22 Injured AEW Stars (And When They're Set To Return)

All Elite Wrestling operates a schedule less mentally and physically gruelling than WWE, lacks the abundance of programming to accommodate sufficient television time for everyone from Jon Moxley to Ariya Daivari, and employs a roster chock-full of hungry athletes, many of which rely solely on AEW for their bookings, forgoing seeking external work even when Tony Khan has nothing for them.

So, why the extensive hospital bill?

Style.

Or, rather, lack thereof. AEW, as an authentic alternative to WWE's bold, brash, and boring sports entertainment slapstick, entertains the super-indierific work-rate style that caused the boom period on the North American independents. Collar-and-elbow lockups, body slams, and rest holds are replaced with Canadian Destroyers, grisly table bumps, and the odd unprotected folding steel chair to the cranium; naturally, this takes a toll on the body of those at the mercy of such spots.

Discharge the following exclusions before checking in AEW's wounded warriors. Samoa Joe, described during 2024's Blood and Guts Dynamite special as being out of action indefinitely, is injured in storyline so as to allow him to film Twisted Metal. Then, there's Ruby Soho and Tay Melo, both of whom are on either end of the maternity leave spectrum.

Expect Tay back soon - as well as...

"Ready to go".

Those are the words, per WrestlePurists' Ibou, that exited Bandido's mouth while the uniquely masked grappler was backstage during the 23 October Dynamite. The ex-ROH World Champion hasn't wrestled since facing Konosuke Takeshita on 16 June, 2023, with a broken wrist that required two surgeries keeping him high on AEW's hospital waiting room list. Expect him back soon.

Returning: Imminently.