El Hijo del Vikingo’s injury situation is not looking like a small scare anymore. His planned AAA Latin American Championship defense on NXT was pulled at the last minute, and the concern is centered on his left knee.
Ringside News previously reported that Vikingo’s left knee was badly swollen, and he is currently in a brace while waiting for an MRI. That MRI will decide whether this is a short-term problem or something much worse.
WWE had advertised Vikingo to defend the AAA Latin American Championship against E.K. Prosper on the June 30 episode of NXT on The CW. Instead, the company ran an angle where Keanu Carver was shown standing over Vikingo backstage. Robert Stone then called for medical help, and WWE moved on without the title match.
That was not just a random storyline switch. Vikingo was hurt while preparing for the match, and WWE pulled him from the show before things got worse. Prosper still wrestled that night and beat Carver, but the title defense was gone.
The injury concern came up again via Wrestling Observer Radio, when Bryan Alvarez recapped Rey Fenix vs. Vikingo for the AAA Cruiserweight Championship. Alvarez said the match started cold because the WWE crowd was not exactly packed with AAA diehards, but the two won them over by the end. Alvarez then broke down the finish, where Vikingo missed a springboard 450 before Fenix finished him off with knees in the corner and the Mexican Muscle Buster.
“We had Fenix and Vikingo for the AAA Cruiserweight Title, which was an excellent television match. It started with absolutely no heat because none of these fans actually watch AAA, but they had such a great match that they ended up getting ‘this is awesome’ chants at the end.”
“Vikingo missed a springboard 450. Fenix hit the knees in the corner. Mexican Muscle Buster got the pin. Very good for the time they got. And now I guess poor Vikingo goes back to being injured.”
That is when Dave Meltzer chimed in and said he heard the injury may be worse than people hoped. Meltzer pointed to Vikingo’s rough injury history while saying the timing could not be much worse.
“I heard, by the way, this weekend that, yeah, it could be serious.”
“That’s really too bad, because he’s had a lot of injuries, but yeah, at an inopportune time.”
Vikingo had just been getting more exposure through WWE’s AAA connection, and pulling a title match from NXT right before showtime is never a great sign. Add in a swollen knee, a brace, and an MRI, and this suddenly feels like a situation everyone is waiting on.
Ringside News will continue to keep you updated as additional information becomes available.
What do you think about El Hijo del Vikingo’s injury scare? Did WWE make the right call pulling him from NXT, or should they have handled the situation differently? Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think.
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