The WWE's Real Injury Problem

This past Monday night's WWE Raw show featured a "Best 2 of 3" falls match with Candice Michelle challenging the Women's champ, Beth Phoenix, for her title. Beth easily captured Fall #1 after using her finishing move on Candice. These 2 of 3 falls matches usually see each competitor take a win to tie it up at 1-1. It was likely that Candice was going to win Fall #2, but she had an unfortunate mishap. Candice got up on the ropes preparing to do a move, and Beth Phoenix ran to the ropes to shake them. Candice accidentally lost her footing, slipping on the ropes and coming down bad on her neck/head. Beth Phoenix seemed to drag a lifeless Candice into the ring for her second straight pinfall. After she captured fall #2, the medical staff and WWE personnel descended on the ring to attend to Candice. The match was most likely scheduled to run longer but WWE covered the injury situation. It was far from a fake injury, as WWE.com later reported Candice suffered a broken clavicle and is now out 4-6 weeks. There is a YouTube video of the unfortunate fall here.

There seems to be a lot of "high-risk" moves being done on a constant basis in WWE. For example, guys diving over the top ropes. They either land on or next to their opponent, or the opponent moves away and the person falls to the outside. On Tuesday's ECW, Elijah Burke ran at Nunzio who was laying face down against the middle rope. Burke jumped on his back, then slid over him out through the ropes, but basically grazed over Nunzio's neck. When the neck/spine becomes involved in high risk moves, it's a dangerous thing. It's what really cut Stone Cold's in-ring career down and caused him backstage problems with WWE, as he never recovered properly from chronic knee and neck injuries.

While the wrestlers train a lot and there are mats outside the ring to break their falls, the hits/crashes certainly add up and can cause damage. Bottom line is these guys and girls are putting their health on the line constantly, and WWE really should wisen up, especially with the injuries we've seen, and the scrutiny over "Wellness". Jason Powell over at PWTorch even suggests WWE should revise its match policy, having the ref immediately stop a match should a real injury occur, which makes total sense. Having Beth Phoenix drag a limp Candice Michelle from the ring corner after a neck injury is not the smartest of ideas.

So is WWE pushing the performers too far or do the wrestlers have a choice? Many of the top name superstars have seen injuries which kept them out of action for months. It's a who's who list of the best in pro wrestling: Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Mr. Kennedy, Bobby Lashley, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin and most recently, John Cena. Several of these guys are older such as HBK and Undertaker, but Cena and Lashley are relatively young. WWE wrestlers are constantly performing for crowds, whether it be at Raw, Smackdown, ECW, Pay Per Views or House shows that aren't televised. Many articles have looked at the concept of lessening the work schedule for WWE performers. There's no need to be at constant health risk, which then increases the need for painkillers, prescription meds, or non-prescription meds. Yes it is a chosen way of life for wrestlers, but they should have a safe work environment.

This topic will most likely be visited and re-visited by WWE fans and analysts alike, because although many say WWE is not a sport, it involves more contact on a constant basis than NBA, NHL or the NFL. The Candice injury was an accident, but as mentioned in this article, WWE has seen a lot of these, and you'd have to think it goes back to constant performance. While fans may love the hardnosed, high-flying and high-risk action, I think most fans would rather see their favorites in action instead of sitting out for months or a year with a serious injury.