WWE Superstar Robert Roode Undergoes Surgery for Neck Injury

WWE Superstar Robert Roode announced Friday on Instagram that he underwent neck surgery in Birmingham, Alabama.

Roode noted that he had his C5 and C6 vertebrae fused and wrote he was "looking forward to the challenge" of rehabbing and recovering from the procedure.

This marks the second known surgery Roode has undergone in the span of about two months, as he previously announced in late September that he had an unspecified procedure in Birmingham.

Last month, PWInsider.com (h/t Gunjan Nath of Ringside News) reported that WWE officials were hopeful Roode would be recovered and back in the ring soon.

Given the significance of a spinal fusion surgery, it now seems likely that the 46-year-old veteran will have a long road back.

Roode has not wrestled a match of any kind since a live event in June, and his most recent televised match was the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal the night before WrestleMania in April.

Around that same time, Roode made some appearances on NXT in support of Dolph Ziggler, who had beaten Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship, but that ended when Breakker beat Ziggler on Raw the night after WrestleMania.

Roode spent much of the past few years as Ziggler's tag team partner, winning both the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Before that, he held the United States Championship, and his greatest success in WWE came as part of NXT where he was NXT champion.

If and when Roode returns to action, it is fair to assume that he could be in line for his biggest push yet on the main roster since Triple H took over for Vince McMahon as head of WWE creative in July.

Triple H was the one responsible for signing Roode and giving him a major push in NXT, and he may be willing to do the same on the main roster once the Canadian is cleared.

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