Hunter's Torn Quad

Could Couture be the one to rescue the Heavyweight title from Sylvia?

He tore it once in his pre-wrestling days, and at least twice during his wrestling career with the second of those tears coming while he was recovering from the first.

Batista has torn his triceps three times, at least, and I think he's torn at least one other muscle. The injury rate can also be dependent on how much mass you put on. If your steroid usage is moderate and you don't overdevelop yourself then you're a little less likely to injure yourself as compared to someone of the same size as you who is heavily into steroids and packs on far too much muscle. I thought The Dicks were certain to injure themselves in OVW because one of them was around 5'7 but looked at least 265. If you don't overdo it, you can help reduce the risk of injury.

This type of injury is consistent with steroid users, whether they're current users or not, who have packed on too much muscle than their bones and tendons can safely carry. Hunter might have been off the gas for some time, might have just taken less or be one something else entirely, but it's more likely than not his new injury is related to current or past steroid use and the muscle they gained him which he's had to work to maintain.

Fedor has re-signed with PRIDE.

From Sherdog.

From Meltzer:

I think it was a broken kneecap. But it still remains true that this isn't Hunter's first injury related to having too much muscle for his frame, and while that remains the case he'll remain a candidate for this kind of injury. His chances also are not helped by physical wear and tear and how prone he becomes to muscle and tendon tears.

With how driven Hunter is, I don't see him taking his time coming back.

Something else to consider is how Hunter's rehab goes. If he pushes himself too hard, especially with alread weakened muscles, Hunter might wind up doing even more damage.

Benoit wasn't lifting or throwing people while only being able to stand on one leg. It's a lot harder to keep a firm base for such moves when one of your legs is useless.

How is it a cheap shot? If Benoit had torn a muscle and was throwing suplexes, Keller, and everyone else, would be on him for doing dangerous moves while not being in a position to best protect his opponent.

Keller's an asshole. Triple H showed toughness and professionalism by finishing those matches. Keller's got a point on this one. What if Hunter slipped on one of his moves because of his injury and hurt Edge or Orton? Toughness aside, is it professional to risk, not only your own body, but that of your opponent when you can barely stand?

I don't think WWE have changed their stance on not wanting to work with Savage.

Whatever the plans for RAW at WM XXIII are, I think we'll know more after the Rumble. Once the Rumble is done with, we should have a good idea of what's in the pipeline.

I think the idea was to tease Cena being unable to FU Umaga so they can rematch the pair with the idea that Cena can't FU him. The finish to their match certainly wasn't one that indicated the program is over with.

I think WWE see Batista vs. Cena as their ultimate match and I don't think they'll run it without slow building it for a long time.

No, but with the other top names taken care of, what else is there that doesn't involve bringing someone over from Smackdown? Cena-Hogan Well, Hogan is apparently floating around the idea of Hogan and Vince against Eric and Big Show so Hogan might not be available. Then again, if Hunter really is out past WM, this puts Hogan in a great bargaining position by offering to lose clean to Cena.

No, but with the other top names taken care of, what else is there that doesn't involve bringing someone over from Smackdown? At least it has a good storyline to build it on, with Cena not being able to FU Umaga.

Flair needs revenge too, and it would make a great finish for Shawn to superkick Orton while Flair submits Edge with the figure four.

I think it likely they'll build to Shawn and a partner versus Rated RKO at WM, possibly building it around blaming Edge and Orton for injuring Hunter. Cena vs. Umaga isn't over yet; they saved the Cena FU'ing Umaga spot for a reason, and if Hunter is out beyond WM XXIII then I could see them have Umaga beat Cena for the WWE Title at the Rumble and then rematch them at Mania with Cena struggling to FU Umaga before finally hitting the move to get the big pop to end the night.

And it was five years to the day of his return from the first quad tear.

At least it wasn't the first quad again, because that could have been career ending or very close to it. Too many tears of the same muscle, and it could be game over. As it were.

Of all the top names in recent years, The Rock was far and away the most professional.

NOAH, 1/7/07 (NTV/G+) Tokyo Differ Ariake 1,800 Fans - Super No Vacancy 7. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura © (20:45) when Mark Briscoe pinned Kanemaru after a swan-dive Double Impact to become the 5th champions.