In a recent episode of the “Insight” podcast, Ivar from War Raiders opened up about his experiences from a devastating neck injury that left him with long-lasting nerve damage. Despite the serious nature of the injury, the current WWE World Tag Team Champion admitted the situation could have been worse, narrowly avoiding a major calamity.
Here’s the breakdown from the podcast conversation:
Talking about when his neck troubles began: He traced the origin to a match in Brooklyn just before WrestleMania where he was with Ricochet. After receiving a powerful European uppercut, he discovered he was fine after a quick self-assessment. However, as he continued with his matches, rehearsing for Main Event, Raw, NXT, NXT coconut shows, and some SmackDown dark stuff, his strength began failing him during a match with Oba Femi for the North American Championship in NXT. This led to multiple checks from the medical team, eventually opting for an MRI scan after he was unable to keep his arm aloft while interacting with a parrot on a relaxing trip with his wife.
Discussing the physicians’ diagnosis: Once the MRI results were out, it was hard news to swallow. The doctors speculated it might be the end of his career due to another herniated disc discovered in his neck during the scan. The severity of the situation had them preparing mental health paperwork for him to anticipate the heavy psychological load. As his neck was already fused together at levels C5,6,7, the new issue was at C4 and 5. But his surgeon reading the MRI results held some hope, suggesting a possible rehab and alternate surgical procedures that could keep him in wrestling.
Giving an update on his current health post-surgery: Despite some lingering nerve pain in his hands which Ivar admitted is permanent, he has recovered most of his mobility and strength in his neck and arm post-surgery. He attributes a lot of this improvement to yoga. Though he experiences good and bad days due to the persisting nerve pain, he maintains a generally good quality of life.