League of Nation's or Legion of the Dammed?

[Navi]

Well it's now being reported that Alberto Del Rio is suffering from a lower back injury. Not much out there right now, but Meltzer's name hasn't been mentioned yet so it's probably accurate.

So the question is a simple one should the LON change their name to the Legion of the Dammed? Let's run down the supporting members.

Sheamus - is wearing some sort of a cast on his arm. He is reported to be experiencing a bout of tendinitis. Reports say he'll be on TV, but not necessarily in on the in ring action.

Wade Barrett - also is said to be injured, something to do with a neck/nerve damage. He been regulated to standing around outside the ring running interference for the remaining healthy members, who are dropping like flies. Even though he's the best talker by far in the group, hasn't managed to get his hand on the mic. At least they could let him do that.

Rusev - was seen wearing a knee brace or something on the Indian tour. He competed in the shows there, but even his involvement in matches hasn't been long. Might be protecting a lingering injury to his leg.

Alberto Del Rio - reports out today say he has a lower back injury. No word yet on how serious it is or if he'll require time off or surgery. It appears to be a developing story.

So you have four of the WWE's biggest heels, all with war wounds. Two can't compete, one is iffy, and one we have no idea what's going on. The WWE should seriously think about changing their ring gear to hospital gowns, it's unbelievable the bad luck this group has had.

I'm thinking that house shows are costing this company more trouble than the revenue they bring in, and they should be cut back by at least half. Also expecting to see some NXT call ups to replace those that are injured. God help us if anymore go down considering Mania is two months away.

 

[Aquaman6686]

The League of Nations was doomed from DAY ONE when they jobbed to Roman Reigns in a Handicap Match. After all four of them were jobbed so completely, them all getting injured is probably a lucky break, frankly. When they're healthy they can go their separate ways and forget about the months they spent jobbing to Roman Reigns endlessly.

 

[Navi]

The League of Nations was doomed from DAY ONE when they jobbed to Roman Reigns in a Handicap Match. After all four of them were jobbed so completely, them all getting injured is probably a lucky break, frankly. When they're healthy they can go their separate ways and forget about the months they spent jobbing to Roman Reigns endlessly.

Aquaman this thread isn't about jobbing to Roman Reigns, as you so eloquently put it. It's about the amount of injuries that are happening almost on a daily basis, and to the top tier guys. The LON was their top heel faction and all four of them are hampered with something or other. It's not Roman Reigns or any other wrestler's fault.

Let's face it the WWE cannot afford to have any other big names go down as we are so close to their biggest show of the year. What is this year's Wrestlemania card going to look like? You have Cena, Rollins, Orton, Cesaro, Nikki Bella, Barrett, Sin Cara, Itami, Naomi, Sasha Banks, Tyson Kidd, Daniel Bryan and now possibly Del Rio and maybe Sheamus not seeing action.

It's not the whole roster, but a good portion of it, and quite a few of these guys are main eventers in Cena, Bryan, Orton and Rollins. They are trying to set an attendance record of over 100k, if they do it I'll be surprised as the only people they have really are Reigns, Ambrose, Owens, Lesnar and the Wyatts now.

 

[Elchicano15]

Yes it's been a bummer for that faction. Hell, for most of the top players on the roster this year in general it sucks and like you mentioned, this close to Mania. You're right. House shows and travel dates play a huge factor but i'm also wondering, the restrictions of certain meds, and constant scrutiny, due to the mildest concussions is playing a role. That's perhaps my guess. House shows are great practice for the performers and all, but they really should cut that down and limit the travel schedule before it sidelines everyone at once or maybe worse.

 

[stingray11214]

What did you expect from a faction that was notorious for injuries? Perfect health? Now, ADR has a back injury. The only person that would have had long-term benefits from the LON is now snakebit as well. Eventually, they will have to do something about Barrett and Rusev. The only thing saving Sheamus is that he is close with Trips. ADR will be around thanks to that hefty contract.

 

[OYDK]

What did you expect from a faction that was notorious for injuries? Perfect health?

Sheamus has missed 4 months in 6 years due to injury. Rusev has missed 2 months in 2 years. I can't remember Del Rio ever being hurt. Notorious for injuries?

