The dangers of professional wrestling cannot be stressed enough. Every time a wrestler steps in between the ropes, he or she risks their life for our entertainment. And even if they have a successful career without major injuries, the wear and tear that they suffer during their career will haunt them for rest of their life.
We have seen wrestlers suffering horrific injuries throughout the years and the sad fact is that it’s all part of the business. Suffering paralysis is one of the worst case scenarios and unfortunately, certain wrestlers have fallen into this state. In this list, we are going to take a look at those names.
7: Sting
Sting was one of the wrestlers who suffered temporary paralysis. And in case you have not guessed it already, it happened during his infamous match with Seth Rollins at Night of Champions last year. Rollins delivered buckle bombs to Sting during the match and the Icon went on to admit that he suffered from temporary paralysis and was not able to find power in his legs for some time.
Sting never wrestled since the tragic injury and he announced his retirement. Rollins attracted a lot of heat due to this, but Sting went on to claim that Rollins is one of the best wrestlers that he has worked with and admitted that it was not Rollins’ fault.
6: Steve Austin
Like Sting, Steve Austin was also someone that suffered temporary paralysis. The incident happened during 1997 SummerSlam when Austin faced off against Owen Hart for the Intercontinental championship. A Botched piledriver from Owen dropped Austin on his head resulting in a broken neck and temporary paralysis to the Texas Rattlesnake.
The injury was so severe that Austin had to relinquish the Tag team championship and Intercontinental championship that he was holding.
It was this injury that would later cut short Austin’s in-ring career but it did pave the way for another rivalry that would change the entire wrestling business forever – The Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon saga.
5: Jesse Sorensen
Jesse Sorensen might not be a familiar name for a good portion of the WWE fans, but he had found a place among the headlines a few years back due to a freak accident. Sorensen was a mainstay in TNA for some time but this run came to an abrupt end after a match against Zema Ion. Sorenson suffered a C-1 vertebrae fracture with spinal cord edema which forced him to be confined to a bed for a long time.
During this time period, Sorensen had no feeling and movement in his arms and legs. The doctors estimated a year for recovery, but Sorensen passed the test with flying colors in less than ten months and was cleared to be back in the ring. Despite this recovery, his career changed completely due to the injury.
4: Bret Hart
Bret Hart has his own place in the history books as one of the greatest wrestlers ever. Throughout his wrestling years, Bret gave us some memorable matches.
Back in 2002, Hart suffered a stroke after being involved in an accident. He landed on the back of his head during the accident and this caused total paralysis on his left side. The legend required months of physical therapy to recover from this but he did manage to come back strongly.
This was, however, just one of the health problems that Hart has gone through as he was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer as well.
3: Lex Luger
Lex Luger was someone that had all the ammunition he needed to make it big in the business. He did flirt with the main event scene for a long time, but Luger’s career never reached the true potential that it could’ve reached. His wrestling career ended back in 2005, and after injuring his neck in a plane, Luger suffered paralysis from neck down.
He was simply turning his neck while sitting on the plane and this apparently stopped the blood flow resulting in swelling in his vertebra. Luger had to spend a long time on a wheelchair due to the same, but he showed great strides of recovery and was able to walk and drive.
2: Hayabusa
The real life Eiji Ezaki was one of the major stars of Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. He used to put together some exciting matches there, but the fans in United States would be more familiar with the time that he spent in ECW. He was the inventor of the Phoenix splash and was also responsible for popularizing moves such as the Falcon Arrow and 450 Splash.
Hayabusa’s career ended after a botched springboard moon sault. He broke two of his vertebrae and this left him paralyzed for 14 years due to the bad landing on his head. Hayabusa was able to walk from 2014 onwards, but unfortunately, in March 2016, the legend passed away at the age of 47.
1: Droz
This is perhaps the most tragic story on the list. After a good career in football, Droz was signed up by WWE back in 1998. He had the natural ability to puke on command and the process of WWE signing him up after testing this ability was well documented in ‘Beyond the Mat’.
A year later, the career of Droz came to a nasty end when he was injured during a match against D’Lo Brown on SmackDown. The accident happened when Brown tried to deliver his signature running power bomb which landed Droz on his head. The injury left him quadriplegic. He continued working for the company even after this horrible incident by contributing articles for WWE’s website and magazines.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
