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The WWE ring is not known for its comfort. As many people will attest to, if you are to compete in a WWE ring, you’re going to leave sore, no matter how safe you are. Some of the behemoths that inhabit the WWE have been able to take their wars so far, that they have actually broken the ring in one way or another.
Sometimes, it can be as simple as a rope flying off due to the tension being put on it, other times, superstars have gone that one step further and caused the whole ring to crumble to the ground.
You can see how strong the rings are when you look at events such as the Royal Rumble. At any one time there can be upwards of eight superstars in the ring at once and given their size, that’s not a light load. The ring has never buckled in one of these events.
It’s not always the heaviest that caused the chaos though. Here are 10 superstars that caused the ring to break in some form or another.
#10 Chris Jericho
No Mercy 2002 is known for the brutal Hell in a Cell match between a young Brock Lesnar and The American Badass, The Undertaker, but that’s not the only thing of note that happened that evening.
During a tag team match with Booker T and Goldust, Jericho went for what can only be assumed was a springboard crossbody or dropkick and the turnbuckle exploded from the pressure and the rope collapsed. Jericho fell to the mat and thankfully did not injure himself as he could have done from such an accident.
They played the incident off as professionally as they possibly could do with Goldust attempting the pin off a disoriented Jericho, who must have been shaken by the incident.
Despite this distraction, the team of Chris Jericho and Christian retained the World Tag Team Championships at the event and the ring technicians were able to get the rope fixed for the war that was to come in the main event.
#9 Roman Reigns
In what appeared to be more of a planned turnbuckle break than the last slide, Roman Reigns took the top rope with him after being flung at full pelt into the corner by Braun Strowman.
Their feud has been as violent as any other in the PG era and quite frankly, it’s a joy to watch at times. They have built Strowman from a Samwell Tarly (a chubby character from TV show Game of Thrones) lookalike involved with Bray Wyatt to one of the most dominant forces on the Raw roster.
He is one of the only superstars that holds a genuine threat to Roman Reigns and his almost super-Cena like status within the company. Having Strowman catch Reigns after an attempted Superman Punch and throw him so hard into the corner that the ring breaks was a brilliant way to make Strowman seem stronger than the rest of the roster.
#8 Nexus
I remember the Nexus destroying the RAW set like it was yesterday. It was the most exciting thing that had happened on WWE programming in a long time and brought a lot of fans back to the show just to see the fallout of this gang of rogues wreaking havoc on the ring and roster.
This group of rookies were a part of the first season of NXT and included such stars as Daniel Bryan, Ryback and Darren Young. Led by the Englishman Wade Barrett, the young, hungry superstars were looking to make an impact in the WWE and were laying out superstars left, right and centre.
You might notice that the main event of the night saw John Cena taking on CM Punk while he was still in his masked Straight Edge Saviour gimmick. A nice bit of foreshadowing. Nexus did not care though and proceeded to rip the ring to pieces.
Destroying the ropes, the announcer’s tables, the actual mat to the ring and exposing the wood, they certainly got themselves noticed!
The destruction begins at 14:30 in the video above.
#7 Kane
Kane used to be one of the most destructive forces in the WWE and he showed it on the 14/08/00 episode of RAW when he chokeslammed his brother, The Undertaker, through the ring. Superstars going through the ring does not happen often at all and it’s one of the only things in the WWE that has remained quite special because of this.
What made this segment even more satisfying, was Kane riding off on his brother’s motorcycle after chokeslamming him to hell. This was all in the run up to their match at SummerSlam 2000, which was not even marketed as an official match, but an unsanctioned fight.
Kane ended up losing his mask for the first time ever that night and people clamoured to get a shot of his scarred, disfigured face. Little did they know how disappointed they would be three years later when he would eventually reveal his face to the world.
Kane is not the only one with a chokeslam powerful enough to send The Undertaker through the ring…
#6 Big Show
Before they decided to punish Big Show for his attitude by sending him to OVW, they had him compete against some pretty high profile talent on RAW. One such opponent was The Undertaker. The Undertaker is the ultimate professional and has never had a problem with putting people over for the good of the product or the storyline.
Big Show was being built as an unstoppable giant (because why not?) and he was embroiled in a feud with the Deadman. Few people have looked dominant against the Deadman to this day, but The Big Show showed his dominance on this day by chokeslamming The Undertaker right through the ring.