Anyway, I think they should all be pretty good to go (sans Barrett) by the time Mania rolls around. Sheamus may be iffy as well as it all depends on how severe his tendinitis is. If he still has any sort of lack of strength in his arm come Mania, I highly doubt they'll put him in the ring. Still, I've had tendinitis before and while it sucks, I think Sheamus should be more than ready to go in a couple of months. Del Rio looks like he's just suffering from back spasms or something similar. While that would keep him out for a few weeks, maybe even the Fast Lane PPV, I don't see it bothering him for too long. The fact that they're keeping them on TV tells me that these injuries aren't too severe. If they were going to miss Mania, I don't see why WWE would keep them on TV heading into it.

As for what's to blame for these injuries... I think it's just the overall style of wrestlers nowadays. These guys go full throttle at all times in the ring, doing suicide dives, moves on the ring apron, and taking high-risks every match. it's not really surprising that people are constantly hurting themselves or each other.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

What the hell is wrong with the WWE and all those injuries?

What is going on? Don't give me the "too many House shows and too many shows" BS. It's been like that since day one of pro-wrestling history. So there has to be something else.

I think that it's the way talent work their matches nowdays. Ever since the introduction of guys like Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, wrestlers have changed the way they wrestle in order to captivate the crowd. Sure these guys are not so big they can pull that stuff. But still, doing high risk moves, day-in and say-out and trying to wrestle to a fast pace all the time will have its effect on the body.

I think that us fans are to blame for this. We don't want slowly-paced matches with just clear-cut in ring wrestling. We want fast paced ones with high spots and dangerous moves. So, this is what comes with this. Lots of injuries.

We now have Cena, Sting, Orton, Cesaro, Bryan, Rollins, Sheamus, Del Rio, Barrett(?), Nikki Bella in the injury list. Plus Tyson Kidd. Plus Zayn who just came back from an injury, plus Itami. That's 12 superstars who got injured this past year. Damn. And who knows how many more are wrestling with minor injuries that are not known..

 

[Mustang Sally]

What did you expect from a faction that was notorious for injuries?

It seems that Barrett was the only member of the group 'famous' for injuries and it occurs to me that the company did him a great favor by putting him in LON in the first place.....because had they not, he'd be sitting at home still again, and at this point, it might have been decided to cancel his WWE ticket once and for all.

I don't think LON's main problem is injuries, but rather that three of it's members (everyone but Barrett) operate best as independent entities. Rusev, in particular, shouldn't be teaming with anyone, as he functions best as the consummate loner, needing only a non-wrestler like Lana or Summer Rae to accompany him.

Sheamus and Del Rio also do best when going it alone. All three are at their most effective when getting along with no one.....and this 4-man team seems to be a strange, unnecessary obstacle in their paths, especially at a time when individual acts are needed because of injuries to a bunch of the other main event players who operate alone.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Sheamus has missed 4 months in 6 years due to injury. Rusev has missed 2 months in 2 years. I can't remember Del Rio ever being hurt. Notorious for injuries?

Anyway, I think they should all be pretty good to go (sans Barrett) by the time Mania rolls around. Sheamus may be iffy as well as it all depends on how severe his tendinitis is. If he still has any sort of lack of strength in his arm come Mania, I highly doubt they'll put him in the ring. Still, I've had tendinitis before and while it sucks, I think Sheamus should be more than ready to go in a couple of months. Del Rio looks like he's just suffering from back spasms or something similar. While that would keep him out for a few weeks, maybe even the Fast Lane PPV, I don't see it bothering him for too long. The fact that they're keeping them on TV tells me that these injuries aren't too severe. If they were going to miss Mania, I don't see why WWE would keep them on TV heading into it.

As for what's to blame for these injuries... I think it's just the overall style of wrestlers nowadays. These guys go full throttle at all times in the ring, doing suicide dives, moves on the ring apron, and taking high-risks every match. it's not really surprising that people are constantly hurting themselves or each other.

Del Rio missed four months in 2012 due to injury, missing Royal Rumble through Extreme Rules, then as soon as he came back, he got a concussion and was out another few weeks (which lead to Dolph Ziggler replacing him in one of the main event matches at No Way Out).

Anyway, hopefully these injuries aren't too severe. Sheamus and Del Rio are two of the only guys left on the roster I actually give a crap about, so I'm hoping to see them in high-profile matches at WrestleMania 32.

 

[Piss Bucket]

Rusev sucks, the guy does a handful of moves, has the second worst mic skills in the Company after Brock Lesnar IMHO, and has the same problem Marc Mero had with Sable as his Manager/Valet, everyone looks past Rusev to look at Lana.

 

[Headman]

League of Nations was a bad idea in the first place. If you take four guys with no heat, put them together with no real direction and the only reason for being together is that none of them are from America, while never really making Anti-Americanism their cause... why the heck would that get over? Now they can't stay healthy? Pull the plug already.

