Zack Ryder injures his knee on ‘SmackDown Live.’ (WWE.com)
UPDATE: Zack Ryder revealed on Thursday that he will be undergoing knee surgery. “I’ll be back…and better than ever,” he added.
WWE superstar Zack Ryder legitimately injured his knee on SmackDown Live this week. How serious is this? Will he still be able to compete in a match against the Wyatt Family?
This injury occurred at the very end of the tag team battle royal on December 13th’s episode of SmackDown, with Ryder banging his knee onto the apron during his finisher. He is clearly in pain as the match wraps up, apparently not able to even get up and celebrate his victory, later having to be helped backstage. Ryder also tries to fend off Mojo Rawley as his teammate comes out to hug him.
Get HYPED because the #HypeBros @MojoRawleyWWE and @ZackRyder are the NEW No. 1 Contenders for the #SDLive Tag Team Championships!
The WWE later announced on its website that this injury was legitimate and that Ryder would be receiving an MRI on December 14th, at which point the seriousness of the injury will be made clear to them. One of the company’s medical professionals said before the MRI that his early impression is that Ryder injured his kneecap or his patella.
“We think it popped out and then popped back in, so we’re just going to do an MRI to make sure that there is not cartilage damage or some tendon tearing, stuff like that,” Chris Robinson, one of the WWE’s doctors, told the company’s website. “Hopefully there’s not and it’ll be a shorter rehab period. If there is, there’s a different road we might have to go down that may take longer to get him to recover.”
Although the results from that MRI have not yet been made public, things are not looking good for Ryder at this time. On Talking Smack immediately after the show, the WWE already began making moves to put another number one contender in place, with The Usos coming on the program and telling Daniel Bryan that they should get The Hype Bros’ spot now that Ryder is out of the picture.
On Twitter, Zack Ryder said that Tuesday was a bittersweet night for him, and he later posted a few cryptic tweets that certainly suggest that he has received some bad news.
Everything happens for a reason…?
Ryder was also scheduled to perform at the WWE’s Tribute to The Troops on Wednesday, but he had to be replaced by Chad Gable and Jason Jordan, according to PWMania.
Check back in later in the week for more information about Zack Ryder’s injury.