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“It ain’t ballet” and “Don’t try this at home” are two phrases that have repeatedly been used by WWE Superstars to show just how real the storyline world of sports entertainment can be.
Some WWE Superstars are able to shake off injuries and get back to work within a few days, but others spend months on the sidelines and have to go through surgery before making an in-ring return.
In extreme cases, freak accidents in a WWE ring have even caused permanent scarring to a Superstar’s face and/or body, with some people being left with a lifetime reminder of a heavy-hitting move that they once received in a match.
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who have permanent scars, as well as the opponents who caused the injury in the first place.
Unless stated, quotes from WWE Superstars in this article are from WWE’s website.
#5 JBL (caused by Eddie Guerrero… and WWE legend The Undertaker)
JBL defeated Eddie Guerrero at The Great American Bash 2004 in a Texas Bull Rope match to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his WWE career.
During the match, Guerrero jumped off the announce desk and slammed a cowbell across the forehead of JBL, who immediately began to bleed.
As you can see from the 02:10 mark of the video below, JBL told an amusing story about the incident in a bonus clip from The Undertaker’s ‘Last Ride’ docuseries on the WWE Network.
“The doctor was sewing me up [after the match] and The Undertaker was in the dressing room telling a story and the doctor was not even looking at me, and he was sitting there listening to Undertaker.”
JBL has been good friends with The Undertaker since the day he arrived in WWE, but his interesting story in the dressing room that night distracted the doctor and left him with a permanent scar.
“Then when he [the doctor] finished with me, the stitch, you could see it had a huge gap in it, and that’s why I’ve got such a scar. It’s all because of The Undertaker!”
JBL was only joking around by blaming The Undertaker, but you can see in the picture above that the scar really does still exist.
#4 Santino Marella (caused by WWE RAW incident with Jim Duggan)
Unlike the other WWE Superstars in this list, Santino Marella is responsible for causing his own permanent scar.
In 2008, the former Intercontinental Champion was involved in a segment with WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan on an episode of WWE RAW. Duggan brought along his trusty two-by-four, while Marella had a guitar, as well as Beth Phoenix, alongside him.
The segment ended with Marella hitting Duggan over the head with the guitar, but the villainous move backfired when the WWE Superstar ended up causing serious damage to his own lip.
“One of the strings on the guitar was too tight, so when I hit Duggan, the string recoiled and snapped back, slicing my lip up. I needed about eight stitches to seal it. It was a short cut, but very deep, and they had to put stitches inside my lip, too. I kind of deserved it, though, since I was the one who hit Hacksaw.”
The scar is very clear in the picture above from WWE's website, but Marella said people usually only notice it when he shaves.
#3 The Miz (caused by WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston)
Kofi Kingston’s Trouble in Paradise became one of the most devastating finishers in all of WWE during his six-month reign as WWE Champion in 2019.
Seven years earlier, Kingston used the move to defeat The Miz on an episode of WWE RAW in October 2012. Unfortunately, as you can see from the 02:45 mark of the video below, he caught The Miz with a huge amount of force above his right eye, sending him crashing down to the mat.
The Miz told WWE’s website that, despite the permanent scar, he only required six stitches and he was back at work the next day to film matches against Kingston on WWE Main Event and against Randy Orton on WWE SmackDown.
“Most people say I look tougher now because of it, but I’m p****d off because my face is my moneymaker. This is what people want to see. I’m a movie star. No, I’m not getting any plastic surgery; The Miz doesn’t do plastic surgery. The Miz is too good-looking. Anything added to Miz’s face is just an enhancement.”
You can see in the picture at the top of this page that The Miz’s scar has cleared up over the years, but it is still visible from certain angles.
#2 Roman Reigns (caused by WWE Superstar Big E)
In early 2014, one of the most prominent storylines on WWE television revolved around The Shield and the possibility that Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins could separate in the build-up to WWE WrestleMania 30.
An interesting development took place on the February 3, 2014 episode of WWE RAW when Ambrose tagged himself in on Reigns to pick up a victory for The Shield against Big E, Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio, but the finish to the six-man tag team match is best remembered for The Big Dog suffering a nasty cut.
The exact spot (01:30 in the video below) saw Big E collide with Reigns in the middle of the ring, busting the Shield member open above his right eye.
As you can see in the picture above, Reigns covered the cut up with his hair shortly after speaking to the referee, while WWE’s cameras focused on the left side of his face in the post-match segment.
“It happened in the heat of the moment in The Shield’s match versus Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and Big E, so it didn’t really hurt per se. It was only after the stitches and once the adrenaline wore off around the time that I was going to sleep when I started to feel the pain. But in the moment, I didn’t feel anything. I think it’s bada**.”
Reigns added that he has given out more scars than he has received in his WWE career, so he does not mind having a permanent reminder that he collected a scar doing something he loved.
#1 Fandango (caused in ladder match before WWE call-up)
Fandango has suffered serious shoulder and elbow injuries in recent years, but he was also struck by the injury bug in the early days of his WWE career when he performed as an up-and-coming Superstar in the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental territory.
In 2010, the former Johnny Curtis joined forces with Derrick Bateman (better known as EC3) to defend the Florida Tag Team titles against Los Aviadores (Epico and Hunico) in a ladder match.
As long-term WWE viewers know, ladder matches are some of the most dangerous matches that WWE Superstars can participate in, so the stipulation is only usually used in high-profile television matches.
In this case, four relative newcomers to WWE competed in the risky match type in an untelevised match at an exhibition hall in Gainesville, Florida – something that, needless to say, would never be allowed these days in WWE.
Fandango now has a permanent scar on his bicep due to an awkward landing on the ladder spreader following a hip toss from one of his opponents.
“We did two nights in a row and in the second night, the ladder spreader became bent during the match and it was very sharp. I took a hip toss into the ladder in the middle of the bout, and that metal bracing stuck into my arm and cut into it pretty deep.”
Fandango said he sometimes wears an armband as part of his gear to try to cover up the scar, as shown in the picture above.
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