Two Major WWE SmackDown Stars Injured

These former champions are currently dealing with injury issues.

Mar 5, 2023 March 5th, 2023

SmackDown stars Ronda Rousey and Kofi Kingston are currently dealing with injury issues.

As seen on this past Friday's edition of Smackers, Rousey was seen sporting a sling on her left arm. Via PWTorch, this is a legitimate injury, with the Rowdy One having aggravated a previous arm injury.

At this stage, Ronda is not expected to miss WrestleMania 39, where she and Shayna Baszler are expected to challenge for the Women's Tag Team Titles currently held by Becky Lynch and Lita. That 'Mania match may also end up with Damage CTRL's IYO SKY and Dakota Kai involved, making it a triple threat affair.

Where Kofi Kingston is concerned, Fight Fans is reporting that the New Day man suffered an arm injury of his own on the latest outing for WWE's blue brand. A WWE source told the outlet that while Kofi has yet to be fully assessed, they are under the belief that this is a "lengthy injury" that could keep the former WWE Champion out of action for anywhere between two and eights months.

In a slight variation of this report, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer likewise notes how Kingston did indeed suffer an injury on SmackDown, but that this injury is his leg rather than his arm.

Neither Kofi Kingston nor WWE have moved to comment on this situation as of this writing.

Friday's show saw Kofi announced for a five-way match on next week's SmackDown, where he'll face off against Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, LA Knight and Karrion Kross, with the winner earning a show at GUNTHER's Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 39.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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