WWE: How Injuries Have Crippled the Roster

Injuries in WWE all making 2017 far more difficult than it should be…

When most people look at WWE’s current roster, the list of names contained therein makes them smile with joy. Never before has it been filled with so many high-profile wrestlers and skilled athletes. Both RAW and SmackDown have solid rosters filled with excellent athletes that have both considerable experience from traveling the world, and marketability. Given all of this, WWE’s regular programming should be both interesting and popular with wrestling fans.

But it isn’t. WWE’s roster is currently being plagued with serious problems stemming from circumstances that they both control and do not. Not only have several wrestlers gone down with injuries during this year, but a few others have left the company altogether despite considerable popularity. Add to this a major problem with creative stagnation and you end up with a roster filled with wrestlers that aren’t being used to their full potential.

One of CM Punk’s biggest criticisms towards WWE was that the office/creative only cared about and planned for a select few top-tier athletes and left everyone else to their own devices.

Several wrestlers this year have gone down with injuries that have caused them severe problems in terms of maintaining positive momentum. Every time a wrestler gets injured, it halts WWE’s existing storylines and causes major changes to creative directions AND it discourages WWE’s top bookers from putting as much faith in that wrestler as before said injury. Here are a few examples of recent injuries that have had serious consequences in WWE:

Tommaso Ciampa – Ciampa attacked his partner Johnny Gargano after the duo’s failed attempt to capture the NXT Tag Team Championships. The now-heel Ciampa got a huge heel reaction as a result, but it was all for naught. Ciampa ruptured his ACL shortly thereafter and was sidelined indefinitely. His current estimated return will be in March 2018.

With this injury, Ciampa was unable to capitalize on the heel heat he got through his betrayal, and NXT fans have thus far been unable to see a grudge match between the two former tag partners.

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Asuka – Asuka suffered a collarbone injury at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, and was forced to relinquish her NXT Women’s Championship. At the time, Asuka was the longest-reigning champion of any kind in NXT history, with her reign lasting 509 days.

Asuka never lost the championship and remains undefeated. While this is good for her in that it preserves Asuka’s own undefeated streak, it’s an unfortunate twist because it prevents anyone in NXT from getting the rub from defeating Asuka to become the new champion.

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Big Cass – Big Cass suffered a devastating knee injury the night after SummerSlam 2017, and is said to be sidelined for up to nine months. This will put his return date around May 2018, which means the man that Vince McMahon really likes will miss WrestleMania next year.

This is disappointing from a business perspective because Vince wanted to put a lot of money into Big Cass because of his size, promo skills, and overall look. Vince was certain he could’ve made a bigger star out of Cass, but that direction is unclear given Cass’s major injury.

RAW. Photo by WWE.com

Samoa Joe – Samoa Joe is reported to have suffered a knee injury, which will put him out of action for up to six weeks. While this is minor compared to other wrestlers injured currently, it is nonetheless a major problem for him. Joe has been flirting with the main event scene on RAW for months now, having proved that he can carry a show.

But this is a man whose athleticism is his defining asset, and that requires that his body remain intact as much as possible. Even if this injury is minor, Joe cannot run the risk of having either a few major injuries or several small ones.

If he does, his future in WWE will be in doubt as the company will be reluctant to put him in main event matches, especially since the RAW main event scene is filled with heavy-hitters and powerhouses.

Credit: WWE.com

Both members of The Revival – the Revival were a major draw in NXT, and were thus ‘promoted’ to the main roster so that the regular audience could enjoy them as well. Unfortunately, both members of the popular duo suffered injuries in close succession that puts them at a serious risk of not being pushed properly in the future.

Wilder suffered a jaw injury only a few weeks into their main roster run, and Dawson suffered a bicep injury not too long ago, and this has put him on the shelf for up to five months. It’s bad enough for the Revival that they suffer from small-man syndrome (which is always a negative).

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Finn Balor – Finn Balor was once pushed as the ace of NXT, a position he filled perfectly. On the main roster, however, his luck has been much worse. He suffered a debilitating shoulder injury during the first Universal Championship match at SummerSlam 2016, and didn’t return to the ring until after WrestleMania 33. Shortly thereafter, he suffered a concussion which put him on the shelf for a short time.

Just like that, Balor’s main roster run was put in serious doubt, given that he suffered two injuries just as he was getting a huge main roster push. Though he has managed to find some success in his current feud with Bray Wyatt, it’s still a major fall considering how he was being booked last year.

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Bayley – It was bad enough that Bayley’s main roster run has been a complete flop due to abysmal booking and terrible segments. But her time on the main roster has been worsened by a shoulder injury that prevented her from performing at SummerSlam.

In fact, during her most recent promo, the audience actually booed Bayley, a character that was receiving John Cena-level cheers in NXT. With Bayley gone, the RAW women’s division has lost a major player, and now the company must rethink how she’s presented. There’s talk of a Bayley heel turn, but most people doubt that will work given her character.

All of these wrestlers have experienced major setbacks due to injuries. Once a wrestler gets injured one time too many, they run the risk of being blacklisted by the company in terms of getting full support from the WWE machine.

This is why Vince constantly goes back to the big guys over the smaller ones: the bigger wrestlers – with a few exceptions – can withstand punishment more and don’t get injured as often. The smaller ones have less body mass and aren’t as capable of absorbing punishment as their larger counterparts.

If the wrestlers listed here get injured again, their hopes of making it big on the main roster might disappear forever. Perhaps that is why the wrestling on RAW and SmackDown isn’t as exciting as it used to be; the wrestlers take fewer risks overall so that they can perform for a longer period of time.

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Though one cannot help but wonder if that approach really does help WWE: is it better to have an excellent wrestler perform at a lower standard so that they have more matches but less quality overall, or for said wrestler to go all out and perform at the highest standard possible but for only a short period of time?

It seems that only Vince McMahon has the answer to that question.

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