Tony Khan: Adam Cole Is A Big Part Of AEW And Hopefully He’ll Be Here Forever

Tony Khan comments on Adam Cole‘s emotional appearance at AEW All In, where he vacated the AEW TNT Title.

Adam Cole was scheduled to defend the AEW TNT Title at AEW All In: Texas against Kyle Fletcher. Instead, it was announced on the day of the event that he would be vacating the championship. He came to the ring to forfeit the belt, but also addressed the audience. In his speech, he talked about the possibility of retirement after saying he would be taking some time off to handle health issues.

Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated asked Tony Khan about Adam Cole’s condition during the AEW All In post-show. Khan provided some clarity on the timeline leading up to the decision to have Cole vacate the title. He also said that even if he’s not wrestling, Adam Cole is welcome to be a part of the AEW family forever.

“I fully support his decision to take some time. I felt like the right thing to do would be to vacate the championship and give Adam Cole time off, but also give him time to talk to the fans,” he said. “Last night, when I was at ROH Supercard of Honor, planning for the pay-per-view, we put everything in place for Adam Cole to defend the championship against Kyle Fletcher.

“Coming out of Collision, Adam Cole came back, we talked, he was definitely planning to be at the pay-per-view, and even yesterday we had talked,” he added. “Somewhere between late last night and early this morning, we talked, and he just wasn’t feeling well. That is the unpredictable nature of some of these injuries and it’s really important that Adam Cole takes the time to get right because he’s a great figure in AEW.

“We talked last night and both of us immediately reached a conclusion that it makes a lot of sense when he was not feeling right to go out for this. He’s one of the greatest pro wrestlers in the world, we both know it’s not good. He doesn’t feel very well if he’s not able to wrestle a championship match on the biggest show that AEW has ever done in North America. Adam Cole is a big part of AEW and hopefully he’ll be here forever. I just don’t know when the next time he’ll be wrestling is. He’s definitely still part of the team and the family.”

Fans can read more reactions from those in the industry to Adam Cole’s announcement here.

We will continue to monitor the story and report any updates on Adam Cole’s condition. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Keep up with real-time updates on injuries across the world of wrestling by using our injury resource.

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