Concussion Discussion

Last Tuesday, May 7, due to an errant kick, a major injury shocked the entertainment world when the World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler sustained a concussion during the filming of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) wrestling show Smackdown for the following Friday. With the impeding pay-per-view May19 event where he was set to defend his Heavyweight title in a triple threat ladder match less than two weeks away, this was a devastating event for a superstar in the midst of his first major title run.

This injury put the WWE in a tight spot. With so much hype being put on that match and the demanding sport/entertainment culture, it would have been very easy for them to tell the champ to shake it off, tough it out, and still compete tonight. But for the long term success of Dolph's career and health, the WWE made the right choice and pulled him from the match.

Before I go any further I am sure some of you are thinking to yourself, but Bob, I thought professional wrestling was fake so how did Dolph get hurt in the first place? Well yes, in a sense that is true because the outcomes are pre-determined and the match choreographed, but there is always that possibly that mistakes could happen during a match, especially one that includes weapons like the originally scheduled ladder match. So rather than risk the possibility of making the injury worse, they smartly decided to let him rest until he is better.

You also might be asking, how do you know that they are not "faking" the injury for a storyline? Well that is a very good question, but in the WWE you can tell by what they are pushing. Earlier in April WWE Champion John Cena sustained an "injury" to his achilles tendon during their tour in Europe and ever since then it has been a huge talking point. But surprisingly he has not missed a show and they seem to be billing him as competing despite the setback and that he is strong willed/determined and will not back down from a fight. Ziggler on the other-hand has only had one article written about his injury on WWE.com, and that article appeared right after the injury happened, so I think they want us to forget about it and get excited about the new feud taking its place, which isn't easy with the high profile nature of the injury.

This situation is an example of the new tough decisions that have become more and more prevalent all across the sports/entertainment industry. The concern over concussions has gained a lot of steam in the last 6 years after studies began to be done on the brains of former football players and the findings where astounding. Players who had sustained countless concussions over the course of their careers had put themselves at an astounding predisposition towards alzheimer's, dementia, and aggressive/suicidal behavior not just later in life but even by the age of 40. Here is a report ESPN’s Outside The Lines did back in 2007 about these findings and added a wrestling connection to the debate.

Christopher Nowinski a former linebacker at Harvard, joined the WWE shortly after completing his degree. He competed for three years but then his history of concussions on both the football field and in the squared circle caught up with him. After battling post-concussion syndrome for over year, he decided to call it quits though he found a new calling examining the long term effects of head trauma. His determination and research partnership with Dr. Bennet Omalu has lead to the creation of the Sports Legacy Institute and an increased understanding of the serious long term effects of concussions.

Concussions in the WWE have not only cut the career short of Christopher Nowinski but also are believed to have aided in the murder suicide of Chris Benoit and drug overdose of Andrew Martin. With research done by the Sports Legacy Institute they found that Chris and Andrew were suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which has been found to cause dementia, aggression, confusion, and depression.

Since last November, the WWE has had a zero-tolerance policy on concussions.  They are trying to limit risks wherever they can by actions like reducing the amount of chair shots to the head. Actually yesterday as reported by the USAToday the WWE has started to fund research into the treatment of chronic brain trauma, though not everyone is convinced that it is not just a PR move. (Check out this blog)

No matter what spin you put on it, the bottom line is that I am happy that the WWE is starting to take these things seriously and keeping the World Heavyweight Champion out of action tomorrow night for his, and the fans best interest, over the long term.

To learn more about the facts and myths of concussions check out this article from the science daily:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120329170220.htm