March 10, 2003 Observer Newsletter: WWE plagued by injuries, more

Coming off the heels of the injury to Edge, who undergoes neck surgery on 3/10, came a slew of injuries that have destroyed the depth of the company’s heel division, and in particular Smackdown champion Kurt Angle.

Angle, the most valuable full-time performer in the company, had an MRI on his neck on 3/3 and the results came out that Angle had severe neck damage. He will become the eighth WWE wrestler over the past few years to undergo neck surgery under Dr. Lloyd Youngblood in San Antonio, which will put him out of action for about one year. His symptoms, shooting pains down both of his arms, numbing in the fingers and a burning sensation in the neck had gotten worse while on the South Africa tour this past week.

His neck problems date back to amateur wrestling, as he suffered a broken neck in late 1995, and was not nearly recovered from it when he won the Olympic trials in freestyle wrestling at 220 pounds (against competition that included Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman and Dan Chaid) and later the gold medal.

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