5 WWE Superstars whose careers were derailed by injuries or illness

#1 Edge

Edge had to retire from his in-ring career

Adam 'Edge' Copeland remains one of the most talented wrestlers of all time. The things he did in a WWE ring remains legendary. His accomplishments were enough for anyone to be proud of.

The Hall of Famer was one of the pioneers of the WWE TLC Match, alongside Christian, when the duo took on the Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz.

However, other than being a ridiculously talented tag team performer, Edge had a glorious singles career, where he held each Championship, feuding with the likes of John Cena, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, and even Batista, among others.

It appeared that he could only do more in the ring, as he was not that old. In fact, he was looked at as one of the major Superstars then in the company who could help continue to carry WWE.

However, somewhere along the way, the wear and tear of wrestling caught up with him. His neck was badly injured during this time, and an injury he suffered in 2003 during a ladder match finally caught up with him.

In 2011, he announced that he had to retire -- an announcement that shocked fans as it came out of apparently nowhere. He was done in the ring, and the doctors had told him one more bad bump could cripple him for life due to issues with his neck. He had to retire way too early.

The 'Rated R Superstar' made a surprise return to in-ring action during the 2020 Royal Rumble. He did one better the next year when he won the rumble match starting from the #1 positio

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There are several other WWE Superstars who had the same or worse fates as these Superstars. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda to find out about 5 Superstars whose careers were cut drastically short due to injuries.