Michael Elgin Announces He’s Going To Rehab For Painkiller Addiction
Photo Credit: Bill Pritchard
Michael Elgin posted the following statement on his Twitter account, revealing he is checking himself into rehab after dealing with a number of injuries and other issues that built up over several years:
In 2015 prior to my debut for NJPW I was on a tour of Western Canada and tore my groin. All my career even prior to starting my journey my main goal was to wrestle in Japan. I refused to give up on my dream and didn’t take any time off, but at times the pain was unbearable so I took painkillers to get me through.
Over the next few years injuries piled up, but like an overly proud idiot I didn’t take time off, and kept self medicating to get by. In 2016 I suffered a fractured orbital and rushed back instead of taking the appropriate time to heal. I did the same in 2018/2019 when I had knee surgery.
Then in January of this year in match 1 in a best of 5 with Eddie Edwards I suffered a neck injury. Once again pride and silliness got in the way and I continued down this path.
Over the years I had to deal with many other issues I chose to self medicate. I try not to talk about these struggles because in my head I was supposed to show toughness, show my grit.
Maybe when I recover o cab [sic] go deeper into more of my personal life struggles I didn’t really tell many about. But for now I’m going to rehab and deal with these issues. Thank you for everyone who supports me, you’ve been my life line. I gave you everything I had, taking time from everyone in my life. I’ll come back better than ever. Thank you again.
Elgin was initially suspended by IMPACT Wrestling on June 22 amidst allegations of misconduct, including Elgin being accused of sending unsolicited sexual photos to women and his alleged role in covering up a sexual assault in 2017. IMPACT Wrestling issued the following statement after review of Elgin’s suspension:
“Impact Wrestling announced that Michael Elgin will not be appearing in any further Impact Wrestling programming.”
WrestleZone requested clarification regarding saying Elgin “will not be appearing” anymore (versus saying he was terminated); we were told that IMPACT Wrestling stands by the statement that was issued.
Related: Michael Elgin Opens Up About Body Dysmorphia, His Current Status With IMPACT Amid Allegations