Dave Meltzer says El Hijo del Vikingo’s knee injury might be worse than first feared.
Vikingo sustained a legitimate left knee injury before the June 30 episode of NXT on The CW, where he had been advertised to defend the AAA Latin American Championship against EK Prosper.
That knee is reported to be badly swollen and in a brace, with an MRI still pending to determine the severity. You can read the original report on Vikingo being pulled from the NXT title defense for the full breakdown of how the night unfolded.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said he was told over the weekend that the situation could be serious. That escalates concern well beyond the last-minute pull that cost Vikingo his NXT title defense.
I heard, by the way, this weekend that, yeah, it could be serious,” Meltzer said. “That’s really too bad, because he’s had a lot of injuries, but yeah, at an inopportune time.
Vikingo remains the reigning AAA Latin American Champion. No MRI findings, diagnosis, or return timetable have been announced.
What Happened On NXT
Rather than run the title match, WWE used a backstage angle in which Keanu Carver was shown standing over Vikingo. Robert Stone then called the medics, and the championship defense was called off.
Prosper still wrestled that night and beat Carver, but the title match was scrapped. The angle served as a storyline cover for the real injury, suffered while Vikingo was preparing for the match.
His Last Match Before The Injury
On the same edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez recapped Vikingo’s AAA Cruiserweight Championship match against Rey Fenix, which he praised despite a cold start.
We had Fenix and Vikingo for the AAA Cruiserweight Title, which was an excellent television match. It started with absolutely no heat because none of these fans actually watch AAA, but they had such a great match that they ended up getting ‘this is awesome’ chants at the end,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez noted that Vikingo missed a springboard 450 in the finish before Fenix hit the knees in the corner and put him away with the Mexican Muscle Buster.
Meltzer pointed to Vikingo’s rough injury history, having previously missed an extended stretch of action due to knee problems.
