According to reports, WWE talent was hardly surprised by the seemingly high number of injuries in AEW.
While injuries are a job hazard for any professional wrestler, many have pointed out that Tony Khan’s promotion has a higher injury rate than other companies of its size. Currently, top names like Adam Cole, Adam Copeland, and Jamie Hayter are all out of action due to injury. Bryan Danielson’s AEW run was severely hampered by injuries, and similar setbacks caused problems during CM Punk’s All-Elite time as well.
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WWE talents on AEW injuries
Talents in the WWE were not surprised by the seemingly high injury rate in AEW, Mike Johnson from PW Insider Reports. It is believed that AEW’s more relaxed schedule, where talent competes perhaps once or twice a week, does not reduce the risk of injury, but actually makes it worse. The reasoning is that the long breaks between matches prevent AEW talent from developing calluses on their bodies, which makes impacts and movements hurt more. In contrast, WWE hosts events almost every night of the week, which keeps talent tougher for the long term.
WWE Superstars have had to wrestle much less during the COVID-19 pandemic, with events taking place behind closed doors, either at the Performance Center or the Thunderdome. The report adds that the talent felt a little “disconnected” after touring resumed in July 2021, but were happy to finally be able to compete more and tone their bodies.
Bayley was an unfortunate victim of this situation, suffering an injury while training just weeks before the tour was due to resume. The role model, considered a highlight of the pandemic era, missed a year of in-ring action before returning to television at SummerSlam 2022.
While it may seem counterintuitive, more wrestling seems to reduce the chance of injury, at least among WWE talent. While AEW has flirted with non-televised shows in the past, it remains to be seen if the promotion will ever have a schedule that comes close to that of WWE.
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