Adam Cole: I Was Never Going To Retire On My Own Accord, I Would've Had To Be Told To

Adam Cole says he wasn't going to walk away from wrestling unless he was told to.

Many fans were rejoiced when Adam Cole made his return to the ring on the March 29, 2023 episode of AEW Dynamite. Before Cole had stepped back inside the squared circle, many fans were worried about the state of his career after various reports had surfaced throughout 2022 regarding his injuries.

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In a number of interviews, Cole has talked at length about his recovery from injury and how difficult it was for him at times.

While appearing for a new interview with Barstool's Rasslin podcast, Cole was asked if he ever considered hanging up the boots on his own accord.

"No. I was afraid that I was going to be told that I couldn’t come back, for sure. That existed for months. But there was never a small part of me that went, ‘Okay, I think I’m gonna hang it up.’ I was so focused and determined on trying to come back because again, this is my entire life, since I was nine years old, this is all I ever wanted to do. The toughest thing was having doctors look at you with this discouraged [look because they didn’t know how it was going to go.] I talked about it on the show, but Britt was incredibly helpful, my family was incredibly helpful. I tried to keep as much of an optimistic attitude as I could, but it was a tough road. Long winded way of saying no, I was so focused on trying to come back.”

Cole went on to reiterate that he was never going to voluntarily step away from the ring.

“Yes. I was going to have to be told, ‘Listen, you can’t do this. You’re risking a huge portion of your quality of life or you can’t get back in the ring, it’s too dangerous.’ If I was told that, that would be a different pill to swallow as it came, but no way I was going to go ‘Eh, I think I’m gonna stop.’”

Cole is set to face Chris Jericho at Sunday's Double Or Nothing pay-per-view in a Unsanctioned Match. Fans can learn more about the show's card here.

Elsewhere in the interview, Adam Cole gave a small update on Kyle O'Reilly. Click here to learn more.

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