Kyle O’Reilly on Learning He Had Diabetes, Using His Diagnosis as a Motivation

– AEW star Kyle O’Reilly recently spoke to Beyond Type 1, where the wrestler discussed pursuing his career in wrestling while also having Type 1 Diabetes. Below are some highlights:

Kyle O’Reilly on his diagnosis: “I’m 18, been in wrestling school for maybe 6 months at this point. I’m at the point where I’m starting to have matches. I’m training hard—going to the wrestling dojo, weight training, plus working part-time as a cook. Then the classic signs and symptoms start hitting me pretty hard—rapid weight loss, excessive thirst. We didn’t know what was going on. I go for a physical to get a wrestling license for Washington. They’re doing my blood work and the doctor comes back and asks,’Kyle, are you type 1 diabetic?’ I’m like ‘Uh … no?’ ‘Lo and behold, here’s my diagnosis.”

On his passion for wrestling: “They’re telling me I probably can’t pursue a career in wrestling. It’s very difficult physically and mentally, and it’s a recipe for disaster with type 1. But of course I didn’t listen. Wrestling was my dream and my lifelong passion. It was something that I was determined to make a career out of. So I used my diagnosis as a means for inspiration and motivation.”

On his wrestling style: “I just wanted to make wrestling as realistic and believable as possible.There’s a place in wrestling for the amazing maneuvers that people can do, the moonsaults and the twisting hurricanranas and stuff like that, but I was never physically capable of doing that stuff, mainly because I’m afraid of heights. I train a lot in martial arts, jiu jitsu and kickboxing. These were things that I was good at and movements I could do well, so I started to incorporate that into my pro wrestling. Everything I do I’m trying to be different. Not really standing out by being extra flashy, but the opposite of flash. My style is catered to a company like All Elite Wrestling, where there are so many tremendous athletes and wrestlers and I can help bring something different to the table that will mesh really well with our high fliers and other sensational technicians we have.”