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WWE News
WWE News: Candice Michelle knocked out during match with Phoenix, taken to hospital (w/Keller's Analysis) Oct 22, 2007 - 11:39:56 PM
Candice Michelle was knocked out completely on an awkward fall during her match with Beth Phoenix live on WWE Raw tonight. She was on the top rope, trying to get her balance, when Beth - in a designed spot - jumped into the ropes to knock Candice down. Candice began her fall, but her right leg caught on the top rope, so her head snapped straight down to the mat hard. There was no compression or awkward twist of the neck, but her right shoulder and the side of her head hit the canvas hard. She was out cold.
The ref checked on her. He held her hand and asked her to squeeze it to be sure she wasn't just selling. He then told Beth to drag Candice to center-ring and cover her. Beth did, but roughly, yanking her by her hair at first. The ref told her to take it easy (this wasn't meant to be picked up by the ring mic, but it was). He then told her that this was it and he counted to three.
Afterward, refs, agents, and medics rushed to the ring to check on her. The director stayed on the ring as Candice sat up. They handed her a water bottle. She couldn't drink any at first, then sipped a little, then said she needed to lie back down. She didn't seem to know where she was.
Someone then called for an ambulance. A back brace was slid into the ring. Candice was strapped onto that, then a neck brace was added.
WWE.com reports that she was rushed to a local medical facility to be evaluated for a possible shoulder injury. WWE.com features backstage footage of her being tended to. Steph led the way, calling for everyone to get out of the way. Candice panicked and wanted her neck brace taken off. She sat up and looked like she was going to throw up. The backstage footage then abruptly stopped.
Keller Analysis: One of the worst trends that began in the late-'90s was the "you f---ed up chant" that fans would often shout when a move didn't go as planned. It always irritated me because accidents happen in the ring and it was just so disrespectful to the risk wrestlers always face in the ring. The odds of everything going right, even with clear-headed, well-trained, attentive athletes is not 100 percent. The consequences when things go wrong are potentially devastating, such as Owen Hart's piledriver on Steve Austin (that accellerated his forced retirement) or D-Lo Brown's running powerbomb on Droz (that left him paralyzed). Even the awkwardly executed neckbreaker with Shawn Michaels and Mr. Kennedy (seemingly Kennedy's fault, based on Michaels's unmasked irritation afterward) illustrated that simple moves aren't always a gimmie to execute properly. Candice's spill was scary and the after-effects a reminder of what's at stake every second of every match for the wrestlers who perform for fans upwards of a dozen times per month. It just takes one slip, one rookie mistake, one loose rope, one miscommunication to change someone's life.
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