El Hijo Del Vikingo, the spectacular high-flyer that burst onto the American scene last year after praise from The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer led to a main event match on Dynamite against Kenny Omega, recently returned to the ring last month from a nasty knee injury that he suffered at an independent show in Mexico this past February. While not inked to an official All Elite Wrestling contract, the injury stalled his momentum in the United States after his profile was boosted significantly from the national television exposure of TBS.
However, he returned to the national scene of the US as well when he competed against Mike Bailey for the TNA X-Division championship this past weekend at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view. The two cruiser weights had an incredible spot fest with innovative maneuvers and fast-paced action that arguably stole the show in the opening bout of the night.
Make no mistake about it, between his stellar aerial skills and his look as a character, Vikingo has the talent to be a very marketable star in America. As mentioned, his talent is tremendous, but he has the size and the persona of the underdog so the audience can still rally behind him.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the injury bug to bite him again, as he suffered what appeared to be another leg injury at TNA’s TV tapings that were held the day after the pay-per-view in a match with Trent Seven. According to PWinsider, after a dive to the floor, Vikingo was hurt, prompting the referee to legitimately stop the match and agents to go to ringside. Vikingo was stretchered from the building.
There’s absolutely no doubt that the 27-year-old luchador as the ability to be a much bigger star than he is right now, but sadly, it’s also possible that he might end up as a cautionary talent of the pitfalls of the modern era of the business.
It goes without saying that the term “high risk” is exactly what it sounds like, those that work that style have a higher probability of getting injured, and often times are put on the sidelines. All Elite Wrestling’s injury rate is proof of what the modern style can do to the depth of a roster.
Of course, it doesn’t take a dazzling dive to send someone into surgery. Kevin Nash infamously tore his quad with one wrong step in the ring, and Vince McMahon tore both of his with an overly-aggressive attempt to slide into the ring. But, that might be the true point of some of the risks of the modern era, as those currently within the sport continue to push the envelope. You can get seriously hurt in the simplest of situations inside the squared circle so the more risks taken, the more the chance of injury increases exponentially. The athletes are so talented and so graceful that it seems like sometimes the true risk of injury isn’t taken into consideration.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that someone needs to work a headlock for 10 minutes, or that matches need to revert to squashes where one of the super heavyweights pummels a guy that wrestles on the weekends, but looks like he changes your oil during his day job. But, at some point, there needs to be some serious consideration into how much is too much and how far is too far in terms of the high spots that are becoming more common place than ever before. It’s probably no coincidence that injuries are more common than any other time in history as well.
I understand that this discussion has taken place as long as pro wrestling has existed and it will continue to exist as long as there is a wrestling business. Johnny Valentine probably thought Harley Race took too many bumps, and while he appreciated his work, Harley told Mick Foley that he took too many dangerous falls in WCW. However, I think because the style is on national television today through AEW, and to some extent TNA, the scenario is amplified is some ways, which could have a bigger overall impact on the business than in the past.
Adam Copeland, Eddie Kingston, Bandido, Kenny Omega, and others required surgery based on the damage that high risk spots caused in some form or fashion. Again, it doesn’t even have to be the aerial stuff, but that underscored how risky the dives and apron bumps can be to the performers. This isn’t a situation where a botched landing caused a wrestler to miss a few weeks, but rather months or even a year of their career could be sacrificed to heal from injury.
I can’t emphasize enough that this isn’t a knock on the talent or the skill, but rather that it should be somewhat of a wake up call of how many dives or high spots are used in a given match. Does a match really need five dives to the floor? Would it ruin the segment if there were only three aerial spots? The reason being is this, a talent can execute a maneuver perfectly three times throughout a contest, but it only takes one miscue for a serious injury to happen. I want to reiterate that we don’t need one-sided jobber matches to make a comeback, but that not every match needs a high risk bump from the top rope.
This might irritate some of the wrestling purists or a few of the diehard All Elite fans, but the truth of the matter is, on a national level where the biggest money can be made, high spot wrestling on its own generally doesn’t draw major numbers. Take into consideration of how many of those high spot “dream matches” Tony Khan booked for national television on Dynamite and it actually saw a decline in the ratings compared to the previous week. That doesn’t take away from the talent level of the performers, but rather points out that from a business perspective, it’s important to measure the risk vs. the reward of a contest. Maybe save the car crash spots for pay-per-view instead of a random episode of Dynamite.
Sure, the diehard fans have an appreciation for the work rate, but again from a business prospective on a national level, the general public connects with the characters, not just the maneuvers. Rey Mysterio might be the best example of this, he spent the 90s as one of the most talented high-flyers in the history of the business, but it wasn’t until he fully developed the Mysterio character in the 2000s that he become one of the most beloved and most popular of all time. That’s not a criticism either, just to point out that as he evolved to become a more complete performer, his star power increased exponentially. Do the fans love Rey Mysterio because he can do a hurricanrana or do the fans love him because his Rey Mysterio? Yes, his tremendous in-ring talent is a part of the package, but he’s a complete performer because his persona connects with the audience.
Even Rey, who found his way to the next level with a focus on character development and mic skills, didn’t dodge the injury bullets. He had several knee surgeries throughout his career, including the early years of WCW when he was out of action for six months in 1998. He was just 23 at the time of his first knee surgery and it was a problem that persisted throughout much of his tenure in the sport.
Obviously, there will only be one Rey Mysterio, but there are similarities to him and Vikingo, which is why this is a concerning situation. Similar to Rey, he also started wrestling during his teenage years so despite only being 27 and theoretically just at the start of the prime of his career, Vikingo already has the toll of more than a decade of wrestling on his body. As I said, Vikingo has the potential to be a very marketable star in both the US and Mexico. He was already a champion in AAA, and with John Layfield’s involvement with the lucha group to increase its foot print, Vikingo could be the franchise guy for an expansion. That doesn’t mean that there’s going to be a full-fledged AAA venture into America, the style is too different for lucha libe to become a commodity on a national level, but it’s definitely possible for AAA to find another profitable niche in the United States to increase its overall business. Keep in mind, during its heyday in the early-90s, AAA drew major crowds in Los Angeles, including for the famous When Worlds Collide pay-per-view.
Hopefully, the injured Vikingo suffered this past weekend isn’t serious and he isn’t back on the shelf for any major amount of time. Still, this should be an example for the current generation of stars to take into consideration how many risks and how many bumps should be taken in a specific match. Unfortunately, if i had to guess, I think the trend of high risk matches and more injuries will continue in the modern era of the industry.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
