Randy Orton has been medically cleared for WWE Capitol Punishment
by David Bixenspan on Jun 18, 2011 5:11 PM EDT
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As I mentioned on Wednesday, Randy Orton suffered a concussion at the WWE house show in Barcelona, Spain last weekend. Late last night, Smackdown World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton tweeted that he passed WWE Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon's ImPACT test for determining concussion severity, so he has been cleared to defend his title as scheduled against Christian at tomorrow night's WWE Capitol Punishment PPV event:
About to take an Impact test. It will determine if I can be cleared to fight Christian, after receiving a concussion. Wish me luck.less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone 
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Randy Orton
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Passed the IMPACT test.less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet ReplyRandy Orton
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In recent months, Maroon and the ImPACT tests have drawn more scrutiny, in large part because allegedly, the tests can be beaten by taking Ritalin. Orton being cleared to work five days after suffering a concussion sounds questionable at best regardless of how well he seems to be doing.
For more on Maroon, Irv Muchnick's been doing a great job covering the various controversies surrounding him at his Wrestling Babylon blog.
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Impact testing isn’t a drug test. You can’t “beat it” by taking a pill.
Impact testing involves multiple layers of testing things like memory and reaction time. IN THEORY, something like Ritalin could help a person focus better and improve their performance, but there’s absolutely no guarantee that it would improve their performance to the necessary degree to “beat” the test. And they would still have to pass an actual physical on top of it.
Impact testing has now become the accepted standard in the NFL, MLB, NHL, etc. Without question, it should be consistently asked if this method is the best possible way to determine whether someone is safe to compete after a concussion. But as usual, Irv Muchnick seems to be tackling a relevant issue by attaching himself to the seediest, slimiest element of it.
Attacking the doctors and calling them things like “corrupt hucksters” is just part of his typically odious M.O., which even in the low standards of pro wrestling reporting keeps him entrenched firmly out in the fringe.
If you see Mushnick's site, as well as the "Ritalin" article
You have allegations of players deliberately performing poorly during the baseline so as to minimize the possible deviation from an ImPACT performance test while concussed, and thus the chances of an official diagnosis.
Both sources also cite neuropathologist Bennet Omalu’s recommendation of concussed players sitting out for two months minimum, though Mushnick has other articles claiming that Omalu said three months instead.
Re: Irv Mushnick himself… at this rate, he seems to be against contact football itself (“Santa Claus is a kindly myth – football is head-delivered death”), or at least absolutely so for children and teenagers.
To add to what Chortles said, “huckster” seems an appropriate word for a doctor that is shilling supplements based on red grape extract.
by Keith Harris on Jun 19, 2011 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't understand why athletes would want to put themselves harm's way by
returning early from a concussion. Its just strange. Hopefully, Orton is fully healthy.
As the "Ritalin article" put it
Two months of forced downtime = two months where they’re not getting paid, or alternately not getting a chance at “glory” or at making their name
Then again, in MMA there’s “guys wanting to take fights because they only get paid per fight or because they ACTUALLY want to fight, and having to be told ‘sit out or you’ll have to sit out even LONGER.” (See Brian Foster, UFC welterweight who had to sit out UFC 129 after a brain hemorrhage.)
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