Shiloh Hill’s skull fracture wasn’t the first serious injury he fought through this year. The NXT star has now revealed he actually wrestled with a broken bone in his face—and didn’t even realize it until he got home later that night.
Speaking on Busted Open After Dark, Hill was asked about Grayson Waller’s comments earlier this year criticizing the NXT men’s locker room and calling the talent lazy. Hill admitted the remarks hit a nerve immediately.
“Yeah. Long story short, pissed off. Like, very pissed off.”
Instead of firing back on social media, Hill said he used the criticism as motivation. He had a match that very night and wanted his performance to be his response.
“And honestly, like, I mean, I had a match that night, that night as well. And I remember seeing what he said, and that lit a fire under me to go out there and give him my all, you know what I mean?”
“Like, that’s really, I think, the best you can do. There is a lot of chitter-chatter on social media and whatnot. That’s not really my style of, like, if someone says something that pisses me off, I’m not gonna solve it on social media.”
“I’ll probably be a lot more likely to go try to solve it in person or solve it through my work, which I’ve been trying to do since then.”
Hill said what bothered him the most was Waller questioning the toughness of the locker room because he had never missed training, a live event or work. Ironically, that same night ended with Hill suffering a facial fracture.
“Funny enough, like, the thing that pissed me off the hardest is, like, when he was talking about being soft. And me, me specifically, like, I’ve never had, like, missed a day of work or anything and never even missed a practice, never missed a live event, anything.”
“And funny enough, that night I actually broke a bone in my face. I really did.”
“And so that, on top of it, knowing, like, hey, I’m hearing all this and now I might have to be out with an injury, I was just—I was kind of a wreck that night.”
Fortunately for Hill, doctors discovered the break was in a location that allowed him to keep wrestling. Looking back now, he even credits Waller for unintentionally bringing out some of his best performances.
“Fortunately, I got imaging done and everything, and the doctors were like, ‘The break’s in a spot where you’re gonna be cleared to compete.’ And I didn’t have to miss any time.”
“But just knowing that, like, knowing how many guys here do bust their ass and are in here, like, working, to hear someone come in and say, ‘Lazy, not getting the job done,’ like, it is something that makes you mad.”
“But you’re also kind of glad that it makes you mad, because I look back and, like, those matches that I had right after that because of how mad I was were some of my best matches in NXT.”
“So gotta give Grayson credit. Like, this probably was, at some level, his intention, was to light a fire under our asses. And I think he definitely did.”
Hill also shared the bizarre moment he discovered something was seriously wrong. He said he had no idea he’d broken a bone until he got home after the show and blew his nose.
“Funny enough, I didn’t even know I was hurt. I blew my nose and my face, like, filled with air. And I thought I, like, ate something weird or whatever, but I blew out the bottom of my maxillary sinus.”
“And so when I blew my nose, all the air came out into my face instead of going into, like, out my nose. And I got all the way home. Like, it was literally in the shower at home when it happened.”
“I was like, ‘Yo,’ I texted the trainer, like, ‘Do I need to take, like, Benadryl or something?’ Because my whole face puffed up. And he was like, ‘Nah, you gotta come in tomorrow. That usually means you broke a bone.’ I was like, ‘Ah.’”
Things got even more concerning once doctors examined him. Hill said there was initially talk of surgery and even inserting a plate into his face because they weren’t sure how serious the injury was.
“I mean, now it’s, like, laughable. There was a minute, like, when they first discovered it, they’re like, ‘Yeah, you might have to put a plate in it,’ all this stuff.
“Like, we really don’t know what the timeline’s gonna be. So I was like, ‘Oh.’ For a minute I was like, ‘Man, I might be—might be out.’”
The injury also cost Hill a major WWE opportunity. He revealed that he was scheduled to attend SummerSlam for meet-and-greets, but doctors wouldn’t clear him to travel because of the condition of his face.
“And I couldn’t fly. I was supposed to go to SummerSlam for some meet and greets, but they wouldn’t let me get on the plane.”
“Because they were like, ‘Your face could physically, like, pop with the pressure,’ because there was so much air in my face.”
Thankfully, things turned around much quicker than anyone expected. Hill believes a cold may have actually helped speed up his recovery, and even his doctor couldn’t believe how fast the trapped air disappeared.
“But then I went back and I was like—I think, so I think what did it is I had a cold and I was, like, sniffling a bunch. And I think I might’ve sucked the air back into the sinus, like, out of my face.”
“Because the doctor was like, ‘This is the fastest I’ve ever seen, based off the MRI and where you’re at, like, the air leave your body.’”
“So it was like, now it’s laughable. But yeah, for a minute I was like, ‘Man, I might be—might be out.’ But fortunately…”
Hill ultimately avoided surgery and never missed any ring time because of the facial fracture. Considering he later also dealt with a skull fracture before making a quick return to action, it’s safe to say 2026 has tested the NXT star’s toughness in more ways than one.
What do you make of Shiloh Hill wrestling with a broken facial bone before discovering the injury after he got home? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