It was certainly an impressive sight and Jim Ross certainly did not hurt the segment, adding that extra dimension with his perfect commentary. What did damage the segment a little bit was Big Show flopping himself into the hole he’d left in the ring. I’ve never understood that…
#5 Undertaker
Edge vs. The Undertaker at SummerSlam is widely considered to be one of the best Hell in a Cell matches that didn't involve the competitors bleeding. It came just after the introduction of the PG restrictions that saw the product conform to more family friendly programming.
Nevertheless, Edge and The Undertaker put on a classic match and it ended with Edge taking a chokeslam off a ladder and going straight through the ring. It was an amazing sight and the pure shock from Tazz and JR adds to the extraordinary nature of the move.
It’s weird how much worse it looks going through the ring when ironically, it’s probably a lot safer and a lot better for the back of the athlete as there is more to break the fall as when these stunts are usually performed, an airbag is placed under the bit of the ring that is to collapse.
The spectacle of someone going through the ring never loses its shock value though and it enhances the severity of the move being performed.
#4 Cactus Jack
Triple H vs. Cactus Jack is the rivalry that got me into wrestling. I was so heavily invested in these two characters that it only seemed right for them to end their conflict in the confines of the Hell in a Cell structure. Up to this point, this would be the third Hell in a Cell match of any note.
How could they beat the Hell in a Cell match that Mick Foley was famous for though? They did the spot off the side of the cage after Cactus found his way outside. The table broke perfectly and he was uninjured this time around.
As they went to the top of the structure, the worry was mounting in regards to what they had planned for each other up there. An unsettling murmur went through the crowd as Triple H reversed a piledriver attempt and Cactus went through the cell and the ring.
The ring broke perfectly and helped to cushion the Hardcore Legend’s fall but it looked mightily impressive nonetheless. It looked even better when he crawled out of the pit like a man possessed and Triple H had to use a Pedigree to fully put him down.
#3 Big Show & Braun Strowman
Big Show is known for causing the ring to implode and this was the third time it had happened on his watch.
A superplex from Braun Strowman and Big Show caused the whole ring to collapse and though the WWE Universe had seen this twice before in history, it was still met with a great reaction and made Braun Strowman look like a threat as mentioned earlier in the article.
What makes me wonder if this was planned or not is the referee. If he’d have known it was coming, then he surely wouldn’t have stood near the ropes knowing they were going to collapse. He fell right out of the ring! He also looked to land on his neck/head area, so he was very lucky not to be injured from the stunt.
The match did not even need this stunt to cap it off as the crowd were well into it. It was the first match involving Big Show in a year that I wanted to watch and was fully invested in.
He had lost weight and you knew he was going to be a challenge to the up and coming Monster Among Men. It didn’t disappoint. They destroyed each other and took the ring with them.
#2 Mark Henry & Big Show
Mark Henry was on a roll at the time this match came around. He was in the last full push of his career and the World Heavyweight Champion. Going into Vengeance 2011, Big Show was to be his opponent for the Championship.
I don’t think anyone expected Big Show to win, but I also don’t think they expected the ending to the match they got.
It ended in a No Contest as a superplex caused the ring to implode for the second time in WWE history at the event. The match itself was forgettable, to be honest, and the only reason anyone really remembers the event is because the ring collapsed when the "World’s Strongest Man" Mark Henry, and Big Show went to the top rope and performed a superplex.
I really liked Mark Henry’s reign as World Heavyweight Champion and it’s good that there are memorable moments to it such as this.
#1 Big Show & Brock Lesnar
The original ring implosion. You’ve probably seen it a thousand times as I have. Brock Lesnar delivered a devastating superplex to the Big Show on the 199th episode of SmackDown and the whole ring imploded.
What’s interesting about it is the fact it happened on SmackDown, which Vince has always considered the 'B show' despite writers coming in now and then and making it better than RAW. They always get ousted and RAW remains top dog even at the expense of the product.
Big Show and Brock Lesnar had an intense rivalry which helped shape Lesnar’s career in the WWE. He had some great matches with the Big Show and this was certainly one of them. It helped to display the power and strength of Lesnar and also got the relative rookie over with the crowd.
It remains one of the biggest moments in WWE history.
