WWE "Wellness" policy allows Rey Mysterio to work with a torn ACL and MCL
by Keith Harris on Aug 22, 2011 8:24 AM EDT
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My colleague Geno Mrosko a few days ago rightly took WWE to task for allowing Rey Mysterio to headline last week's Raw against Alberto Del Rio in his hometown of San Diego while nursing a knee injury resulting in him blowing out his knee and causing further damage. As it turns out Geno may not have been harsh enough in his condemnation of the company. Dave Meltzer in today's subscriber only Wrestling Observer Radio show reported that Mysterio believed he had torn both his ACL and his MCL before even SummerSlam had taken place, two injuries serious enough that it is reckless beyond belief to wrestle through them. I think it may well be very optimistic that Mysterio will only be out a few months as originally reported and this could even turn out to be a career threatening injury, given that his knees were on borrowed time to begin with.
This raises more questions about WWE's Wellness policy. Surely a policy purported to be for the health and wellbeing of their performers shouldn't clear someone to wrestle with such serious injuries? Shouldn't the company's doctors have stepped in and saved Mysterio from himself, even though it would have caused WWE the major hassle of rewriting the scripts for SummerSlam and Raw at such short notice? Similar questions were raised when it was revealed that John Morrison was allowed to return to action before his neck had fully healed. Yet more questions will be raised if Kevin Nash passes his WWE physical at age 52 with well documented heart problems. And don't get me started about the rumours that Mick Foley will have one more match at WrestleMania 28 in Miami next year.
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The two main purposes of the Wellness Program are to 1) protect WWE from accusations that they condone illegal drug use and 2) determine if any wrestlers are likely to die while under contract, thus protecting WWE from bad publicity. Isn’t that right?
Blowing out one’s knee is not illegal, therefore, the wellness policy is silent on the matter. And Misterio probably won’t die from the knee injury, so again, the wellness program doesn’t come into play.
If he does have a torn ACL, by the way, the full recovery time is generally a good six months after surgery. If the company wants to make sure he is going to recover properly, they will announce that he’ll be out six months, and if he recovers more quickly he can make a surprise return. But announcing that he’ll be out just a few months is just going to pressure him to come back too soon.
Not sure those two statements are in the modus operandi of the Wellness Policy explicitly. Instead, it’s been put out there as a guidelines to protect, as referred to in the title, the Wellness of their roster. That includes drug use and injuries for the most part. Allowing someone to perform when they’re injured is clearly in direct violation of their physical wellness. Unfortunately it would be/is up to the talent to decide whether or not they can be in the ring, and as long as they’re willing to give it a go and risk serious, long term, career shortening, possibly even life shortening injuries, woe be it for WWE to deny them a payday solely based on ‘Wellness’. I mean, they have TV to produce, and it’s not like they have 10 or so guys just sitting around on Superstars they could use to fill in the gaps, right?
Does Rey Mysterio have a torn ACL and MCL? How could he have torn both those ligaments but he will not need surgery to recover from his injury? I’m gonna save my bashing until more accurate and detailed information comes forth.
Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitudes...
Well, some people don’t get these injuries repaired — people like accountants, for example. People who perform physically for a living, and intend to continue doing so, need to get them repaired.
So shouldn’t that mean that Rey, Who has had 2-3 MRI’s done, should be having surgery? BTW I can see not having surgery if he tore ONE of those ligaments but if he tore BOTH, how could he even walk let alone wrestle on Raw last week? Tearing both is damn near career-ending. This is why I’m just gonna read and wait because all the pieces to this story aren’t fitting together just yet.
Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitudes...
It depends on the nature of the tear. I’ve had a torn ACL for ten years and I’m just getting it fixed in September. I have a sedentary job, and usually the knee only gives me problems if I do something stupid like try to move a fridge by myself while wearing socks. But some people with this injury can’t walk around normally, the knee gives out constantly. MCL surgery is much less involved than ACL surgery. But the most important thing here is that the ACL will not, and cannot, heal. It has to be reconstructed surgically, and it has to be rehabbed properly or the joint will be permanently screwed.
I will point out that Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins tore his ACL and MCL on February 4th of this year. He had the surgery and is supposed to return for camp in September. But he missed the entire rest of the season and the entire playoffs, he didn’t rush back in there for some short-term gain.
I tore both about two years ago playing softball and didn’t have surgery. It wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I was back playing by the spring.
by worldcupfever on Aug 22, 2011 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
I did for all of last year but I haven’t worn it once this season.
by worldcupfever on Aug 22, 2011 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Tom Brady
Tore both and had the surgery. He was out almost 9 months. Layla tore both and had surgery her recovery time is 6-9 months. I am well aware that certain athletes have played full seasons with a single MCL or ACL tear. But I haven’t heard of anyone doing so with both torn. It seems unlikely to me that WWE would trot Rey out there against his wishes with two torn ligaments. They didn’t even have Del Rio stretcher Rey after the their match on Monday. Perhaps you guys are correct that both are torn and Rey will recover with rest. Lets wait and see what happens.
Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitudes...
You don't have to have a ACL
Hines Ward doesn’t have one in his left knee and plays football. DeJaun Blair doesn’t has played basketball since high school without ACL’s. You don’t need them, but it is a good idea to get them fixed
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by WVPiratesfan on Aug 22, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions
That's a tad hyperbolic.
There are a few wrestlers (Shawn Michaels and Tara/Victoria among them) who wrestled for years with torn ACLs.
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