Kyle O’Reilly’s time away from the ring was tough on the AEW star but helped teach an important lesson about himself as a father.
O’Reilly returned to AEW programming at the Revolution 2024 event in March. This return came close to two years after he underwent neck fusion surgery for an injury that’d kept him out of action since June 2022.
Spending over a year away from the ring was understandably difficult for the veteran wrestler, but there has been a silver lining to his hiatus. As he explained to Fightful, his injury led to O’Reilly spending more time at home, which led to him learning more about himself.
“My daughter, who was six months old when I got hurt, and now I’m going back and she’s over two. I got to spend all that quality time at home with her and playing that stay-at-home dad role. I found that I’m a better dad than I ever was a wrestler.”
In the interview, O’Reilly added that patience was key in his lengthy recovery process, as was staying positive in spite of what had happened to him. The Undisputed Era alum admitted that recovering took longer than first expected as complications prolonged his comeback period.
It’s great that O’Reilly was able to spend quality time with his daughter as the wrestling business unfortunately often leads to parents being on the road for a long time without seeing their kids. Fatherly instincts aside, O’Reilly will be all business at AEW Dynasty when he challenges for the AEW International Championship.
