WWE News: WWE Issues New Update On Dean Ambrose’s Injury, Possible Return Timeline
It would seem that Dean Ambrose’s triceps injury might have him out of action for much longer than what was originally expected. With Jason Jordan replacing Ambrose and teaming with Seth Rollins to win the Raw Tag Team Championships from Sheamus and Cesaro, it was also announced on last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw that Ambrose could possibly be missing up to nine months as he recovers from surgery.
As previously reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer, Ambrose was ostensibly injured on last week’s Monday Night Raw during a six-man tag team match featuring himself, Seth Rollins, and Jason Jordan facing off against the villainous Cesaro, Sheamus, and Samoa Joe. While it appeared as if Dean got hurt toward the end of the match, with Joe aggravating the injury during a post-match beatdown, Meltzer noted that this was done to write Ambrose off television, as he was already hurt when he showed up for Raw taping.
According to Wrestling Inc., WWE officials were originally hopeful that Dean Ambrose’s injury would only take him out of action for two to four months, giving him a fair chance of returning in time for WrestleMania 34. But with announcer Michael Cole confirming the sad news on Monday Night Raw, and WWE issuing a report on the injury shortly thereafter, it now looks like the “Lunatic Fringe” might not even make it back in time for SummerSlam in August of next year, as he could be sidelined for up to nine months.
The WWE report also quoted Birmingham, Alabama, doctor Jeffrey Dugas, who performed the surgery on Ambrose’s right triceps tendon last Tuesday, December 19. Dugas explained the extent of Dean Ambrose’s injury, adding that the popular Shield member has been recovering nicely so far and is now doing some light range-of-motion exercises as part of his physical therapy.
“He basically tore about 50 percent of the triceps tendon away from the bone. So [on December 19] we repaired that back down to the bone where it tore off of. The surgery was very straightforward; we removed all of the extra bursal tissue — all of that extra swollen stuff around his elbow.”
Although nine months is a very long stretch of time for a wrestler to recover from surgery, there could be hope for fans who were hoping to see Ambrose return in time for WrestleMania and, as frequently rumored, possibly betray The Shield and make his long-awaited heel turn. There have been many instances where top wrestlers recovered from surgery much faster than anticipated, such as the time when the company announced in May that Braun Strowman would likely be out for up to six months due to an elbow injury. As noted by Forbes, Strowman returned on the June 20 episode of Monday Night Raw, less than a month and a half after undergoing surgery to repair his shattered elbow.
It’s also unclear at this point if WWE’s nine-month recovery timeline for Dean Ambrose’s triceps injury is exaggerated for storyline purposes or not. But with the consensus being that he’ll need to miss a significant amount of time, it may be a while before The Shield is intact once again on WWE television, and as the Inquisitr wrote earlier today, rumors are still swirling that Ambrose will turn heel on the faction soon after he returns to the ring and reunites with his Shield “brothers.”
