If you missed WWE RAW on Monday night, Big Cass suffered what looked to be a serious knee injury during his match with Enzo Amore.
Cass went for his patented big boot during the bout. Enzo dodged the boot and Cass took an ugly spill through the ropes to the ground below, landing awkwardly. He clearly favored his knee and the match was suddenly ended.
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WWE has posted an update on Cass’ condition on Tuesday night.
“It looks like he has an ACL tear, possibly a medial meniscus tear, but we’re going to wait for the radiologist to evaluate the MRI and give us their full report,” WWE ringside physician Dr. Chris Robinson said.
“A typical ACL tear takes about nine months [to recover from],” Robinson said.
Either diagnosis would be very bad and liekly keep Cass out until several months until 2018. So it goes without saying you probably won’t be seeing the big man on RAW again this year, at least as part of a wrestling match.
If the injury is a meniscus tear, there are a couple of different type of surgeries to repair it. One option is to rehabilitate the ligament, which usually takes several more months to recover from but saves the meniscus for later in life. The other option is to shave off the meniscus, allowing for a quicker return but usually leading to knee problems later in life. Most pro athletes opt for the first option to avoid long term knee problems, though it’s not completely uncommon to go with the second option.
A torn ACL, as the quote above said, requires quite a bit more time to recover from. Though not the daunting task to come back from that it once was, it is still a lengthy and grueling rehabilitation process. The good news is that many athletes have returned from ACL tears and regained their former glory. Look no further than WWE’s own Seth Rollins, who tore both his ACL and his meniscus.
Big Cass no doubt will recover and return, but the timeline for his return remains up in the air.
