WWE News: WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan Needs Tommy John Surgery, Out Indefinitely

It was reported during Comic-Con time that WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan would need another surgery. The WWE ring technician confirmed this at a press conference where he was speaking of a robbery which he helped to thwart. Most had no idea what type of surgery Bryan would need as the issue was neck related as well as shoulder. So it was a 50/50 shot to see which was the main issue. Doctors found that it was mainly the arm, which allowed them to come to a conclusion on the surgery he needed.

David Shoemaker of Deadspin is reporting that Bryan will indeed go under the knife and have the famed Tommy John Surgery. This is a famous surgery for Baseball pitchers due to the stress they put their arms under to throw a ball so often. In fact, the surgery is named after a Los Angeles Dodger pitcher named, of course, Tommy John. He was the first to do this surgery in 1974, which turned out to be a major success. It is done often on pro-athletes every year. So most surgeons have seen the surgery and come by them more than once a year.

Due to the medical advancements we have made since 1974, both recovery time and how the surgery is done have improved but not drastically. That being said, Bryan will be in good hands but the WWE cannot rush a return. To my knowledge, he would be the first WWE Superstar to require this surgery.

Bryan reportedly had a loss of arm strength as well as other glaring problems after his neck surgery, which required more testing. It was confirmed that the Ulnar Collateral Ligament was the problem, as it was around the problem area in the elbow of which Bryan was speaking of. The UCL often can mask itself as another problem, so at times it’s tough to know the UCL is the issue.

Tommy John Surgery is an entire reconstruction of the UCL and requires most a year to recover from. Some have come back quicker, and keep in mind that most are pitchers. So Bryan may be able to come back sooner than others.

The fact that we are going into September means, however, that even on a fast healing body the UCL would not heal in enough time for him to be back in January. 3 months is too soon to recover from such a surgery. If not fully recovered, he could not get cleared to wrestle as he would risk needing yet another surgery. Keep in mind, wrestling is about NOT intentionally hurting someone in the ring. The person in the ring is your partner, not your enemy. Due to that, he risks not only doing damage to himself but to someone else in the ring and that is a big no-no.

Clearly this is a blow for the WWE, as having Bryan out even longer would not help them. They know he is popular, so it is very doubtful the WWE would release him for being injury prone as his is the first time he has been drastically hurt. The main issue the WWE knew going in was that Bryan was nursing random injuries coming off of 10 years of wrestling from the Independent scene. WWE feared correctly as one surgery led to another, but the cool part is that it seems that the Tommy John Surgery may be the end of it.

Again, the WWE cannot rush Bryan’s return. Right now, while the WWE could use the Daniel Bryan character, they are managing without him. When he does return, he will find a completely different landscape in WWE, as it would be a year since he last wrestled most likely. Most feel that while Bryan can probably return before a year, WWE fans won’t see him for at least another 9 months at the soonest if the surgery is done. The UCL simply needs time to recover. This is a blessing in disguise for Bryan as well however, in that he has time to rest several other nagging problems while still getting a check each month.

[IMG Credits: Google]