Two injured superstars from RAW, albeit from two very different weight classes, have had their approximate return dates revealed, and it doesn't look too good.
Former two time United States Champion Rusev, who was last seen getting the brakes beat off him by Big Show at Fastlane, will be out for two months following shoulder surgery. This according to a report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
He apparently had the surgery back on March 9th, but he had been needing it for a while and couldn't put it off any longer. The immediate need for the surgery is why he was written off TV so unexpectedly with his brutal loss to Big Show, and why his relatively young partnership with Jinder "Hardbody" Mahal was cut short unceremoniously.
Also, with Rusev off TV, Lana has had her focus shifted to gaining more in-ring experience on her own. She's been sent down to the Performance Center in Orlando and will be working more matches on the NXT house show circuit throughout Florida.
Meanwhile, the WON also reports that fan favorite cruiserweight Cedric Alexander has an injury of his own, and this one will keep him out until mid-summer at the earliest. Alexander's right knee injury was suffered during a six man tag match on the 205 Live broadcast on February 28th, and will keep him out of action until around July.
While each of these superstars will miss several weeks of action, including WrestleMania, it's important to remember that it could have been much worse. Finn Balor's shoulder surgery last August has kept him out almost eight months, and Seth Rollins' knee surgery back in 2015 put him on the shelf for half a year.
We here at Fightful wish Rusev and Cedric a speedy recovery.
