Wrestlers Who Ended Someone's Career With A Costly Mistake

When a sport features such high levels of intense contact and athleticism, injuries are bound to occur. There is no favorite body part that gets injured more than others – serious injuries related to the head, back or neck are common in the world of professional wrestling, but injuries to other parts of the body could just as easily end someone’s career. Sometimes injuries occur from a miscue in the ring, resulting in an ill-timed maneuver which can prove disastrous for at least one of the parties. Other times, a move that is usually executed to perfection each time it is performed can be given slightly different than it usually is, which could have devastating results. No matter the body part and no matter the way in which it occurred, the most devastating part of the situation is when injuries are so severe that they end up ending a wrestler’s career. Often a wrestler can go on for additional months or years after an injury occurring, but other times injuries can be so severe that they require the performer to stop wrestling instantly.

Whatever the case may be, if you are a wrestling fan then one of the worst things that can occur is for a performer to be required to stop wrestling as a result of an injury, especially if they are a particularly favorite performer of yours. Many wrestlers on this list are some of the most popular to ever wrestle on a big stage, which means that we have lost some of the best wrestlers in the world to simple mistakes in the ring. Truly a shame, but it's important for us to know about these injuries so we do not forget how quickly a career can end.

15 Sasha Banks (Paige)

Sometimes injuries happen during very dangerous maneuvers, but other times it can be a very basic one that results in disaster. After having neck surgery, Paige finally returned to WWE after a year-long absence. What she did not know was that her in-ring career would be cut much shorter upon her arrival. During a house show at the end of 2017, Paige was featured in a six-woman tag team match versus a team led by Sasha Banks, and while wrestling against Banks received a kick to her back which caused severe pain to her neck, forcing the referee to stop the match instantly. Since that simple kick, Paige has not returned to in-ring competition and many have speculated that her wrestling days are over – we are big Paige fans over here and wish her nothing but a speedy recovery.

14 Seth Rollins (Sting)

When an older star gets into the ring, there's always speculation that things could turn badly for them. While Sting is a true legend in the business, it is no secret that his age has played a factor in some of his later wrestling performances – the fact of the matter is that Sting (like many other aging wrestlers) is just not able to keep the same pace that he used to in the ring, and is not able to take the same maneuvers he once did.

Apparently Sting decided to forget that fact during his final match against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions in 2015, as he took a variety of very dangerous maneuvers including Rollins’ signature Buckle Bomb into the turnbuckles, resulting in a neck injury that instantly retired Sting from in-ring competition. While many have pointed the finger at Rollins for performing dangerous maneuvers, Sting should have known better than to participate in a match of this ferocity.

13 D’Lo Brown (Droz)

This served as a wake-up call for how quickly someone’s life could change. During a SmackDown taping in 1999, Droz was wrestling against D’Lo Brown in a standard match, when things quickly went horribly wrong. While performing his signature running powerbomb, Brown was not able to get a solid grip on Droz due to his loose fitting ring attire, and ended up dropping Droz directly on his neck instantly shattering his vertebrae which left him unable to move anything below his neck. The match was instantly stopped and Droz was transported to the hospital, and the match has never been shown to the public before. Thankfully, Droz has regained movement in his upper body since the injury, but it goes to show how one simple mistake can prove disastrous.

12 WCW Negligence (British Bulldog)

Sometimes injuries occur when there is a miscue in the ring between performers, but other times it occurs because of someone else’s stupidity. In the case of The British Bulldog, and injury occurred as a result of someone that wasn’t even involved in his match. During Davey Boy Smith’s final run in WCW in 1998 suffered a back injury after landing on a trap door that was placed underneath the ring canvas, and while it did not lead to his direct retirement it did play a factor in Smith’s dependency on painkillers which ultimately led to his overdose in 2000. The trap door that he was landing on during his match was installed so The Ultimate Warrior could have a dramatic entrance later on during the event – I sure hope the entrance was worth it (it wasn't) because it caused The British Bulldog a severe amount of pain for the rest of his life.

