From the WWE Rumor Mill: Paige "medically disqualified" from wrestling
What’s the story?
Well, it's most likely the biggest story in wrestling right now - the speculation over Paige's injury and whether she has a future as an in-ring performer.
On Friday, Mike Johnson from PW Insider reported that WWE Superstar Paige has been told she will never be cleared to return to the ring shortly after we had reported on Paige commenting on her injury and subsequent comeback on Instagram.
Three days later, and it is now being reported that Paige is "medically disqualified" from competing, according to one Dave Meltzer.
In case you didn’t know…
Paige was injured during a six-woman tag team match last month at a New York house show, where the match was stopped after Paige took a heavy knock.
With the injury happening right after a comeback from a serious neck injury and coupled with Paige's history of scoliosis, apparently things weren't looking too good long-term and Paige was reportedly told she had no future as an in-ring competitor at RAW last week, but all we've heard from the former Divas Champion herself was when she took to Instagram to confirm the injury but didn't even hint at retirement.
The heart of the matter
Well, everything had been pretty quiet in terms of "official" reports on the matter since Mike Johnson dropped the bombshell on Friday, with neither Paige nor WWE commenting -- aside from the former sharing a black and white image with no caption.
However, now prominent wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has made some incredible claims during a discussion with Bryan Alvarez about the future of The Anti-Diva.
"Paige has been described medically disqualified from wrestling WWE, due to her neck problems. I don't know what as far as she's going to do now. When she got the operation, I don't remember the exact wording but the doctor who operated on her neck told her not to come back. She only did maybe 7 matches before she got hurt and it was a freak accident.''
Given the statement there, it's slightly bizarre that Paige's initial Instagram post mentioned a "comeback" - but maybe she doesn't mean in the ring, or maybe not for WWE.
Meltzer and Alvarez also discussed Paige's scoliosis and brought up the fact Paige has been wrestling since the age of 12, with Meltzer suggesting that may have worsened the scoliosis and led to a greater likelihood of Paige being susceptible to neck injuries.
Another interesting point Dave Meltzer brought up was regarding contrasting situations between Paige and Daniel Bryan. WWE doctors will not clear Daniel Bryan, but it seems everyone else will. Regarding Paige's scoliosis, it had previously been suggested that WWE worked alongside the performer to manage the condition where she was advised not to pursue a wrestling career while suffering from the condition.
What's next?
Well, we actually still don't know a great deal from the two sources we want to hear from, with Paige and WWE keeping particularly quiet on the case.
You never know, we may find out on WWE RAW tonight as you'd have to expect Paige will be there as she was last week, but in a non-wrestling role. If the retirement rumours are true, she may even address them in-ring a la Daniel Bryan and Edge.
If we completely remove anything that's been posted on the internet over the past week, Paige is still confirmed as a participant for the WWE Women's Royal Rumble Match with nothing official to suggest otherwise, so you would have to believe that WWE will address the issue soon.
Author’s take
It's never nice to see a WWE Superstar get injured, and it's even worse to see someone so young facing retirement.
Paige came to WWE with both youth and experience on her side, and her "Anti-Diva" gimmick helped rocket her straight to the top - but an unfortunate series of events has killed any momentum she's gathered over the past two years.
We can only hope the rumours are addressed on RAW tonight so that all parties have closure on the matter.
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