Irv Muchnick, author of Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death and Scandal, posted in his blog at the suspicious nature of the latest injury of WWE wrestler champion Dave Batista, entitled Batista, Master of the Torn Triceps…And Bicep. It was also in November 2007 when he headlined an article noting the two previous occasions in which he had a particular injury, which is common to steroid users whose disproportionate muscle mass overloads tendons. And after forming the Evolution faction, Batista tore his tricep in match last March 1, 2003 live event in Reading, Pennsylvania. And according to WWE.com, weeks later during the rehab, Batista re-tore it in a “freak accident while jogging with his wife.” As a result of the accident, Batista was sidelined until October of that year.

Meanwhile, Dave Meltzer, editor of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, said last week that Batista’s frequent injuries are “definitely not just a case of bad luck.” He wrote: “Batista’s frequent injuries are hardly just bad luck. It’s a combination of age, physique, and likely a lot of muscle/tendon imbalances because he’s so big and muscular at his age. Torn biceps are not like torn triceps, torn lats and torn abs, which are usually the signs of steroid-related muscle injuries. The biceps, being a small muscle that bodybuilders train heavy, will tear more frequently on steroids, but non-steroid using lifters often don’t have problems with biceps tears. He looked to be high risk when he returned carrying noticeably more muscle mass than when he left, even though he’s now 40. His new look raised a lot of eyebrows and questions including rumors that this injury was a cover reason for a suspension. However, we were able to confirm the injury was real and you don’t have to undergo surgery to cover a drug suspension.”

Through e-mail, Muchnick asked Meltzer if he can make his comments about Batista a bit clearer because while his injury was announced as biceps, it does not necessarily mean that it was not actually his triceps. Meltzer, who rarely goes on record to outright accuse a wrestler of steroid use said that Batista’s most recent injury was indeed steroid-related.

“Obviously, it was steroid-related,” Meltzer wrote in his e-mail to Muchnick, “but in fairness, guys not on steroids also tear biceps and not triceps.” Muchnick further noted, “As soon as I can figure out what’s going on with this latest round of WWE drug PR, I’ll blog further about it.”

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, Batista is nursing a torn tendon in his biceps. The injury was not originally believed to be a torn biceps, but a tendon tear is not considered serious and would not require him to miss as much time.

In 2007, Batista made the following remarks regarding steroid use in wrestling. “There is a serious testing program in place.” “I love what I do and hate it when people say wrestlers are drugged up on steroids. I won’t accept it in the locker room and I’m in total compliance,” he said.

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