Shelton Benjamin's return to WWE hit a major road block after WWE officials discovered a torn rotator cuff in Benjamin's shoulder and now the former WWE Intercontinental Champion spoke on the exact nature of the injury.
Benjamin recently appeared on Jim Ross' podcast, The Ross Report, where he gave further details on the injury, how it happened and what's next.
"Basically I have a full tear on my rotator cuff," Benjamin said. "I just got the full report. There's a lot of technical jargon that I don't understand. There's these other minor tears here and there, but the main thing is a full tear on my rotator cuff."
Benjamin said that he got the injury in Japan while wrestling in a match for Pre Wrestling NOAH.
"I know exactly when it happened," Benjamin said. "I've been wrestling with it for the past two and a half months. It happened while I was in Japan. A guy gave me a unique suplex and basically all of my weight and some of his weight landed on my shoulder. When it happened, I knew right then 'okay that could have done some damage.' I finished the match and then I went to a trainer. The next day I went to some doctor and I was in pain so they gave a cortisone shot. It was one of those 'we'll see how it goes,' and I felt better every day."
He said that he was explained what the spot was going to be, but in Japanese and so Benjamin could not fully understand the spot and not able to fully prepare for it. Benjamin said that it was no one's fault the injury happened. The 41-year-old said that when he was wrestling with the injury, he did not think about the severity of the injury. He said that every now and then, the shoulder felt sore but said he "could still powerbomb a guy."
The former WWE star said that recovery will be 6 months to a year, but said he is preparing for the worst case scenario, so he is thinking it will be a year before he is back in the ring. He was slated to return to WWE on SmackDown Live in early August.
The full podcast, which also featured an interview with Ricochet (a.k.a. Prince Puma in Lucha Underground), can be listened to in the video above.
