WWE superstar Bronson Reed has explained how he ‘learned to walk again’ after a devastating foot injury threatened to derail his career.

The 37-year-old Australian powerhouse was in the midst of the best run of his career last November, when a high-risk move turned sour.

Reed launched himself from the top of a steel cage, but instead of landing in a splash, the entire weight of his 150kg frame went directly into his foot.

READ MORE: Roosters tangled in Smith allegations as startling details emerge

READ MORE: ‘It’s time’: Port star retires after turbulent year

READ MORE: Fevola tips Snoop Dogg to be axed from grand final

As a result, Reed was sidelined indefinitely, and there were genuine fears that his time as an in-ring competitor with WWE was in jeopardy.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Reed tackled his lengthy and arduous rehab process head-on, which included not being able to put any weight on his right leg at all before gradually working his way back to standard, everyday activities and then into wrestling training once more.

Speaking to Wide World of Sports ahead of WWE’s return to Australia later this year for Crown Jewel in Perth, Reed opened up on his journey back to the ring and what it took to perform in front of sold-out arenas and stadiums across the globe once again.

“When it first happened, I jumped off the cage and nowhere in my mind did I think I would put my foot down and break a bone in my foot – but for some reason, my instinct was my foot went down,” the Adelaide product said.

“I broke my talus bone, which connects your foot to your leg. It’s a terrible bone to break, because it’s six months of rehab and I had to spend two-and-a-half months resting my leg, which means my leg atrophied and my muscle sort of went away.

“I had to build all that muscle back up, I had to learn to walk with that leg again. I had to learn to run and then jump, and then get in the ring.

“It is definitely a life-altering injury, but at the same time, the people who were doing my rehab noticed that I actually did better when I was in a wrestling ring. For some reason, any of the exercises we did outside of the wrestling ring, I struggled – but as soon as they put me in the ring, I could hit the ropes and suplex, everything I needed to do.

“Everything was such a slow process that in my head, I was like ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to get back to what I was’ but then I got in a ring and forgot about the injury, because I’m wrestling and that’s something I love to do.

“I’m still rehabbing to this point. I’ve still got another good six months before I forget about my foot in general. It’s always gonna be stiff, it’s always not going to have that range of motion that it used to have. I have three screws that are forever in my foot.

“But at the same time, when I get in that ring, I just forget and it’s all systems go.”

Reed also admitted that the birth of his daughter, Deja, gave him something else to focus his energy on during what could have otherwise been a dark time.

“Most people’s wrestling careers are sort of a rollercoaster, you have your ups and downs – but I have had roadblock after roadblock to work past,” he said.

“Whether that was finally getting signed by WWE or even when I was in WWE, I ended up getting released and I had to work my way back.

“Then, everything was going great, and I had this major injury.

“Through that, I was lucky my daughter was born last year, so I got to spend a lot of time at home and focus on being a dad, which definitely helped me mentally.

“I feel like if I didn’t have her, I would have been focusing too much on wrestling and what was gonna happen and being too hyper-focused on that, which is what happens.

“Luckily, I got to spend a lot of time with my daughter and my wife … and then when the time was right, I was able to come back in the ring and jump over another hurdle.”

Since returning to the squared circle and brushing off a few proverbial cobwebs, it has well and truly been all systems go for Reed, aligning himself with world champion Seth Rollins, rising star Bron Breakker and Hall of Fame manager, Paul Heyman

As a result, Reed has been working across from some of the biggest stars in the pro wrestling business on an almost weekly basis – most notably, CM Punk and Roman Reigns – becoming a staple of WWE’s main event scene.

This recent rise to superstardom for Reed will culminate with a singles match against Reigns this weekend at the Clash In Paris premium live event.

“I think arguably, it’s my biggest singles match to date,” he said.

“It’s not for a championship or anything, but I think it is just because Roman Reigns is, bar none, the face of the company, and he’s had WWE on his back for the last decade.

“We’re trying to set up the next pillars of WWE and that includes myself. It’s a big deal, and I also think it’s a big deal for Australian wrestling as well. I always told people back home that we can match up against anyone in the world.

“What better way to prove it than to go against Roman Reigns?”

The biggest match of Reed’s career to date will have a flow-on effect that will see the Aussie star as one of the main attractions at the Crown Jewel event on October 11.

While it’s not set in stone at this stage, Reed has been linked with a match against the aforementioned CM Punk – but he’s not the only man in the Aussie star’s sights.

“He’s definitely on my list,” Reed admitted.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure what I will be doing in Australia, but if it’s CM Punk, I think that would be a stellar match that hasn’t happened as a singles match.

“Obviously, we’ve been in tag matches against each other – but eventually, we’re gonna get our hands on each other in a singles match and why not in Australia?

“If it’s not him, there’s Roman Reigns or Jey Uso or LA Knight, there’s a bunch of people. John Cena is having his last match in Australia and I don’t know who he’s wrestling.

“I’ve always said that Bronson Reed and John Cena would make a hell of a match.”

Cena’s farewell tour from WWE has run through cities across the globe over the past eight months, and Perth’s RAC Arena will be one of the final stops.

The company has also announced a “SuperShow” at Rod Laver Arena on October 15 – just days after the blockbuster in Perth – with tickets on sale this week via Ticketek.

Reed is hopeful that it gets to a point where WWE will tour the entirety of Australia.

“I know Australia is such a hotbed for wrestling, so I’d love to go to every city,” he said.

“We’ve got to get out to these places and hopefully that’s what the future holds.

“For me, I like to represent Australia as well because when I was a kid and WWE finally did come – it took a while, I was a teenager – there was no representation for me.

“I was a huge WWE fan and I could watch all the wrestlers and have my favourite wrestlers, but there was no one who was Australian, but now you have myself, Rhea Ripley, Grayson Waller, Zaria and hopefully some more people get recruited.

“When we do these tours, hopefully it shows people back home they can do it as well.”