Kyle O’Reilly underwent neck fusion surgery in September 2023 after not wrestling since June 8, 2022. O’Reilly later dealt with a post-surgical issue before returning to AEW Revolution 2024, where he hugged Roderick Strong, who had just won the International Title. Kyle turned down an offer to be part of the Undisputed Kingdom.

O’Reilly uploaded a video of himself chronicling his recovery journey. He wrote the following in the caption:

”Thank you to anybody that has ever supported me from humble beginnings to the big stage. Knowing that there’s somebody out there that wants to see Kyle O’Reilly compete again has been a huge source of motivation for me to get back. As you can see I’ve put in some effort these last 20 months or so, thanks to @unconventional_strength and many others for helping me achieve my goal of regaining a fully functioning right arm. I’m still waiting for some questions to be answered but I can be proud knowing I’ve done everything in my power to lace them up again. It’s out of my hands and into the hands of those with medical degrees. Thanks for being patient with me.”