WWE NXT Superstar Nikkita Lyons has announced that she is currently on the shelf after suffering a legitimate knee injury.
As noted, Lyons was pulled from the inaugural NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament on this week’s NXT 2.0 episode. It was announced that Lyons suffered a freak injury while training at the WWE Performance Center, and she was pulled from her semi-finals match against Fallon Henley. Lyons later confirmed on social media that she was injured, revealing a large rubber brace on her leg while she was in a trainer’s room. You can click here for our original report on Lyons and last night’s tournament developments, along with the updated bracket.
In an update, Lyons took to Instagram earlier tonight to provide an update to her fans. She noted that she suffered a partial tear and sprain of her MCL.
The fan favorite confirmed that the knee injury will not require surgery as the MCL will heal itself. She is already doing rehab on the knee, and is wearing a brace, different from the brace we saw in her video from Tuesday. Lyons noted that doctors don’t want her wearing the brace full-time as they don’t want her to rely on it.
Lyons said the injury could’ve been much worse, and she is extremely grateful for that, but it did keep her from competing this week. She did not give a timetable for her return, but indicated that she would not be out of action for too long. Lyons said her goal is to come back better than before.
“Freak accidents happen, stuff happens when you least expect it to, so that’s when you take it, and look at it in the most positive light as possible,” she said.
There is currently no announced timeframe for Lyons’ return to action, but the average recovery time for a MCL tear is six weeks. Depending on the severity of the injury and treatment, recovery time is usually between one to three weeks for a grade 1 mild tear, four to six weeks for a grade 2 moderate tear, and six week or more for a grade 3 severe tear.
Lyons previously defeated Arianna Grace in the first round of the Breakout Tournament and was a favorite to win the whole thing. Henley was set to receive a bye to the finals, but a backstage altercation on last night’s show led to Tiffany Stratton filling in for Lyons. Stratton ended up defeating Henley on Tuesday’s show, while Roxanne Perez defeated Lash Legend in the other semi-finals match. Stratton vs. Perez was then confirmed for the tournament finals, but WWE has not announced when that match will take place. The winner of the inaugural NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament will receive a title match of their choosing. The NXT Women’s Title is currently held by Mandy Rose, who will defend against Wendy Choo at In Your House on Saturday, June 4. It’s possible that the tournament finals will also take place at In Your House.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for the latest on Lyons and the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament. You can see Lyons’ full Instagram video below:
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.