7 weirdest ways that WWE Superstars were injured

Nearly every WWE Superstar suffers injuries while performing in the ring. Even though WWE Superstars are highly trained professionals, the physicality of sports entertainment leads to some unavoidable afflictions.

However, some superstars have suffered freak injuries without even delivering a punch. Others, meanwhile, have been hurt by the ring itself rather than their opponents.

Such unfortunate injuries have shelved top superstars for several months and nearly even retired them. However, every superstar on this list has made a comeback after recovering.

Take a look at the six weirdest ways that WWE Superstars have been injured while working inside or outside the ring.

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#7. WWE Hall of Famer Brutus Beefcake suffered a terrible facial injury

The list will have some extremely gory injuries, and it only makes sense to begin with the goriest one. WWE Hall of Famer Brutus Beefcake had a decent career in the company. However, his career was temporarily cut short due to an injury that he suffered outside the ring.

In 1990 on Independence Day, Beefcake, fellow wrestler Brian Blair, and a few other friends were enjoying a holiday on a parasailing excursion.

Beefcake was trying to assist a female friend with her parasailing attempt when the boat took off prematurely. The WWE Hall of Famer turned towards the woman, whose knees slammed into his face at a potentially-lethal speed.

According to onlookers, Beefcake’s eyes fangled from their sockets and a paramedic had to physically hold up the roof of Beefcake's mouth to keep him from swallowing his own skull fragments.

It took a ten-hour procedure and months of rehabilitation for Beefcake to get back to his usual routine. The former WWE Superstar appeared on the Why it Ended podcast to discuss many topics, including that injury.

“It was hard to know. I had my face back together and stuff, and everything was cool, but it is hard to know at that point how you are going to proceed in the future in a business like ours where you have to take kicks and punches to your face, so it’s not an easy decision to make right there with how you are going to go about it, but I was lucky.” said Brutus Beefcake

Beefcake was lucky to make it out alive after the freak accident. Doctors helped him get back in shape and return to the ring for another run. He left WWE in 1993 but continued to wrestle for years later.

#6. WWE Superstar Sami Zayn injured himself on his RAW debut

Sami Zayn is one of the most animated characters in WWE today. While most of the injuries on this list came in the ring, Zayn managed to injure himself while making his entrance.

In May 2015, RAW headed over to Montreal where national hero Bret Hart appeared on the show. John Cena issued a United States Championship Open Challenge, and hometown hero Sami Zayn answered.

Zayn was just as happy as the fans on hand were, exuberantly swinging and flailing his arms during his entrance. Unfortunately, the Conspiracy Theorist suffered a shoulder injury during his RAW debut.

Speaking to New Day on New Day: Feel The Power, the WWE Superstar discussed the unfortunate injury.

"I didn't really know what happened at the time because it happened so fast. I think it popped out and popped in right away. So quick that there was almost some denial. 'Was it a crack or a pop?' I didn't know, but it scared me a little. When my arm went down, it was back in and everything seemed fine. If you watch the footage back, I'm like, moving it to see if it was in my head and everything seemed fine.” said Zayn

He tried to tell the referee and John Cena that his arm had popped out during his entrance. During the match, a back suplex from Cena again popped Zayn’s shoulder out of its pocket. WWE doctors at ringside attended to the star before he continued the match and ended with a loss.

Zayn was sidelined for seven months due to the injury. He had a massive RAW debut, but things didn’t go as well for the former NXT Champion as he would have wanted them to.

#5. Shinsuke Nakamura was bitten by a dog during a WWE tour to Japan

In 2018, WWE headed over to Japan for some shows. WWE’s Japanese Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the main attractions on the tour. Unfortunately, Nakamura was injured before the live shows even kicked off, and he appeared on one show with crutches.

Soon after, reports came out that Nakamura had suffered a leg injury during the tour and it was unclear whether he would be able to perform or not. Further reports clarified the bizarre incident that led to Nakamura’s injury.

According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Nakamura was bitten by a police dog during a bomb sweep that took place before the live event. The Bakersfield Police Department also released a statement confirming that a WWE employee had been bitten by their dog.

“During the sweep, the EOD Team, which consisted of an explosive detection trained canine team and bomb technicians entered an area of the arena where an employee of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was present. The canine entered the room to sweep for the presence of any explosive material. As the sweep took place the WWE employee was accidentally bit by the canine. The employee sustained an injury to his lower left leg. Medical aid was immediately summoned to the scene and the employee was transported to a local area hospital for medical treatment.”

Nakamura did not feature on the episode of WWE SmackDown that followed, but soon made a full recovery and started performing in the ring again. Unfortunately, he missed a large portion of the Japan tour due to the weird way he suffered an injury.

#4. WWE legend Goldberg nearly lost his arm while taping a segment in WCW

WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg has had his fair share of injuries during his illustrious career. Many of those injuries have kept him out of competition for a long time. However, a gruesome injury during his time in WCW nearly ended his wrestling career.

