8 Big Concerns Raised By WWE's Injury Crisis
The grimmest prognosis.
Former WWE Divas Champion Paige was dealt a cruel hand this weekend, with her employers reportedly 'medically disqualifying' her from in-ring competition following her latest neck injury.
Her wrestling career is effectively over, at least as far as WWE are concerned, but while her case is easily the most severe, Paige isn't the company's only long-term absentee. Big Cass, Jef Hardy, Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre: there's a strong chance none will be back before WrestleMania 34. Dean Ambrose, meanwhile, isn't expected to return until September, and we may have seen the last of the injured Big Show, whose contract expires in February.
With 16 signed wrestlers on the sidelines, WWE are currently in the midst of a full-blown injury crisis. Most will recover, but Raw is particularly short-handed at the moment, and it feels like a new name joins the wounded every single week.
Wrestling is inherently dangerous, and some injuries are to be expected, but not to such an extent. How did this deep-rooted problem arise, what does it say about the company, and what steps can WWE possibly take to further similar build-ups in the medical room? Let's have a look...
8. An Ageing Roster
Much was made of WWE's ageing roster ahead of Survivor Series 2017, and rightly so. At 34 years old, Braun Strowman was the youngest performer in the night's main event, with Triple H and Kurt Angle the oldest (48). Throw both teams together and you have an average age of 40, once again highlighting the company's youth problem.
Half of the main roster wrestlers currently sidelined with injury are over the age of 35, with only Paige and Noam Dar under 30. Granted, older bodies are more susceptible to wear and tear, but these numbers only heighten the concerns surrounding their roster composition.
The ageless AJ Styles is an obvious exception, but WWE shouldn't have to rely on 40-year-olds anymore. It's clear that the company have no idea how to best utilise a roster crammed with exciting young talent. If they did, then they wouldn't have to put guys like Big Show in positions where their battle-scarred bodies could get hurt, as was the case in seven-footer's steel cage war with Strowman.
This is a colossal problem, and one that directly impacts almost every aspect of the product. Sadly, a solution doesn't seem to be forthcoming.