Following Monday night’s Christmas Raw, WWE published an update about Dean Ambrose’s tricep surgery.
The operation happened in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 19, following an onscreen injury on Monday Night Raw that was reportedly set up to cover for an actual injury Ambrose had previously suffered. The video post, which included comments from surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, says that Ambrose is expected to be out of action for about nine months. Dugas himself doesn’t comment on the length of the absence, but he does explain the procedure:
“He tore some of the distal triceps tendon where it attaches to the forearm bone, called the olecranon. So he basically tore about 50 percent of the triceps tendon away from the bone — that’s the injury that he sustained. So yesterday, we repaired that back down to the bone where it tore off of.”
The nine-month timeline is disappointing, and a bit surprising, especially since PWInsider was reporting just a few days ago that he was expected to return in just two or three months. Obviously we want to see Dean make a full recovery before he returns to the ring, even if that’s against his nature. But given the reporting on WWE.com, which treats the onscreen Raw injury as the real one, it’s hard not to wonder if the long timeframe is a work to set up a surprise return down the road.
After all, Braun Strowman was reported to be out of action for six months after an injury back in May, and he climbed fully healed out of an ambulance barely more than a month later. This could be the same sort of situation. On the other hand, Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan are Raw Tag Team Champions now, so it’s possible that WWE isn’t expecting Dean Ambrose back any time soon.
