5 WWE real-life injuries that changed massive storylines

In WWE, injuries can happen at any time.

A mistimed move, a botched fall, there's no shortage of small things that can send a Superstar to the bench for weeks, or even months at a time.

And if a Superstar is unfortunate enough to suffer an injury, then this can drastically change the company as a whole.

Just like that, months of storytelling is out of the window, as the company's creative team need to write something new that makes sense, doesn't change too much and is still entertaining for the crowd.

Here are five very real injuries that drastically changed WWE storylines.

---

#5: Cena's year-long reigns ends with three title changes

Cena had to miss several months of action due to an injury, before returning at the 2008 Royal Rumble.

At Unforgiven 2006, John Cena captured his third of 16 WWE World Championships.

Defeating Edge in a TLC Match (in the Canadian's hometown no less!), Cena truly showed he was the top star in WWE.

In the months that followed, Cena would continue his winning ways, with his reign lasting over a year, as Big Match John dispatched foes like Umaga, Shawn Michaels, Bobby Lashley, Booker T and Mick Foley along the way.

This year-long reign came crashing down though when Cena suffered an injury on RAW in October 2007.

By the next pay per view No Mercy, Cena was stripped of the title, which was awarded to Randy Orton, who then lost the gold to Triple H minutes later.

The Game would then lose the title back to Orton later that same night, as it seemed WWE were trying to make up for a year of no WWE title changes.

#4: Cody's face, and mind crack

Cody's character underwent a massive change when his face was damaged during a match.

Cody Rhodes is a handsome man, there's no denying it.

But when the young Superstar was voted the most 'dashing' man in WWE, the term went to his head.

Embracing his looks, Rhodes would often speak about his own vanity, but suffered a broken nose during a match against Rey Mysterio in 2011.

This drastically changed Cody's character, as the future-Stardust would become obsessed with his damaged face, seeing himself as deformed.

Though you never want to see a Superstar get injured, this injury did do a lot for Cody, allowing him to showcase his acting talent and making for one of SmackDown's most unique and exciting stars.

Wearing a protective mask and hood, Cody became much more of a supervillain, before eventually ditching the mask later that same year.

#3: The Ultimate Opportunist's luck runs out

Edge cashed in Money in the Bank on a downed Undertaker, but vacated the title months later.

After winning Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 23, Mr. Kennedy vowed he wouldn't cash in the contract until Mania 24 the next year.

Unfortunately for Kennedy, he wouldn't get the chance as he would soon lose the briefcase to Edge on RAW in May 2007.

Winning the contract, the savvy Canadian wouldn't waste time, cashing in on the next SmackDown to become World Champion.

A sneaky move by Edge, karma would get to him, as the Ultimate Opportunist would go down with an injury just two months later.

Being forced to surrender the gold, Edge would need several months off, as plans changed and the Great Khali won the title in a battle royal.

Returning at Survivor Series that November, Edge would regain the title the following month.

#2: The Demon falls as the Prizefighter arrives

Balor's loss was Kevin Owen's gain on RAW in 2016.

At Summerslam 2016, Finn Balor made history when he toppled Seth Rollins to become the very first WWE Universal Champion.

A hard fought match, both men gave their all, though a bucklebomb onto the barricade outside of the ring changed everything quickly after the bell was rung.

Requiring surgery, Balor would be forced to vacate the title the next day, and though he was the first champion, he also holds the record for the shortest reign.

With a new champion needed, a Fatal 4-Way was set up, including Rollins, Roman Reigns, Big Cass and Kevin Owens.

As it came down to Rollins and Owens, Triple H made his presence known, attacking his protege to give the Canadian the win.

A huge night for Kevin Owens, we can't help but wonder what Balor was thinking seeing this happen.

#1: Triple H's quad tear skips Invasion

The Game missed the entire Invasion storyline before returning to the WWE in January 2002.

The Invasion storyline is remembered for many reasons, and the most of them aren't good.

The attempted coup by WCW and ECW to destroy the WWF, the storyline took up the majority of 2001, and led to some questionable booking for all sides.

One Superstar who was able to skip it though, was Triple H.

During a tag team match on RAW, The Game suffered his first quad tear, but somehow continued the match, at one point even being placed in the Walls of Jericho.

After missing the entire Invasion (which, spoilers: WWE won!), the Cerebral Assassin returned to the company in January 2002 as a face.

Winning the Royal Rumble, the Game would cement his return by winning the Undisputed Championship from Chris Jericho at WrestleMania X8.