5 WWE Superstars who were nearly paralysed in the ring

Wrestling is a tough job. Here, a single mistake could take someone's life. However, things have changed a lot since the past few years in WWE.

Superstars no longer sustain injuries as often as did in the past because now, WWE takes special care of it. They have made several rules that help protecting wrestlers from suffering serious injuries.

Apart from WWE, Superstars too take care of fellow wrestlers in the ring because they don’t fight to hurt each other but to entertain the crowd. However, things weren’t great all the time. Some wrestlers have tried performing high risking moves but unfortunately messed up. Following are five WWE Superstars that nearly paralyzed in the ring.

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#5 ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin

Steve Austin will never forget the night at Summerslam 1997 when he fought Owen Hart for the Intercontinental Championship as in the end, this title match turned out to be a nightmare for him.

During the match, Owen attempted the Reverse Tombstone Piledriver on Austin but he failed to do it correctly. The Rattlesnake landed on his neck, which nearly broke. Despite being temporary paralyzed, Austin finished the match and retained the title.

“Owen almost paralyzed me. He called me only once to apologize while I was in the hospital. If I almost break someone’s neck, I’m calling them 25 times to apologize…” (HT: ProWrestlingStories for the quotes)

Had the injury been more devastating, it would have paralyzed Austin forever. Fortunately, it didn’t happen, and he continued wrestling for WWE until his retirement in 2003. This injury could also be a reason why Austin retired too early from wrestling.

#4 Marty Garner

WWE Jobber Marty Garner fought Hunter Heart Helmsley (Triple H) on a WWF Superstars episode, in 1996. To finish the match, Triple H hit Harner with pedigree, which severely injured the latter’s neck.

Actually, Garner never worked with Triple H before which is why he didn’t know which move was coming. When The Game bent him down, Marty mistook the maneuver for Double Underhook Suplex and jumped too far, which resulted in his neck landing directly to the ring. The effect of the move was powerful enough to paralyze his body if not kill him.

Fortunately, such a thing didn’t happen but Garner did suffered an injury which kept him sidelined for a few months.

Later, he sued WWE for Triple H’s mistake, but they settled the matter outside the court. After that, he continued working for Vince McMahon until a few more years and then left.

#3 Paige

After suffering injuries and returning from suspensions, Paige returned to WWE with a newly-formed Absolution, which also included Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville.

A month later, Absolution faced Bayley, Sasha Banks and Mickie James at a house show. Everything was going good until Banks dropped a kick to Paige’s back. The British Superstar wasn’t able to stand which caused the referee to stop the match.

Later, reports revealed that Paige was injured and she would probably not wrestle again. Fans criticized Sasha for ending her career too early, but in multiple interviews, Paige defended her friend saying she wasn’t the one at fault.

At Edge and Christian podcast, Paige revealed that when she met WWE’s Dr. Joseph Maroon, he told her that another strike could paralyze her for a lifetime.

He was like 'if you get hit again you'll be paralyzed' kind of the same as Edge and I already knew that, I was just hoping he would tell me something different.

#2 Tyson Kidd

Tyson Kidd has suffered one of the most devastating injuries in the history of sports entertainment in 2015 when he faced Samoa Joe Raw in a non-televised match.

During the bout, Joe hit Tyson with a muscle buster but things didn’t go as planned. The move injured Joe’s opponent badly. To this date, he hasn’t returned to the WWE because this neck injury ended his career right away.

Everyone was shocked hearing this news, not because Tyson’s career ended prematurely but because of how lucky he was. Speaking to SLAM! Wrestling, he recalled the moment when Natalya told her that this move could have paralyzed him for the rest of his life.

"She said, 'You have a very, very similar injury to Christopher Reeve, and the truth is your C2 is what controls your breathing. When it hit your spinal cord, you should have suffocated to death right there. She said five percent of people survive this injury and of the five who do, 99% are paralyzed."

#1 Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar is enjoying a great career in WWE. Without wrestling for 300+ days a year, Lesnar gets a hefty paycheck. However, it wouldn’t have been possible if he had paralyzed.

In 2003, The Beast won the Royal Rumble match, which guaranteed him a title shot at WrestleMania 19 against Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. A surprising moment from the match came when Lesnar performed the Shooting Star Press on Angle, but he botched it and landed awkwardly on his neck. Fortunately, his body didn’t paralyze, but he did suffer a concussion. Still Lesnar completed the match and walked out as the new champion.

When he reached backstage, the medical team checked him and immediately gave him the necessary treatment. Speaking to Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc., Angle revealed that he’s responsible for Lesnar’s actions:

“That was my idea, I will take responsibility for Brock doing that. At the time I had to leave (WWE), it really wasn’t in the plans for me to drop the title at WrestleMania. I had suffered a broken neck and was going to have surgery, so I wanted to do something that people would remember. I asked Brock to do the Shooting Star Press, which he had done many times in OVW. I just thought it would be a great way to end the show.”