For nearly two years, many WWE fans assumed Nick Aldis became SmackDown General Manager because he wasn’t healthy enough to wrestle. According to Aldis, that’s completely wrong.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, the former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion pushed back on the long-running misconception, explaining that WWE didn’t put him in the General Manager role because he was injured or medically unable to compete.
“Yeah, it’s funny because some of that was just some interesting timing. Because no, I was not put in that role because I was hurt. It wasn’t a case of being not cleared or needing time to heal up or anything like that.”
Ironically, Aldis admitted the timing probably helped fuel the rumors. Around the same time he was beginning to shadow WWE television tapings and getting familiar with the company, he was forced to withdraw from an independent match against Alex Shelley after years of trying to wrestle through persistent back pain. For Aldis, it was an unusual moment.
Outside of legitimate injuries that required surgery, he said it was one of the first times in his career he had ever pulled out of a booking because his body simply wouldn’t let him perform.
“I remember being a couple of days out from the show and just calling the guy and saying, ‘I’m so sorry, but I’m just having trouble moving around. I’m gonna have to pull out; my back is shot.'”
At that point, Aldis feared the worst. The pain had bothered him for nearly two years, sometimes disappearing completely before flaring up badly enough to ruin his day. Convinced he might be dealing with a bulging or herniated disc, he visited a specialist at Vanderbilt expecting to hear he had a serious spinal injury. Instead, he got completely different news.
Doctors discovered the problem wasn’t his spine at all. Aldis explained that severe inflammation in a stabilizing muscle near his spine had been mimicking the symptoms of a disc injury all along.
“He goes, ‘Yeah, that’s why it feels like a bulging disc or a herniated disc. You actually just have massive inflammation in this muscle.’ He said, ‘You’re fine. Actually, your spine’s in pretty good order.'”
Even more surprising, the issue that had frustrated him for years disappeared almost immediately once doctors identified the real cause.
“It just turned out that I just needed these specific anti-inflammatories. Cleared it up instantly. That was the thing that had been bugging me for like two years.”
Looking back, Aldis admits the biggest mistake wasn’t wrestling through the pain—it was refusing to get it properly checked out sooner.
“It was really just a case of just me being a stubborn idiot… All I needed was some anti-inflammatories.”
So while the timing of his WWE arrival and his back issues may have convinced fans there was a connection, Aldis says the reality was much simpler. WWE didn’t make him SmackDown General Manager because he couldn’t wrestle. The role was always the plan, and the back issue just happened to surface at the same time.
Did you think Nick Aldis became SmackDown GM because he was injured, or were you always convinced WWE had other plans for him? Let us know in the comments below.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