11 Goldberg (Bret Hart)

As a native of Canada, this entry especially hurts because a simple kick during a match cost us all one of the greatest performers in the wrestling business. During Bret’s run in WCW, he began feuding with Goldberg over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which led to months long feud between the two which culminated at Starrcade in 1999. During the match, Goldberg executed a thrust kick which connected directly with the side of Bret’s head causing an instant concussion. Bret didn't understand the full extent of his injury and continued to wrestle the match, postulating that he received another concussion throughout the match.

Hart removed himself from in-ring competition directly after the match, and has only wrestled sparingly since but you can hardly call his recent matches in WWE physically demanding.

10 Chris Nowinski Hits A Slippery Slope

The discussion regarding head injuries among professional athletes is nothing new, but it did take one athlete to begin the conversation. Few remember that former WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski was one of the first athletes to begin the public conversation regarding post-concussion syndrome among athletes from contact sports, but unfortunately it had to begin as a result of his WWE career ending.

Nowinski received his first concussion during a match on RAW with Edge in 2002, but continued to compete in matches without knowing the full extent of his injuries. Ultimately, the Harvard graduate was forced to retire after post-concussion syndrome rendered him with constant headaches and an inability to retain his balance. Instead of being upset about his condition, Nowinski dedicated his time to researching the effect of prolonged concussions on the brain among athletes, which has provided us with great insight into how brains react to trauma.

9 Samoa Joe (Tyson Kidd)

Injuries among professional wrestlers are always a shame, particularly when they cut a career short well before it would be time for the wrestler to retire. This instance is particularly upsetting to me because I have worked with Tyson Kidd personally in the past and know how much he loves the wrestling business and how heart-breaking it was for him to be pulled away from it. During a house-show match with the newly-arrived Samoa Joe, Kidd received Joe’s Muscle Buster maneuver which ultimately led to him breaking several vertebrae. Doctors have stated that this was an accident, but had it not been for Tyson being in impeccable shape he would have become paralyzed following the accident. Kidd is still featured on Total Divas alongside his wife Natalya, but can no longer compete in the ring.

8 Kofi Kingston (CM Punk)

CM Punk’s final days in the WWE are well documented due to Punk’s outspoken nature following his leaving the company, but one often forgotten about piece of his time with WWE are the injuries that Punk sustained. I’m not talking about Punk’s staph infection that he revealed during his revealing Art of Wrestling podcast, but the multiple concussions that he received during his time with WWE. During his final Royal Rumble appearance, Punk stated that he received a concussion following a clothesline from former tag-team partner Kofi Kingston, which was the third he had received recently in the ring, which played a big part in him requiring time off during this period of his career. Had it not been for the personal issues that Punk was having at the time with WWE management, the multiple concussions surely would have played a part in his career ending.

7 Triple H (Tim White)

While not exactly a wrestler, Tim White did receive an injury while refereeing a wrestling match which ended up ending his career. At the highlight of a feud between Triple H and Chris Jericho, they were scheduled to settle their score in a Hell in the Cell match. While Hell in the Cell matches are normally take a brutal toll on the wrestlers involved, this is the first time that a referee ended up more injured than either of the opponents. Following a scuffle on the outside of the ring, White was thrown against the cage of the cell and ultimately shattered bones inside of his arm and pulled the muscles out of his shoulder, making it very difficult to do his job as a referee and pushed him in to early retirement. At least he still got to run his Friendly Tap bar after his referee career ended!

6 Sid's Ill-advised Big Boot

You can either choose to blame Sid for taking an unnecessary risk, but word was that for the main event of WCW Greed in 2001, Sid was pressured by backstage officials to go off the top rope during the match, something Sid obviously wasn't accustomed to doing. WCW wanted Sid to expand his arsenal of moves, and Sid finally agreed to do a spot off the ropes in which he would deliver a big boot while coming off the second rope. Landing on one leg obviously is a risky endeavor and Sid suffered one of the worst ankle fractures you'll ever see not just in wrestling, but any sport. Sid would eventually return to the ring years later, but has only wrestled sporadically since.

