AEW’s Rebel (real name Tanea Brooks) revealed on social media in a posted on X, that she has been diagnosed with cancer of the lungs. She is asking for prayers and support.
It was believed at first that Rebel has cryptococcal pneumonia. However, after a year of not getting better, she decided to make a trip to the Mayo Clinic and the doctors diagnosed her with pulmonary lymphoma on Monday she will start the rehabilitation process she has been dealing with health issues since May of 2024. She was originally diagnosed with pneumonia but after a year of not getting better with treatment, she sought treatment from the Mayo Clinic, who diagnosed her with pulmonary lymphoma, which is cancer of the lungs.
Rebel also notes she starts the rehabilitation process on Monday, as she has also developed functional neurological disorder and it has taken my ability to walk on her own, as she has to use a walker to get around, in addition to losing some function in her right hand. Rebel also went on to say that treatment for her cancer will not start until she finishes treatment for an infection that she is currently receiving IV antibiotics for.
“After a year of not getting better, I decided to go to the Mayo Clinic and see if I could get treated by them and they found that it was not cryptococcal pneumonia this whole time and that it is primary pulmonary lymphoma, which is cancer in the lungs. And if there is a best case scenario then I have it so that’s good…Tomorrow I start rehab because along this tumultuous journey I picked up a little disorder called functional neurological disorder and it has taken my ability to walk. I now walk with a walker and my ability to speak clearly, I don’t know if you can tell, but it sounds like I bit my tongue….And once that’s finished, hopefully in December, I will go in for a third bronchoscopy to determine what kind of treatment are we having, chemo, radiation, immunology and then we’ll start there and then we’ll kick its ass, OK? So I’m hoping that will start around the first of 2026.”
In August of 2019, AEW hired Brooks for a backstage role for as a makeup stylist for its female roster. However, in 2020 she became an on-screen character as the personal assistant to Dr. Britt Baker, DMD. Prior to AEW, she wrestled in TNA/IMPACT, OWV, and Stardom.