5 Accidental botches that ended WWE careers

WWE Superstars are aware of the business that they have trained to be part of. This means that when injuries occur, more often than not, they are prepared for the fallout.

There are only a small amount of wrestlers in the world who have never been injured in the ring since this is something that comes with being part of the industry. Whilst many injuries are easy to overcome with rehab or surgery, there are others that Superstars are unable to come back from.

The following list looks at just five botches that have ended WWE careers over the past few years, and several of these were interestingly performed by some of the company's biggest Superstars.

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#5 Former WWE Champion Seth Rollins performs a Buckle Bomb on Sting

Whilst Sting recently made his way over to AEW and is now a contracted talent for their brand, there was a time when The Icon was regularly appearing on WWE's main roster.

Back in 2015, after just a handful of WWE matches, Sting was given the chance to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At Night of Champions, Rollins pulled off double duty and took on Sting in the main event, where he delivered a Buckle Bomb to The Icon. However, the move was botched and Sting suffered a severe neck injury.

It marked the end of Sting's in-ring career with WWE after less than a year since the former WCW star only made his debut at Survivor Series in 2014. It was revealed that Sting's injury meant that he was unable to push for his "dream match" against The Undertaker and was later added to the WWE Hall of Fame. Throughout the time, Sting refused to retire from the ring since he continued to hold out hope that he would be able to wrestle The Deadman one day.

Sting has since moved over to AEW, but the injury is still obviously an issue for the former WWE star since his contract includes matches but it appears that he may only be able to compete in cinematic style bouts.

#4 WWE Superstar Samoa Joe delivers the Muscle Buster to Tyson Kidd

5% of people survive this injury. 16 staples, 4 screws and a rod later and luckily I survived to tell my story. pic.twitter.com/hXpXpA0aAF

— TJ Wilson (@TJWilson) July 7, 2015

Tyson Kidd was one of the graduates of the Hart Family Dungeon and went on to find some success in WWE's Tag Team Division. Most recently this was as part of a team with Cesaro, even though Kidd was also able to hold a match as a singles star.

The former Tag Team Champion took on Samoa Joe in a dark match ahead of Monday Night RAW back in June 2015 and received a Muscle Buster to finish the match.

Kidd suffered a spinal cord injury in what was declared a freak accident and WWE later stated that he would be out of action for up to a year. Kidd later revealed that only 5% of people survive his injury and that he had 16 staples, four screws, and a rod inserted into his neck.

Kidd has since transitioned into a role as a producer backstage with WWE and recently there were rumors that he could be pushing for a return after videos of the star training surfaced online. As of writing, there have been no plans revealed for Kidd's in-ring future.

#3 Former WWE star Goldberg's superkick to Bret Hart

Back in December 1999, WWE Hall Of Famer Bret Hart and Goldberg collided in the main event of WCW Starrcade in a match that was set to be their moment to shine and put themselves forward as the future of the company.

Instead, it was the match that later led to Bret Hart's premature retirement from the business the following year, after Goldberg delivered a superkick that gave The Hitman a concussion.

After the match, Hart was unaware of the severity of his injury, but after continuing to compete in several matches for WCW over the next few weeks, he was forced to relinquish his Championship in early 2000 after being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome.

Bret Hart later retired from the business that year but has since been able to make several appearances in WWE over the past two decades. It's also reported that despite Goldberg being the man to end his in-ring wrestling career in its prime, he has forgiven the former star and they are now good friends.

#2 Former WWE star D-Lo Brown performs a powerbomb to Droz

Darren Drozlov was seen as a former NFL star turned wrestler when he joined WWE back in 1999, but his career was cut short when he faced off against D-Lo Brown in a match on SmackDown the following year.

Brown performed a powerbomb to the star which was seemingly botched because of his loose clothing. This meant that Droz landed on his head and fractured two disks.

Droz's WWE career was over at that moment when it was revealed that he was paralyzed and he was then forced to rehab for several years so that he could regain mobility in his upper body.

Much like many of the stars on this list who were the victims of freak accidents, Droz has no ill-will towards D-Lo Brown and has continued to be positive about life over the past two decades. WWE has also helped the former star throughout his recovery and it's reported that he is signed to a life-long deal with the company.

#1 Current WWE star Edge performs a Somersault Senton to Jose Estrada Jr.

The Rated-R Superstar is no stranger to injuries since he was forced to retire from WWE back in 2011 when it was revealed that he was struggling with Cervical Spinal Stenosis. Nine years later, Edge was able to return to the ring after nothing short of a miracle, but the same can't be said for his first-ever opponent.

When Edge first came to WWE, the roster was very different and his first opponent in a televised match was Jose Estrada Jr. The two men collided on an episode of RAW is War back in 1998 which would become Estrada's final match.

Edge performed a Somersault Senton onto the outside which wasn't caught the way it should have been and it legitimately injured Estrada's neck.

This was the final time that Estrada competed for WWE and he later made some appearances for IMPACT Wrestling. However, his active career came to an end when he suffered that legitimate neck injury more than two decades ago.