John Cena is scheduled to be examined by Dr. Lloyd Youngblood in San Antonio later in the week. Youngblood has performed neck surgery on a number of past and present WWE stars including "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Edge, Amy "Lita" Dumas, Scotty 2 Hotty, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, and Gregory Helms. If past history is any indication, it definitely looks like Cena is going to be out of action for a very, very long time.

Austin's neck injury put him out of the ring for ten months from November 1999 to September 2000. Edge's neck injury put him on the sidelines from February 2003 to February 2004 (he was scheduled to return in February of that year, but he broke his hand and didn't return until a month later). Lita's neck injury put her out of the ring for very long time as well. While filming a fight scene for a role in the season finale of the television program Dark Angel, the stunt double Dumas was working with dropped her as she swung through a hurricanrana, causing her to land on her neck and shoulders. The injury put her out of action for seventeen months - from April 2002 to September 2003. Scotty 2 Hotty's neck injury put him out of action for seventeen months as well - from May 2002 to October 2003. Chris Benoit's neck injury put him out of action for a little more than a year - from June 2001 to July 2002. Rhyno's neck injury put him out of the ring for sixteen months - from October 2001 to February 2003. And then of course there is Gregory Helms, who has been out of action for over sixteen months and counting. Helms' neck injury has sidelined him since a few weeks after WrestleMania 23.

Cena's injury was described as a herniated disc tonight on Raw and on the company website. However, the belief is that the injury is severely worse. WWE's obviously hoping for the best when Cena visits Dr. Youngblood later this week.

Cena is scheduled to see doctors tomorrow morning with neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Maroon at the University of Pittsburgh. He will then fly to San Antonio on Wednesday to be examined by Youngblood and we should know about the severity of the injury by then.