WWE News: Big Update On The Injuries Of WWE NXT Stars Sami Zayn And Hideo Itami
WWE NXT recently lost three top guys, two of which were in line for big matches at WWE NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. Sami Zayn seemingly hurt himself on WWE RAW in his match with John Cena. He dealt with shoulder issues for a couple months but seemed fine when he came back to action. He very well could have just re-hurt his shoulder, but rumor has it that he tore his rotator cuff.
Meanwhile, it is uncertain how he hurt himself, but Hideo Itami has a serious shoulder injury that will result in him missing around six to eight months of action.
Alex Riley was being pushed more and more on the NXT show but had to leave to undergo knee surgery.
WWE has yet to officially announce any injury update on Zayn and Itami. The only one we know anything about is Riley, but that was because NXT showed us footage of Riley telling us he was having surgery.
Why has WWE refrained from updating us on Zayn and Itami?
According to Cageside Seats, they are waiting because they have another set of NXT tapings left before the injuries happened. Basically, they want to keep in real-time, even though we all know NXT is taped in advance. After next week’s show, it is assumed we will know about Zayn and Itami. WWE mentioned that we’d hear from Zayn next week on his injury, but it is uncertain what WWE will do with him.
Zayn was able to finish his match on WWE RAW this past week, but that does not mean he is healthy enough to wrestle Kevin Owens in a few weeks. Meanwhile, Itami was set for a #1 contenders match with Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze. It was rumored that Itami would be the winner from that match, so WWE will certainly have to change things up.
If neither Hideo Itami nor Sami Zayn can perform at Unstoppable, it is widely assumed that WWE will do one of two things.
They’ll either replace each person in their respective match or they’ll simply have the winner of the remaining #1 contenders match participants take on Kevin Owens later that night.
The latter is the most probable idea WWE will go with.
While we’re pretty clear on the amount of time Hideo Itami will miss, Sami Zayn is another case entirely.
A rotator cuff injury might take as much as a month or two to heal properly. However, if surgery is needed, there could be more time missed. Rotator cuff injuries can heal on their own, but an athlete simply cannot jump back into their activities right off, so Zayn would miss time. Even if he feels ready to go, he can’t hop back into the ring. A doctor still has to clear him. If he gets back in without it properly healed, he could re-injure himself and potentially cause a more serious injury.
Currently, we’re just hearing rumors that Zayn has a rotator cuff problem. It is uncertain if he does. If WWE wants him to wrestle at Unstoppable, chances are they will go with the lesser injury to get him in. They might go with the thought that if Zayn is already hurt and needs to leave, the match wouldn’t do any more damage. They could be right and wrong all at the same time. We shall see what WWE goes with this week for both Zayn and Itami. Don’t expect to see Itami for a number of months, but Zayn is up in the air.
[IMG Credits: WWE.com, Sports Keeda]
