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The headlines were dominated by one thing heading into, and coming out of, the latest WWE premium live event, Hell in a Cell. Hours before the show was set to air, WWE confirmed on their social channels the severity of an injury Cody Rhodes had picked up; a ruptured pectoral muscle, reportedly torn right off of the bone, already set for surgery. Whilst many have been quick to praise Cody Rhodes for his performance, the fact that he even went ahead raises a lot of questions.
Injuries are a part of wrestling, as they are with every sport, and so is pushing through the pain. Any top-level athlete will more often than not be performing with some sort of niggling pain or diagnosable injury. In a physically demanding and punishing industry like professional wrestling, that is bound to be even more common. But, at what point does that become irresponsible, and worse still, dangerous?
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There's A Difference Between Working Hurt & Wrestling While Injured
Nowadays, almost every wrestling show will have at least one or two people with some body parts taped up, looking to alleviate some of the pain they're experiencing in order to perform at the level they desire. Inevitably, managing pain and sometimes 'working hurt' is part of the job when it comes to professional wrestling. The only person who truly knows how a professional wrestler is feeling heading into a match is the individual themselves. Whilst the medical staff would be able to identify a problem, only the performer can relay how that issue might be affecting their work.
So, part of the responsibility lies in the hands of the performers themselves. They need to be acutely aware of the limitations of their body and how they are feeling, and in considering the levels of pain they might be in, it is definitely at the forefront of their mind. It had been reported how Kenny Omega had been wrestling practically his entire AEW World Championship run with a laundry list of ailments, with Omega himself even discussing how he had been dealing with vertigo ever since his New Japan days. But, the wrestlers themselves are not the only ones making that call to go out and perform.
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Wrestling Promotions Should Put Wrestlers' Health First
The biggest professional wrestling companies are largely self-governing bodies, without much by way of regulation when it comes to the wrestling industry. Whilst athletic commissions have some say, they have little sway on the internal operation of promotions. So, when it comes to injuries, the medical team is answering to corporate higher-ups.
The effect can first manifest in clearing wrestlers to compete. Whilst someone 'not being cleared to compete' is a phrase often thrown around for storyline purposes, the physical assessment is an important part of the biggest wrestling companies. The murky area with this comes with the fact that the large wrestling companies employ their own medical staff. Although these medical teams will have a much better idea of what shape a typical wrestler's body is in, there are definitely questions to be raised about whether their decisions are being influenced by anyone in management.
The corporate effect on a wrestler's health has also been brought to light with Kota Ibushi's accusations of mismanagement in New Japan Pro Wrestling. In addition o various other issues he raised included the claim that management had been trying to rush him back from injury. Perhaps the most high profile of all was CM Punk's account of his treatment by WWE medical staff, which has been well documented with The Art of Wrestling podcasts and the resultant lawsuits. Clearly, a wrestler's health may not always be the first priority.
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Wrestling Through Major Injury Needs To Stop
A prevailing reason why wrestlers may feel like they need to keep working through injury is an onus of responsibility. They may feel that since they have been positioned on a card, with the fans attending shows expecting to see them perform, that they have to carry on, despite the pain and injury. As admirable as the thought might be, that only contributes to the toxic culture surrounding injury in professional wrestling. For all the applause that someone might get for grinning and bearing it, what sort of message does that send?
In speaking of his troubles with injury and pain in WWE, CM Punk had confessed to a mantra he kept in his head whilst headlining events; 'What Would Harley Race Do?', to which the answer was 'tape it up and go to work'. Pundits and talking heads may go on and on about how wrestling needs to be more like the old days, but breaking your own body beyond repair is something that should remain a relic of the past. With that old theory of Punk's in mind, his decision to take time away to heal despite being AEW World Champion is a breath of fresh air. He could probably well resort to those old methods of working through the injury 'like a champion should', but this path is much more sensible, smarter, and most importantly, healthier.
In the end, there are a number of things that need to change in regard to how wrestlers and their promotions deal with injuries and recognizing when to take time off and heal. It is on the wrestlers, the medical teams, and the corporate structures to change the unhealthy culture around working through injury. What good is it to 'put a company on your back' if that back is broken?