In 1999, Goldberg was asked to perform a stunt that went very wrong. The WWE legend was asked to smash the windows of a limousine, using a concealed piece of pipe.

Goldberg said that his fists were heavily taped, and the pine wasn’t being used properly so he decided to use his elbows to do the job. The sharp glass pierced through his arms and injured him badly. The cuts caused Goldberg to sever a tendon in his arm, as well as lose several liters of blood.

The WWE Hall of Famer spoke about the injury and how he “was within 1 centimeter” of losing his arm.

"I had taped my hand so tight that [the pipe] was never a valid weapon. It never worked," Goldberg said. "All I can tell you is it went wrong. When I leaned too hard on a big piece of glass and shattered it, I knew I had cut myself when I looked down. Because we were taping, there was nothing for me to do at the time but keep going.” Goldberg said

"I thought I had lost a little blood, but I had severed a tendon and hit an artery. I was within 1 centimeter of losing use of my arm for the rest of my life, let alone my career. I was very lucky." he added

Luckily, Goldberg made a full recovery from the injury. After his great undefeated streak in WCW, The Icon made the move to WWE. He is still an active member of WWE’s current roster and continues to compete in a couple of matches each year.

#3. WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman suffered a torn anus while performing his signature move

Sean Waltman suffered one of the weirdest injuries in the ring WWE fans have ever seen. The WWE Hall of Famer appeared on Jerry Lynn's retirement show in March 2013 and decided to perform his Bronco Buster on a wrestler.

He went for the move, but the wrestler moved out and Waltman’s lower body caught the turnbuckle instead of the padding of the turnbuckle. The horrific incident led to Waltman tearing his anus in the ring.

The WWE Superstar had to undergo a sphincteroplasty to fix the damage done soon after as he started losing a lot of blood. After his injury, Waltman took to Twitter to provide an update for his fans.

“The video doesn’t do justice to the severity of the situation. the turnbuckle wasnt covered & my landing should have been 45 degrees. I ended up landing hard & horizontal. The turnbuckle ripped me another new a hole. I knew it right away, U can see me tell ref “tore my ass!” I went to after party briefly, but had to leave as blood starting gushing.”

“Hotel looked like a murder scene. So much blood. Hotel security called ambulance & Dr Morken @ HCMC performed sphincterplasty to save me from having to have a colostomy bag. It hard not to laugh. So feel free to find it humorous. I did almost bleed out, before ambulance got there. I did the x factor from the top rope & 1 through a table after it happened. My concern was Jerry getting the proper send off, Not my butthole.”

X-Pac made a full recovery after the horrendous injury. He has appeared in the WWE ring a few times ever since and has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice.

#2. WWE Superstar Randy Orton injured his shoulder during a routine task

Randy Orton is arguably one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. He has won nearly everything there is to win in WWE and is still hungry for a lot more.

Orton has kept himself fit and active for most of his career. He is regarded as one of the safest workers in the ring. However, a routine task at home caused a lot more trouble for The Legend Killer than expected.

Instead of delivering an RKO out of nowhere, Orton dislocated his shoulder when he was taking out the garbage at home. According to The Viper, his shoulder had already been giving him trouble for years.

However, he did more damage to it while taking out the trash, and got an MRI done soon after.

“I had a little pain, got an MRI and was told (they) had to fix my shoulder again. I had a new guy do it and had a stabilization done that they do to rugby players get, and they're some tough customers.” Orton stated about the injury

The future WWE Hall of Famer can still be seen clutching his shoulder after some moves in the ring. Fans can hope that nothing is serious and he can continue performing the way he has for years to come.

#1. WWE legend Mick Foley lost his ear while trying to break himself free from the ropes

Another WWE Hall of Famer who suffered a gruesome injury in the ring is none other than Mick Foley. It’s difficult to make a list of injuries without including the biggest daredevil WWE has ever seen.

In 1994, Foley had a match in Munich, Germany against Vader. During the contest, Foley’s head got tied up in the ropes at an awkward angle and Foley had to wedge his way out. However, he lost a piece of his ear while doing so.

The WWE legend spoke to TMZ Sports about the match and the injury in detail.

“This right ear has been freaking out fans since 1994. I was in a match with the great Leon White (Vader) in Munich, Germany. Things took a turn for the worst, I got my head caught up in the ropes. I wedged my way out, my ear did not make the journey with me and I wanted it stated for the record, we finished the match. It was a non-televised house show and we finished the match.” Foley said

According to Foley, ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta was able to retrieve the portion that was left in the ring, but it couldn’t be saved.

“So, when I got back they had it with tape around it. I asked Gary what it looked like, and he said, ‘It looked like a piece of uncooked chicken with tape on it.’ No, they could not save it and I did not know the German word for ‘formaldehyde.'”

WWE fans know that Mick Foley is a tough cookie, and he took the entire episode rather lightly. Foley is now retired from the ring as is doing really well as an author.

Can you think of any other bizzare injuries from the wrestling world? Share them in the comments below!