Post by CandyKANE on Feb 25, 2003 12:50:09 GMT -5
TORONTO – Feb. 24, 2003 – Watching Victoria wrestle Molly Holly tonight on a match taped for this Sunday’s HEAT, you’d have no idea that the Women’s Champion has a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee.
It’s an injury that would keep a professional athlete in any sport out for an entire season. But as the saying goes, there’s no off-season in sports entertainment; Victoria says she’s going to work through the ailment and doesn’t plan to have surgery. She never did.
She just wears a knee brace in the ring; outside the ring, during workouts, she’s been concentrating on strengthening muscles around her ACL to prevent further injury.
“My brace – I’d love to endorse it because it honestly prevents anything,” Victoria said. “(My knee) doesn’t even get sore. It doesn’t get swollen or anything. I’m not a bit concerned.”<br>
The only noticeable difference is that, for the time being, she’s stopped during her over-the-top-rope leap when she enters the ring. “I want to do my entrance again,” she said. “But I’m scared.”<br>
Victoria said she believes her ACL was partially torn for several years, dating back to her days in the fitness-modeling world. At a non-televised “house show” four months ago, Victoria leaped over the top rope to enter the ring and hyperextended that knee. Then, during her recent Chicago Street Fight against Trish Stratus, Victoria landed awkwardly on the edge of a garbage-can lid when she executed a moonsault. She was limping when she came backstage.
“That’s when they said, ‘You know what? You need to get an MRI,’” Victoria recalled. “And I said, ‘I don’t want to get an MRI! I don’t want to know!’”
The MRI exam revealed the worst – a completely torn ACL. But doctors said she didn’t necessarily need surgery if she strengthened the other muscles in her leg; in effect, they’ll act as her ACL. Her knee also receives electronic stimulation and ice.
She was also reassured when she discussed her condition with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who told her he has all kinds of problems with his knees, but his knee braces keep him in the ring and out of the operating room.
“It’s different than Jazz,” Victoria said of her fellow Diva, who needed surgery to repair the same injury. “Because for Jazz it was a recurring problem.”<br>
It’s an injury that would keep a professional athlete in any sport out for an entire season. But as the saying goes, there’s no off-season in sports entertainment; Victoria says she’s going to work through the ailment and doesn’t plan to have surgery. She never did.
She just wears a knee brace in the ring; outside the ring, during workouts, she’s been concentrating on strengthening muscles around her ACL to prevent further injury.
“My brace – I’d love to endorse it because it honestly prevents anything,” Victoria said. “(My knee) doesn’t even get sore. It doesn’t get swollen or anything. I’m not a bit concerned.”<br>
The only noticeable difference is that, for the time being, she’s stopped during her over-the-top-rope leap when she enters the ring. “I want to do my entrance again,” she said. “But I’m scared.”<br>
Victoria said she believes her ACL was partially torn for several years, dating back to her days in the fitness-modeling world. At a non-televised “house show” four months ago, Victoria leaped over the top rope to enter the ring and hyperextended that knee. Then, during her recent Chicago Street Fight against Trish Stratus, Victoria landed awkwardly on the edge of a garbage-can lid when she executed a moonsault. She was limping when she came backstage.
“That’s when they said, ‘You know what? You need to get an MRI,’” Victoria recalled. “And I said, ‘I don’t want to get an MRI! I don’t want to know!’”
The MRI exam revealed the worst – a completely torn ACL. But doctors said she didn’t necessarily need surgery if she strengthened the other muscles in her leg; in effect, they’ll act as her ACL. Her knee also receives electronic stimulation and ice.
She was also reassured when she discussed her condition with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who told her he has all kinds of problems with his knees, but his knee braces keep him in the ring and out of the operating room.
“It’s different than Jazz,” Victoria said of her fellow Diva, who needed surgery to repair the same injury. “Because for Jazz it was a recurring problem.”<br>