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The year 2020 hasn't been very great for most of us, if not all. With the world being struck by the deadly pandemic of COVID-19, everyone and everything has been affected extremely by the same, and WWE falls in this category as well.
With the entire world under lockdown and practicing social distancing, fans were not allowed to be in the arena, which forced WWE to hold all its shows at the Performance Center without a crowd. As impossible as it seems to have a mega-show like WrestleMania 36 in an empty-arena, WWE pulled it off and thanks to the utter dedication of the Superstars, the match quality has been pretty good.
But while these WWE Superstars gave it their all to keep us entertained at our homes, some of them suffered a legitimate injury this year during a match. In this article, let's take a look at six such cases of WWE Superstars who were injured in the ring in 2020. We wish for there speedy recovery and hope to see them all back on our screens soon.
#6 Edge - WWE Backlash
The Rated-R Superstar made his massive return earlier this year at WWE Royal Rumble 2020, almost nine years after announcing his retirement due to his neck issues. What followed was arguably the most heated rivalry on the Road to WrestleMania as Edge and Randy Orton took things to another level.
While Edge defeated Orton at WrestleMania 36 in a Last Man Standing match, the two reignited their rivalry soon leading to a match at WWE Backlash 2020, promoted by WWE as "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever".
The two did go on to have a great (not the greatest) match at the PPV and it was Randy Orton who came out victorious after bringing back his deadly Punt Kick. Unfortunately, Edge tore his tricep during the match. The Hall of Famer later revealed the exact way he injured himself during the match -
“I did a springboard into the second RKO. I went ‘ooh.’ I got the cold sweats and I feel like I’m going to throw up. That’s usually a sign. That’s where it popped. I thought, okay, I think I have a little bit more in the tank to finish this out. We got it finished. I got to the back and I was like ‘I think something happened to my tricep.’ I don’t think it’s complete, but it feels like something. They felt around and they said ‘we think it might be complete." (H/T Pro Wrestling Sheet)
A torn tricep usually takes around four to eight months to recover, which means that Edge might be out for the rest of 2020. There are rumors of WWE planning an "I Quit Match" between him and Randy Orton at next year's WrestleMania 37.
#5 AJ Styles - WWE Royal Rumble
The 2020 Men's Royal Rumble match was an eventful show with multiple massive returns, dominating performances, and a crowd-favorite winner, Drew McIntyre. But what it also saw was the two-time WWE Champion, AJ Styles suffering a legitimate injury.
The Phenomenal One entered the Royal Rumble match at #18 but lasted only over seven minutes before being eliminated by the returning, Edge. He wasn't meant to be eliminated so early, but while receiving a spear from the Rated-R Superstar, AJ Styles landed awkwardly and injured his arm. Styles then audibly asked Edge to eliminate him and then received medical attention immediately.
While there were concerns over him missing WWE's biggest show of the year, WrestleMania 36, thankfully he recovered and made it to the PPV. AJ Styles faced The Undertaker in a Boneyard match, which might just be the last WWE match of the Phenom.
After competing in the WWE Money in the Bank match, AJ Styles soon jumped brands to WWE SmackDown. Currently, the Phenomenal One is the Intercontinental Champion, consistently putting up great matches with various young talents like Drew Gulak, Matt Riddle, and many others.
#4 Samoa Joe - WWE RAW
Samoa Joe's WWE career has unfortunately been filled with injuries. On the RAW after Royal Rumble, Joe teamed up with Kevin Owens to take on the then RAW Tag Team Champions, Seth Rollins, and Murphy. During the match, Joe performed a suicide dive on Murphy but ended up falling awkwardly on his head.
He was then escorted back by WWE's medical staff and examined, which left Owens alone and at a number's disadvantage, thus losing the match. It was later reported by PWInsider that Joe was legitimately injured after that spot.
The decision to remove Joe from the match was made by WWE medical personnel and was 100% legitimate, not something that was booked as part of the match. Everyone involved was pretty much calling the remainder of the bout on the fly.
Samoa Joe has since been out of action, though we saw him return to WWE RAW as a commentator and he has been doing an amazing job at it. But last week on RAW, Joe teased getting back to the ring soon when he confronted the Monday Night Messiah.
#3 Rezar - WWE RAW
One half of former WWE RAW Tag Team Champions, The Authors of Pain, Rezar suffered an injury during an episode of the Red brand in March 2020. It was during a massive 8-man tag team match between Seth Rollins and his disciples taking on the Street Profits and the Viking Raiders.
Rezar tore his right bicep during the match and has since been out of action. Unfortunately, Akam has also been kept off WWE TV due to the same. It is to be seen when will the AOP return and whether they rejoin the Monday Night Messiah or not.
Exactly how this effects the AOP on television is to be determined. Surgery usually means six to eight months out. Rehabbing without surgery, which is possible with that injury, would still mean a few months out.
#2 Jimmy Uso - WWE WrestleMania 36
At WrestleMania 36, the SmackDown Tag Team titles were on the line in a triple threat match between John Morrison, Jimmy Uso, and Kofi Kingston - all of whom were representing their teams. Unfortunately, Jimmy Uso suffered a knee injury during the match.
We haven't seen him back on WWE Programming ever since and the injury is likely to keep him out for a few more months. Meanwhile, his brother Jey Uso has also not been used in any significant manner by WWE, who appeared on a recent episode of WWE SmackDown to host the karaoke competition between the Superstars of the women's division of the Blue brand.
#1 Dexter Lumis - WWE NXT
The recent entry on this list is WWE NXT Superstar, Dexter Lumis. Previously known as Samuel Shaw, he signed with WWE in early 2019, and soon his name was changed to Dexter Lumis. In the last couple of months, Lumis has turned heel and was looking all set to get into the NXT Championship picture against Adam Cole (Bay Bay).
At WWE NXT Great American Bash, Keith Lee defeated Adam Cole to become the first Superstar to hold both the NXT and the North American title at the same time. A couple of weeks later, Lee relinquished the North American title, and a ladder match for the vacant championship was announced by William Regal for NXT TakeOver XXX.
A couple of weeks ago on WWE NXT, Dexter Lumis defeated Finn Balor and Timothy Thatcher to qualify for the match. Unfortunately, he suffered an ankle injury during the match.
WWE has since announced that Lumis has been removed from the North American championship ladder match at NXT TakeOver XXX. We still don't have any information on how long he will be out of action.
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