Christopher Nowinski is making progress, but he says there’s no timetable on when he’ll be able to return to the ring.
WWE.com recently conducted a telephone interview with the Harvard graduate, out since June due to a concussion and post-concussion trauma, including severe migraine headaches. “I’m feeling a lot better, actually,” Nowinski said. “The headaches are not a daily threat to my existence anymore. They’re there … most days after working out or (doing) something strenuous. But they’re just not as bad, and I don’t feel miserable.”
He added, “There’s no doubt it’s an almost daily improvement. And now that I can workout all the time, I’m in the best shape of my career. I’m 10 pounds lighter than I’d ever been in the ring. I’m in good athletic shape, so I’m excited about that. When I’m ready to go, I’ll be ready to go.”
He’s also preparing for his comeback by taking classes – an improvisation class and a theater class close to his home in Boston – learning how to think and react quickly and spontaneously, “which is half of wrestling.”
"I’ve learned a lot, technique-wise and with practice,” he said. “I’m excited about how that will be reflected in my work.”
But he said he has no idea when he may be able to get back in a wrestling ring. (He did participate in non-contact ring workouts for a brief time after the concussion, but the workouts were causing problems and his doctors encouraged him to stop. He hasn’t been in a ring since, contrary to some rumors that he had reported to Ohio Valley Wrestling.)
In the past, setting timetables only intensified his problems – as he worked aggressively to try to return in a few weeks, and then a few months, etc. – so these days, he said, “I’ve kind of given up on timelines.”
Although he’s missed seven-plus months and he’s still having headaches, he’s confident that his in-ring career is far from over, saying, “The important thing is, I will come back to wrestle as soon as we get rid of these things that I believe are beatable and so do my doctors.”
He said that no one – not himself, not his doctors, not WWE officials – is rushing him to return. “I think the attitude that the doctors and the company are taking is, it’s not worth it to take any huge risk and destroy whatever hopes of a nice, fun, long career I can have,” he said. “The list of problems was a lot longer two months ago. (But) there are still serious ones I have to deal with. The sleep issues have not subsided at all. That’s still a daily threat to my existence. We’re still working on that one too.”
He was referring to sleepwalking, which he’s taken to over the last several months, apparently because his brain chemistry was been altered when he suffered the concussion. Nowinski has jumped off his bed and into a wall, falling six feet. Several other times, he’s woken up in places with no idea how he got there. He’s been forced to take pills to help him sleep deeper, but even taking those, he still has the occasional bout of sleepwalking.
There is no surefire way of telling if his headaches are due to the concussion itself or whiplash in his neck, suffered during the same incident that led to his concussion. He may have torn ligaments that connect to his skull, which can take months to heal. Doctors can’t say with 100 percent certainty if it’s his head or his neck that’s causing him problems, but they assume it’s both.
Only time will heal problems associated with his brain, but the good news is, he seems to be getting better (sleepwalking notwithstanding). When he first suffered his concussion, Nowinski said, “I was slower and I couldn’t remember names or add numbers very well.” These days, he jokes, “I feel sharp. I feel like I didn’t lose my Harvard education.”
For his neck, there is something doctors can do that may speed the recovery process: the injection of Botox, a drug that’s becoming more and more common for the removal of wrinkles.
“The other day, it was recommended to inject Botox into the back of my head and neck, and that may stop the headaches,” he said. “I’ve never heard of that. But apparently some doctors are now using Botox with headaches with the idea that certain specific ligament or muscle fibers are destroyed from the impact … so you just kill them, one by one. The idea is, over time, it would let the other muscles that are healthy take over the function.
“I’ll probably end up doing it because I think the risks are pretty low, but I’m consulting with other doctors just to make sure. If Botox works … it’s a much rosier picture.”

Credit: wwe.com

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