WWE: Carmella Health & WWE Absence Update, Ivar on “Dodged a Very Big Bullet” with 2024 Neck Injury, Janel Grant’s Rep Issues Statement Over Lee Fitting Misconduct Allegations

Carmella Health & WWE Absence Status Update

As noted before, Carmella has been out of action for WWE since early 2023 due to maternity reasons over the birth of her child this past November and foot-related injury issues.

Bayley held a recent stream on Instagram featuring Carmella as one of the guests. One of the topics discussed included Carmella providing an update on her recovery from drop foot health issues and the future of her wrestling career.

“I love being a mom, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done ever in my whole entire life. But that being said, of course I miss WWE. Of course I miss everyone. I miss being Carmella. I miss performing. I miss it so much. I wish I had an update for you guys. For those who don’t know, I have some nerve damage in my foot from delivering Dimitri. I have what’s called drop foot, and it’s like this nerve behind your knee. I’ve been dealing with all of that … I’m just doing physical therapy, going to see the chiropractor, getting MRIs, and doing all of this stuff I never thought I would be doing. Here we are and hopefully, eventually, nerves do take a lot of time to heal, but eventually we’ll get back to it for sure.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

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Ivar Comments on “Dodged a Very Big Bullet” with His Neck Injury in 2024

As noted before, The War Raiders’ Ivar and Erik made their returns from injuries at the October 14th WWE RAW show in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to his return, Ivar had been out of action since this past May due to a neck related injury.

A recent episode of the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast featured Ivar as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Ivar’s thoughts about his recent neck injury.

“We got to the second half of that match [against Oba Femi], and I just lost all strength in my right arm. I couldn’t pick him up, so I just started calling audibles in the ring where I wasn’t going to pick him up. We made it through the match, and that was that. And the whole time we were checking on medical to see how I was doing. And then after that match was like, ok, that’s no good.”

Ivar also gave his thoughts about being lucky to avoid needing to undergo another double fusion surgery that would have ended his wrestling career.

“They’re like, ‘Ok, this is probably the end of your career.’ To the point where they handed me mental health paperwork to kind of get that rolling.

My surgeon had read the result in the MRI, and he pretty much felt the same way that this was it. So for five days, I think this is it. It’s over with. I flew too close to the sun and the wings melted and that’s it. But when I saw him in Birmingham five days later, and he actually had the disc for the MRI, and he read the results for the MRI himself, he’s like, ‘Ok, we can work with this.'”

Ivar also gave his thoughts about how his surgeon stated that he “dodged a very big bullet” with this injury.

Ivar also gave his thoughts about his current health status and revealed that he has permanent nerve damage in his hands.

“So I’m pretty good. To be fair, I do have permanent nerve damage and nerve pain in my hands. And that will never go away, and that’s something I live with. But as far as everything else, I got most of my mobility back in my neck. It’s a little stiff now because I have another herniation, but I still have very good range of motion. I credit that to yoga pretty much. And then all my strength is returned to my arm, so I have no problems there. So it’s really just the nerve pain right now from the original injury that I have that’s permanent. But I have good days and bad days. Some days I can really feel it, it goes down my arm a little bit, and some days I can’t feel it all. Kind of all depends. But quality of life, I feel pretty good.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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Janel Grant’s Rep Issues Statement Over Lee Fitting Misconduct Allegations

As noted before, former ESPN Senior VP of Production Lee Fitting was hired by WWE this past January following his firing from ESPN in August of 2023. Fitting’s firing was recently revealed to have been due to the allegations of him committing misconduct, including making sexually suggestive comments and objectifying comments, within the company for years towards female employees.

Janel Grant’s spokesperson Kendra Barkoff-Lamy recently released an official statement about the allegations against Fitting and how WWE’s hiring of Fitting goes against their claims of being committed to improving the company’s culture.

“How can WWE claim they are committed to improving the company’s culture, and at the same time, hire a man earlier this year who was accused of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment in his previous role? The allegations against Lee Fitting during his time at ESPN are extremely concerning. Revelations like this are why Janel Grant’s lawyers sent a letter to WWE and Endeavor, urging them to release all current and former employees from their NDAs. The same old boys club who enabled Janel Grant’s abuse are continuing to put alleged predators in leadership roles, and this pattern must change once and for all.”

NEW statement from @kabarkoff, spokesperson for Janel Grant, a former @WWE employee and sexual assault survivor, on reporting by @TheAthletic on new allegations of workplace abuse by Lee Fitting during his time at @ESPN. Fitting is now a top producer at WWE. pic.twitter.com/N3DYd7lnbv

— WWE Survivors (@WWESurvivors) December 18, 2024