ALBERTO DEL RIO – ONE STEP DOWN
It certainly didn't take long, did it? Already, the comparisons are being made. Alberto Del Rio suffers a concussion, caused by one bad spot (and a steel chair), and he's now today's version of Ken Kennedy or Kevin Nash.
I think the comparisons and the entire argument of "injury prone" stars are bogus in the first place. Are there wrestlers that are more susceptible to injury than others? Possibly, but not to the degree some experts and fans want to suggest.
Take any wrestler, and let's say that he (for this argument, I'll exclude women altogether) had just suffered his tenth injury in five years. When you look back at all of them, I bet 8 or 9 out of the 10 are ones that a) didn't cause him to miss any TV time, b) was caused by the other guy, c) was a fluke accident, and nobody's fault, that rarely happens, or d) was a further aggravation or re-aggravation of an already-existing injury that may or may not have been known about at the time.
How do you fault a guy that has more "bad breaks" than another? Especially in wrestling.
When a football player misses games due to TURF TOE, at least he's often locked into a multi-year, VERY lucrative contract. Yeah, I'd take plenty of time off, too. Wrestlers rarely get to heal up when it's needed, more than likely because it's almost ALWAYS needed. Plus, they'll quickly lose their spot if they don't get back as quickly as possible.
There's really no such thing as a "full recovery" in wrestling.
It sucks for Del Rio and there's no doubt the timing couldn't be any worse, given he had just returned from a previous injury, but some people are too quck to jump on the "injury prone" theory without knowing all the facts.
WWE certainly has some things to address. With no Orton, no full-time HHH, Lesnar, Undertaker or Rock, and now, no Del Rio, they truly are in desperate need of new main event guys. There's a few out there with potential, but it's not going to be easy considering there's not many main eventers left to help get them there.
Vince might want to hurry up with that angle that's supposed to "knock our socks off"!
Chris Cash can be reached via email at chris.cash@wrestlezone.com. Follow him on Twitter @RealityofChris and be sure to check out "VOW Reaction" every Monday night, immediately following Raw. Visit VOWLive.com for more details.