Ex-WWE Star Stevie Richards Weighs In On JD McDonagh's Botched Moonsault

During last week's episode of "WWE Raw," JD McDonagh suffered an injury after botching a moonsault during his and Dominik Mysterio's WWE World Tag Team Championship match against The War Raiders. Pro wrestling veteran Stevie Richards looked at the botched on "The Stevie Richards Show," explaining where McDonagh went wrong and what kind of injury the former champion realistically suffered.

Looking over the botch in slow motion, Richards noticed that McDonagh and Ivar's feet seemed to get tangled up, which led to the Judgment Day star tripping backward with the momentum. "How did he not break his neck? This is every bit as bad as that dude who did the 630 or whatever and then landed straight on his head backwards; this is the same kind of backlash," he explained, before adding how his heart goes out to McDonagh.

Despite the botch, Richards praised the match as a whole, and added that the moonsault was not even needed. "This was not necessary in the least. "Technically, nothing wrong, it's a positioning error and I think [Ivar's] ... a really great guy." 

When it came to his opinion on the injury McDonagh most likely suffered, Richards noted that there's no doubt in his mind that it was a concussion, despite what the star himself has said on social media. "If you're telling me right here that his brain did not smack up against his skull and pinball back and forth? No, no way."

Before looking over the footage, Stevie Richards took some time to initially praise JD McDonagh. What's more, he explained what he believes is the former champion's greatest asset in pro wrestling. 

"I'm very, very impressed with the way he bumps and sells — but, that's a double-edged sword, and I know it better than everybody else," Richards said. "His greatest asset is going to possibly be why he might be, at 53 years old or sooner, feeling the way I felt or more, outside of a spine infection." The veteran warned that McDonagh's greatest asset is beating his body up prematurely and that he should find another way to get over with fans that won't potentially put his career at risk.

Outside of Richards, veterans like Bully Ray also reacted to the news of his injury. Unlike Richards, though, Ray instead first made some comments in kayfabe, suggesting that McDonagh deserved his injury after a backstage interaction the two of them had during WWE WrestleMania 40. However, he later added that he hopes McDonagh gets better soon and that the injury could definitely have been a lot worse than it ended up being.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Stevie Richards Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.