5 Neville (Corey Graves)

For those wrestling fans who did not watch NXT during its early days, they may not recognize that Corey Graves was once a main-event level wrestler for the brand before receiving multiple head injuries causing him to retire very early on in his career before being relegated to a commentator role. Graves was placed into a feud with Neville over the NXT Championship, and received a single concussion during a match with him which began a downward spiral of head injuries in Graves’ career.

After continuing to wrestle a match with Neville after receiving one concussion, he received a second during that same match which proved to be too much for Graves’s body. The two concussions were too severe for Graves, and he was forced to retire almost immediately. Thankfully Graves has been stellar on commentary since joining the team, so we are pleased that he has a great future in front of him.

4 Ric Flair (Jim Ross)

This doesn't stem from an in-ring incident, but the fact is, WWE made Jim Ross pay for a mistake made by Ric Flair, in one of the more bizarre firings in wrestling history. Back in 2013, JR was in charge of a WWE 2K14 panel at SummerSlam's axxess weekend. The panel included Ric Flair who showed up on stage in an inebriated state and quickly derailed the planned line of questioning. It was memorable for the audience and far more entertaining than any standard Q&A would've been, but WWE officials were furious and rather than discipline Flair, the company released Jim Ross, with the reasoning being he failed to control the situation. Ross has since been welcomed back by the company, but this was an incredibly unfair way of JR being put out of work.

3 Owen Hart (Steve Austin)

Perhaps the most infamous WWE injury of all time, and perhaps also one of the most costly to the wrestling business as a whole. During their Intercontinental Championship match at SummerSlam in 1997, Owen Hart and Steve Austin were in the middle of a heated feud over the championship, as well as for respect between the athletes. Both prized wrestling performers themselves, they were looking to put on a great match while showcased at the pay-per-view. When discussing the match backstage, Hart mentioned wanting to use a sit-out piledriver on Austin. Austin was adamant that he did not want Hart to “sit-out” with the maneuver, but would rather him fall to his knees traditionally.

During the match, Hart ended up using the sit-out piledriver anyway which ended up damaging Austin’s vertebrae, breaking part of his neck instantly. Austin would go on to wrestle for several more years, but he would have to change his wrestling style drastically, and it cut years off of his career.

2 Sting (Rick Rude)

While most of the injuries on this list are incredibly well known, it's also pertinent that we look at some of the lesser known ones from wrestlers of the past. While touring Japan as members of the WCW roster, Rick Rude was placed into a feud with Sting of the WCW International Heavyweight Championship, which was on its way to becoming one of the best feuds in the company’s history had it not been for an unfortunate injury. During the match, Sting executed a backdrop to Rude on the outside of the ring, but instead of landing flat on the floor he hit part of his back on part of the entrance ramp. While the injury does not look like much from the outside, it brutally damaged Rude’s lower back, which proved to be detrimental to his career as he only wrestled a handful of matches afterwards.

1 Eddie Guerrero (Edge)

Edge’s wrestling career did not end directly after this match occurring, but this unfortunate injury was the catalyst for Edge’s eventual early retirement in 2011. During a feud in 2001 over the Intercontinental Championship, Edge and Eddie Guerrero competed in a very dangerous ladder match, which included Edge falling off of the ladder after a sunset-flip powerbomb from Guerrero. The impact of this maneuver put incredible pressure on Edge’s neck, breaking two of his vertebrae. Edge would take time off for surgery following the injury, but would have lingering neck problems for the rest of his career, leading to a diagnosis of spinal stenosis.

At the time of his retirement, Edge was given medical advice that if he was to have any further matches he would be risking paralysis, so he immediately retired – but it all started from one mistake during a ladder match, which was Edge’s specialty throughout his career.