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Recent WWE signing Tyson Tomko is dealing with a torn pectoral muscle. There are some within the company that believe Tomko actually went into his dark match at Raw in Pittsburgh against Paul Burchill with the injury, trying to keep it quiet from WWE management.
Tomko was seen sporting his arm in a sling the day after the Raw taping.
While Tomko was said to have gotten a good reaction from the live crowd in Pittsburgh, including a "Let's go Tomko" chant early, one person who wasn't a fan of his work is said to be Vince McMahon. According to several sources, Vince McMahon was unhappy with the dark match this past Monday. I was able to see a video of the match that leaked online and a minute in, Tomko was unable to take a proper snapmare from Burchill. My guess is Tomko did go into the bout injured as he really looked off compared to his work in TNA, but I can't say that with 100% certainty.
McMahon's reaction to the bout has led to a lot of talk within the company that Tomko's return may be a short one. There were a number of people inside the company who were immediately parroting McMahon's feelings over the last few days, noting Tomko looked heavier, which lends credence to the theory he went into the dark match hurt, unable to work out with the pectoral tear.
I want to note that there are rumors Tomko has already been dropped from the company, but I am unable to substantiate those as of this writing. There were expected to be more releases from the company sometime over the next month, so it's certainly within the realm of possibility.
Tomko departed WWE in 2006 after a run as Christian Cage's second, asking for his release after realizing that he was on a treadmill going nowhere creatively at the time. He left on good terms, asking that he be let go to work overseas and improve with the idea that they could work together down the line.
Tomko became a regular for New Japan Pro Wrestling and later signed with TNA, where his improvement in the ring was evident. In TNA, he was reunited with Cage and had the role of being the serious member of Cage's group, playing off AJ Styles who at the time was doing a dim-witted, bumbling comedy role.
Tomko did a lot of tag work during his runs with the companies, holding the TNA Tag belts with Styles, a team that had a lot of great chemistry and looking back, was split long before they had reached their full potential. At the same time, Tomko held the IWGP Tag Team belts with Giant Bernard (aka former WWE star Matt "A Train" Bloom). Tomko was a featured part of the well received TNA Global Impact special from Japan at the beginning of 2008.
Over time, Tomko's New Japan commitments caused friction with TNA management after he missed a scheduled pre-PPV Fanfest due to a Japanese date and as time went on, there was also a feeling he wasn't on board with what the company wanted from him creatively, questioning decisions. He stock dropped internally and he quickly went from being someone the fans wanted to see turned to a babyface to an afterthought and disappeared.
Tomko was dropped by New Japan and worked dates for Antonio Inoki's IGF, but when that promotion began cutting back on events, he started to look back towards the States. Tomko returned to TNA as a surprise, putting over then-TNA champ Samoa Joe in a one shot appearance but didn't sign a new TNA deal.
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