Nikki Bella Took Time Off To Avoid Career-Threatening Neck Surgery

We’ve all known for a while that Nikki Bella has been working injured. Back in the beginning of November, the former Divas champion announced that she would be taking time off to recuperate, but didn’t give a time frame for her return. This also coincides with boyfriend John Cena taking time off as well, though his return has been bumped up in light of WWE Superstars finding new and creative ways to injure themselves each week.

Some have speculated that, while it was suspected that she had a back injury, it was mostly a ploy to amp up the drama on E! reality show Total Divas, but now it looks like it’s something much more serious than whatever enormous amounts of food Eva Marie’s husband is jamming into his face (joking, sweet Jonathan, nothing is more dope or important that that). Via Ryan Satin at Pro Wrestling Sheet:

Sources close to the situation tell us the discs are pushing on Nikki’s spinal cord — and she’s got extra fluid in her central nervous system — which means taking another bump could have paralyzed the 31 year-old “Total Divas” star.

Her rehab looks like more like a Kavorkian Scarf than a comfortable and helpful tool for fixing her neck, but hey, what do I know. I’m the one dropping 12-year-old webtoon references in a post about an athlete with a legitimate and potentially terrifying neck injury, so you should probably disregard any and all medical anything from me.

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