Less than a year ago, PJ Black (formerly known as Justin Gabriel in WWE, and part of Worldwide Underground in Lucha Underground) suffered an awful injury while BASE jumping in South Africa. In October 2016, he broke both ankles at the end of a BASE jump and was on the shelf for a good long while. This past week, he reportedly suffered a second BASE jumping injury, and this one sounds even more serious, and has led to a disfigurement.
According to the newest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Black (real name Paul Lloyd Jr.) had another bad landing during a BASE jump, and among his injuries were a broken leg and a broken hand, and he also lost a finger as the result of his accident. He has obviously once again had to cancel all of his independent bookings for the foreseeable future.
This story first originated on Edge and Christian’s podcast, where Tommy Dreamer relayed the news and details of the accident. It is worth noting that neither Black’s official Twitter nor Facebook accounts mention anything about this latest injury. His most recent update having to do with his health came on June 9, when he posted videos of stitches coming out of his ankles and mentioned having early arthritis from wrestling.
Black’s longtime love for extreme sports is well-documented, and is why he is known as “The Darewolf.” After two such serious injuries within one year, it’s atural to wonder whether he’ll begin toning down his thrill-seeking lifestyle. We wish Black nothing but the best, and that he has a speedy and full recovery. We look forward to seeing where his character goes over the remainder of the already-taped third season of Lucha Underground, although this definitely casts a bit of a pall over things.
