Misconception about a 'gruesome' injury that Sami Zayn suffered has been cleared

Pro wrestling injuries can visually often be unsettling for the fans, with a recent photo of Sami Zayn invoking similar feelings. The seemingly gruesome "golf ball" on his elbow, however, isn't as bad as people imagine, and popular YouTuber Doctor Mike recently explained why.

Sami Zayn hurt his elbow back in August, and if you'd recall, the WWE star seemed to be in a lot of pain due to an abnormal-looking swelling on his arm. However, this wasn't the first time that a wrestler had suffered a similar injury as John Cena had experienced the same many years ago. Doctor Mike, an active practitioner from NYC, shed some light on the injury on his YouTube and busted the misconception of it being gruesome.

While reacting to a few infamous WWE injuries, Dr. Mikhail Varshavski stated that the notable elbow protrusion was commonly seen and could happen to anyone during their daily activities. While the oversized part of the elbow might be repulsive to some, Doctor Mike said there was nothing too horrible about it:

"I know people think that's a gruesome image, but that's not a gruesome image at all. Some people can develop that by simply sitting on a desk and leaning too much on their Olecranon and bursa. If you have repeated trauma, or maybe blood-forced trauma, what happens is that the bursa starts getting flamed and fills with fluid due to the edema and inflammation. As a result, you get a golf ball-sized thing like this." [00:10 - 00:40]

Doctor Mike has encountered many patients who misjudge the swelling to be a tumor. He even spoke about the potential causes of the injury and cited repeated trauma to the affected area as one of the reasons.

For pro wrestlers, a bump onto the mat or even brushing their elbow off a surface can result in inflammation, though it isn't a serious problem:

"It is drainable, and really, the treatment for this is protecting it to make sure it doesn't keep getting repeated trauma. Again, this can happen from one of those big hits, but it can happen as something as simple as bumping your arm while you are walking by. Patients come in, and they are worried, 'Do I have a tumor in my arm?'" [00:41 - 1"04]

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Where is Sami Zayn?

The underdog from the Underground was recently written off TV via an attack from Drew McIntyre on Monday Night RAW.

It was initially reported that Sami Zayn had requested some time off, which he richly deserved after being one of WWE's MVPs over the past couple of years. In kayfabe, he is supposedly out with a torn meniscus injury, which was initially believed to be a cover-up for his hiatus.

However, the latest update, via Dave Meltzer, potentially hinted towards his injury being real. While it's not confirmed if Sami Zayn is dealing with a partially torn meniscus, Meltzer stated that the former Intercontinental Champion himself asked for a break. As of this writing, there is no known timeframe for his return.

There are, however, four massive booking possibilities when Sami Zayn makes his TV comeback, and you can read more about that here.