AEW star confirms heartbreaking injury; he returned only recently

AEW is often welcoming wrestlers back to in-ring action or putting other talents on the inactive list due to various injuries. After a hiatus of well over one year, one multi-time world champion recently made his surprise return, but was unfortunately injured before the comeback could get going. Now there is confirmation of the injury with new details, along with a statement on what's next.

Bandido began his pro wrestling journey in 2011 at the age of 16. After a few years working for CMLL and indies in Mexico, the masked grappler began working in other countries, mainly the United States and found success with PWG, The Crash, AAA, ROH, and NJPW. He debuted for AEW in September 2022 and also returned to the ROH brand now that it was under Tony Khan's ownership.

During a Rampage loss to Konosuke Takeshita on June 14, 2023, Bandido suffered a wrist injury and was put on the shelf indefinitely.

AEW began airing viral vignettes for the 29-year-old earlier this month, but then he shockingly returned at ROH Final Battle this past Friday, saving Matt Cardona from a post-match attack by The Learning Tree. Cardona lost to World Champion Chris Jericho before the beatdown.

Bandido took to Instagram today and confirmed that he was injured at Final Battle after taking a shot to the head. The update comes one day after The Wrestling Observer reported that Bandido suffered a concussion when delivering a missile dropkick to the inaugural AEW World Champion as he landed on the back of his head.

The former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion noted that he was waiting until there was no more inflammation in his brain. Posting the update from JFK Airport in New York City, Bandido included two photos and wrapped it with a quote from Sylvester Stallone's Rocky character from the 2006 Rocky Balboa film.

"What a week-end! All I can do is thank God for allowing me to wake up another day after all that has been through!. The blow was in a delicate area of my head, now just to wait till there is no brain inflammation. Thank you to all my people who have been messaging me asking about my current status!!. It's been hard to cope with these days with myself, too much frustration runs over my head. The hardest battle of my life is coming, with myself!! All I can say is that I will try to return a thousand and one times to the squad!! so I achieve it at some point or stay trying...!," Bandido wrote with the photos below. [H/T to Instagram Translate]

Tony Khan seemingly had plans to do Bandido vs. Jericho for the ROH World Championship, but now it remains to be seen how long the feud will be delayed as there was a major reason for the title change. Bandido previously held Ring of Honor's top title for 152 days in 2021 after dethroning Rush, but he was forced to vacate due to a positive COVID-19 test.

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AEW Worlds End updated lineup

The second annual AEW Worlds End pay-per-view will take place in less than one week. The final All Elite Wrestling event of 2024 will air live on Saturday, December 28, from Addition Financial Arena in Orlando. Below is the updated lineup:

1. Continental Classic League Final: Kyle Fletcher vs. Will Ospreay
2. Continental Classic League Final: Ricochet vs. Kazuchika Okada
3. International Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
4. Tijuana Street Fight for the Women's World Championship Tijyu: Mariah May (c) vs. Thunder Rosa
5. Dynamite Diamond Ring Match: MJF (c) vs. Adam Cole (Cole's ringside enforcers: Matt Taven and Mike Bennett)
6. TBS Championship Match: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Kris Statlander
7. C2 Final for the Continental Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) or Ricochet vs. Kyle Fletcher or Will Ospreay
8. World Championship Fatal Four-Way: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Adam Page vs. Jay White

AEW will begin the live Worlds End Zero Hour pre-show at 6:30 pm ET, for free on all of the company's social platforms. The main pay-per-view card will then begin at 8 pm ET, and a post-show media scrum is scheduled.