STAMFORD, Conn. -- WWE Superstar John Cena is temporarily out of action with a herniated disk in his neck.

UPDATE: At 3:30 p.m. ET, WWE.com learned that Cena's surgery was successful and that Dr. Joseph Maroon, renowned neurosurgeon, Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was very positive regarding Cena's condition.

"We performed a microsurgical removal of a large disk fragment compression on the spinal cord which was weakening the nerve leading to the right arm," Dr. Maroon told WWE.com shortly after the operation. "We created a small incision in the front of the neck, using an operating microscope, to remove the fragment from the spinal cord and nerve. The operation took approximately an hour and a half."

Dr. Maroon added, "I think John's prognosis is excellent. We performed this same procedure on three all-pro NFL players, and all three resumed their football careers."

WWE's Dr. Chris Amann, who had been on site for Cena's scheduled 1 p.m. surgery, agreed with Dr. Maroon's assessment on the Cena's successful procedure.

"The surgery went exactly as planned. There were no complications. What we saw in the MRI correlated with what we saw in his disk. Dr. Maroon was able to visualize the disk using a microscope. Right after Cena woke up from the surgery, he said that ‘the pain in his arm and shoulder was gone,'" Dr. Amann recalled.

"As far as what could've gone wrong during surgery is infection and not removing all the disk material. In Cena's case, everything went well," Dr. Amann added. "Dr. Maroon and I expect a full recovery ... though the bone graft that was put into his neck needs to heal before he can see action." 

During Raw Monday night, it was announced by General Manager Mike Adamle that Cena's injury was the horrific outcome of a high impact Batista Bomb that caught an airborne Cena off the top rope at SummerSlam, resulting in numbness in his right arm and extensive pain in his shoulder. (Watch footage of Cena's injury at SummerSlam)

"You can either do one of two things: be upset or know what you can do to get better," said former WWE Champion Cena Monday night, a little over 12 hours before his surgery. "The ultimate goal is to be as strong as I can and get back into the ring as soon as possible."