better. If you do better, we do better. The more people you have on a show who are performing at a higher level and executing better, and are better storytellers to get that emotional response from the audience, we all do better. There are no politics there. If I’m telling you to slow it down and cut some stuff out, it’s not because I don’t want you to have a good match, it’s because I want you to have a better match. A few of the younger guys in AEW, I’ve told them, ‘everything is great, but you had two too many false finishes. You didn’t need all those false finishes.’ You can hear. The first false finish, ‘OHHHHH!!!!’ The second false finish, ‘OHHHHH!!!!’ The third false finish, ‘Ohhhh!’ The fourth false finish, ‘Ohhh.’ You had them, and it takes a while to get that experience and know when to say, ‘Take it home now. They’re not going to get any higher than this. That other stuff we had figured it, cut it, take it home now.’ It’s definitely something that comes with experience. If I’m telling you that, it’s not because I don’t want you to have the greatest match, it’s because I want you too. You can hear it from the audience. There have been times where I’ve talked to Kyle Fletcher and he’s said, ‘You’re right. I heard it.’ Don’t work against yourself.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)