There were many conflicting reports this week regarding the injury of now former WWE Champion Batista on whether it was a completely torn bicep or a torn biceps tendon. Jim Ross stated today in his blog that the surgery Batista underwent on Tuesday in Birmingham, AL with Dr. James Andrews was now believed to be for a torn biceps tendon and he is estimated to miss around four to six months of action.
The injury was bad timing for Batista who had just returned two months earlier after having surgery for a torn hamstring. It should be noted that many within WWE noticed how much bigger and more muscular he was upon his return to the company and his look raised some questions as he returned a few months earlier than originally projected when he had the surgery. He began working WWE house shows with Triple H off TV doing a worked injury and was clearly not recovered from his previous injury as reports indicated he had trouble moving well in the ring and with little speed.
As for his latest injury, during WWE TV tapings two weeks ago in Los Angeles, Batista was noticed rushing to the back and icing his left biceps every time he did anything physical. The injury was still downplayed, but appeared to get worse on June 1 in Louisville, KY when he worked a short Steel Cage match with Cody Rhodes. An MRI result revealed he was injured and had a ruptured biceps tendon, which is something the company was not aware of until the weekend or even as late as the day of the Extreme Rules PPV this past Sunday. He was already scheduled to beat Randy Orton in a Steel Cage match to win the WWE Championship, so they felt obligated to go forward with the original plan regardless of the injury.
While his new look did spark some talk backstage and even started rumors that his injury was a cover for a possible Wellness Policy violtion resulting in a suspension, any reports indicating that are false and his injury was confirmed as legit. It was more of a common sense situation since you don’t get surgery to cover up a drug suspension. WrestleView.com never reported any such rumors. WWE estimated he would be missing around four months with other estimates having him at around six months. There was at one point plans to start a three way program with Batista, Triple H and John Cena that would possibly take place at SummerSlam, but those plans are obviously now off. There is already talk that he could be held off until January 2010 around the time of the Royal Rumble if his recovery goes well as bringing him back early obviously wasn’t a good idea and created the situation they are in now.