 

[Aquaman6686]

The failure is in creative. They're booked as jobbers. Alberto Del Rio should be easily beating everybody he fights by submission. Same with Rusev. Sheamus should be dominating his opponents. Instead they're all booked to be incompetent losers who can't stand up to their opponents.

Like I said, they're all lucky that they got hurt, because when they come back, hopefully this group will fade away and be forgotten.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Sheamus has missed 4 months in 6 years due to injury.

There is absolutely no way this is accurate. I'll have to look it up but I definitely remember 2 sperate instances where Sheamus was out for a lengthy period due to injury. One was due to RVD's botch in his return match at MitB. I will research this now.

a few moments later...

I was close. He only missed a week after the MitB botch but he injured his shoulder a few weeks later. He was out from August of 2013 to January of 2014.

He was also out from November 2014 to March of 2015 to have surgery.

"The Celtic Warrior suffered a left cervical neurapraxia (stinger in arm), bone spurring, narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis) and narrowing of the nerve canals (neuroforaminal) along with nerve compression in his neck."

 

[OYDK]

There is absolutely no way this is accurate. I'll have to look it up but I definitely remember 2 sperate instances where Sheamus was out for a lengthy period due to injury. One was due to RVD's botch in his return match at MitB. I will research this now.

a few moments later...

I was close. He only missed a week after the MitB botch but he injured his shoulder a few weeks later. He was out from August of 2013 to January of 2014.

He was also out from November 2014 to March of 2015 to have surgery.

"The Celtic Warrior suffered a left cervical neurapraxia (stinger in arm), bone spurring, narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis) and narrowing of the nerve canals (neuroforaminal) along with nerve compression in his neck."

Ah, so 10 months than. I totally forgot about the shoulder injury, his days as a face just all seem to blend in. Still, I wouldn't call 10 months in 6 years being notorious for injuries. The only one who really has a bad history is Barrett. That's the point I was trying to get at, anyway.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

What the hell is wrong with the WWE and all those injuries?

What is going on? Don't give me the "too many House shows and too many shows" BS. It's been like that since day one of pro-wrestling history. So there has to be something else.

You have a point here and I believe that part of the issue is that back in the day, talent could discretionarily use "certain things" to help with the pain. There's the occasional vague rumour that cannabis legalisation could actually be very useful to certain high-workrate performers, but I don't know how much truth there is to this. There's always been a hellish house show schedule.

I think it'd be a good idea to entertain the possibility of "talent rotas" i.e. there are stretches where people don't work the house shows, maybe they get like a week on, week off type scenario. Only show up to Raw to cut a promo or interview/advance a storyline, wrestle the next week.

I think that it's the way talent work their matches nowdays. Ever since the introduction of guys like Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, wrestlers have changed the way they wrestle in order to captivate the crowd. Sure these guys are not so big they can pull that stuff. But still, doing high risk moves, day-in and say-out and trying to wrestle to a fast pace all the time will have its effect on the body.

But this has also always been the case. There have always been high flyers and speedsters.

I think that us fans are to blame for this. We don't want slowly-paced matches with just clear-cut in ring wrestling. We want fast paced ones with high spots and dangerous moves. So, this is what comes with this. Lots of injuries.

I'm half-and-half with you on this. I don't like entitlement from fans but at the same time we don't want a boring product. I don't think this rests on the fans entirely because by this logic you could blame the fanbase itself for every injury in wrestling ever. It's all done in the name of entertainment.

What does rest on fans is the stupidity of putting themselves over with silly chants before the talent they've paid to see, who are wrecking their bodies for them.

 

[kadroan]

The League of Nations was doomed from DAY ONE when they jobbed to Roman Reigns in a Handicap Match. After all four of them were jobbed so completely, them all getting injured is probably a lucky break, frankly. When they're healthy they can go their separate ways and forget about the months they spent jobbing to Roman Reigns endlessly.

It was a great idea when they first started but with the way they booked Sheamus over the past couple of weeks have really hurt the stable. Breaking up is probably the best thing for all four guys, especially Rusev and ADR. They have no direction.

 

[LionheartY2J]

The League of Nations happened out of necessity. They'd recently lost their top heel, and Sheamus on his own wasn't going to cut it. So they figured it worked in 1987, so why not now? It was a stupid idea, and if nothing else, it gave HHH an excuse to go to daddy in law and...selflessly offer up himself for another title reign.