Top 10 WWE Wrestlers Who Almost Died As A Result Of A Wrestling Injury
10. Mass Transit (1996)
Remaining in ECW,
the Mass Transit incident now lives in infamy as one of the most disgusting moments
in the company’s hardcore history.
When 17-year old Erik Klaus wanted to become a wrestler,
he wouldn’t let anything stop him, not even his age.
Telling officials he was 23
and trained by Killer Kowalski, the same man who trained Triple H,
Kulas worked as Mass Transit,
a heel, who despite his villainous acts, did not deserve what happened to him.
Facing off against New Jack, the kid told Jack cut him for drama, though the Gangsta went too deep,
severing an artery, with Kulas bleeding profusely.
As fans, including Kulas’ own father begged for the match to stop,
New Jack took things further, in a hate-filled racist promo,
saying he didn’t care if Kulas died
because Jack hated all white people.
The incident led to ECW temporarily losing their first pay per view,
Barely Legal, which was pushed to April 1997.
Whilst New Jack was acquitted of any wrong-doing,
since Kulas had asked him to cut him,
the moment nearly cost the young man his life,
who died in 2002 due to surgery complications.
9. Marty Garner (1996)
Many fans will never have heard of Marty Garner,
, but they’ll certainly know of his opponent in the match
that nearly took Garner’s life: Triple H.
In May 1996, Garner faced Helmsley,
still working as a snobby blue-blood,
during a taping of WWF Superstars.
During the match, the future-King of Kings attempted a Pedigree.
Unfortunately, Garner had never taken the move before,
and thinking it was some kind of powerbomb or suplex, jumped far too high, with Garner crashing on the top of his head, suffering neck damage.
To make the injury more shocking,
the botched move was not edited out
of any broadcast of Superstars,
and was even featured as the WWF’s Slam of the Week.
After close examination,
doctors concluded that Garner had nearly been paralysed by the move,
but much like many stars on this list, returned to wrestling not long after.
8. Ken Shamrock (1997)
Whilst the WWF career of Ken Shamrock may have been brief,
the UFC star left a lasting impression.
One of the toughest men to step into the squared circle,
Shamrock was known for his erratic style,
with the former Intercontinental Champion
often foaming stage blood from the mouth.
But Shamrock’s most unforgettable bout of internal bleending was legit,
and could nearly have taken the Superstar’s life.
Appearing with fellow-WWF Superstar Vader as part of Japan’s FMW,
Shamrock worked the show with both a lung infection and a bad rib.
These were made all the more worse after he was powerbombed by Vader twice during a brutal cage match,
which saw the UFC star’s lungs to fill with blood.
Telling Vader not to do the proposed third powerbomb,
Shamrock has said that brief message saved his life,
as his lung had ripped open, and doctors told him that
that any more hard bumps
could cause his lungs to fill with blood,
potentially drowning the Superstar from the inside.
7. Buff Bagwell (1998)
On the April 22nd 1998 edition of WCW Thunder,
Buff Bagwell faced off against Rick Steiner, in what should’ve been a fine-but-forgettable match.
Instead, Bagwell suffered a horrible injury, after taking a running Bulldog from the Michigan-native, with Bagwell’s head striking Steiner’s back.
The botch left Buff unable to move his limbs,
with the 5-time WCW Tag Team Champion
wheelchair-bound for several months,
as his spine had taken the brunt of the damage.
Amazingly, Bagwell was able to ' come back from the brink,
returning to WCW just a few months later, in July that same year.
Whilst this miraculous return could have led to a huge turning point for Bagwell,
who would no doubt be seen as a babyface from fans,
Bagwell returned to be insulted by Hulk Hogan,
and quickly turned heel himself not long after.
The heel turned halted any future face-run Bagwell would have, and in hindsight,
was a stupid decision by WCW,
but that’s a story for another day…
6. Gangrel (1999)
In folklore, there are only a handful of items that can harm a vampire,
namely Holy Water,
Garlic,
Silver
and sunlight.
But in a February 1999 edition of RAW is War,
Gangrel nearly lost his life on live Television,
in the most horrific of ways.
After crossing The Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness,
Gangrel was to be hanged over the top rope with a noose, though the company erroneously tried to save face by calling It a bull rope instead.
Speaking on Sean Waltman’s podcast in 2016,
Gangrel revealed that after bouncing of the ring-apron, the noose tightened, with the Vampire certain he was going to die, as the noose continued to crush his neck.
Thankfully, it was Mideon , who thankfully wasn’t Naked Mideon at the time,
who saved the day, noticing the real danger Gangrel was in,
and allieved some of the pressure, saving his life in the process.
5. Darren Drozdov (1999)
When NFL star Darren Drozdov vomited on a football during a game,
he did not know how much his life would change.
Joining the WWF in 1998,
Drozdov became ‘Puke’, who was the unofficial member of the Legion of Doom.
Whilst his first year in the company was okay at best,
things went bad quickly in 1999, during an October taping of Smackdown.
When his opponent D-Lo Brown went for his running powerbomb,
Droz’s loose t-shirt caused things to go wrong,
as neither man could get the proper grip,
Paralyzed from the waist down,
Droz’s in-ring career instantly came to an end, with the match being pulled from the show.
According to Mick Foley who was at the arena that night,
D-Lo Brown was distraught at the disaster,
though Droz told him not to blame himself, saying accidents happen.
Whilst his in-ring career has ended
Droz is now a permanent employee of WWE, and has regained mobility in most of his upper body.
To this day, he still considers the move that changed his life, and still holds
no ill-will towards Brown, in a true show of class.
4. Hayabusa (2001)
A legend of Japanese wrestling, the death of Hayabusa in March 2016
sent shockwaves through the community,
even though the FMW star nearly died over a decade earlier.
Facing Mammoth Sasaki in October 2001
the match had a big fight feel to it, with the stipulation
being that if Hayabusa won,
his friend Shoichi Arai would be re-instated as FMW president.
Attempting a manoeuvre off the middle rope, Hayabusa lost his footing,
crocking two of his vertebrae,
and leaving the legend wheelchair- bound for years.
Shockingly, Hayabusa was able to stand on his feet in 2015, with the help of a cane,
which sadly makes it all the more tragic
when he passed away a year later, at age 47.
3. Scott Steiner (2007)
After leaving WWE in 2004,
it was only a matter of time before Scott Steiner brought his unique physique
and even more unique promos to TNA Wrestling.
Appearing at a house show in San Juan,
Big Poppa Pump teamed with James Storm, to take on
Jeff Jarrett and loca star, Apollo.
During the match, Apollo caught Freakzilla off-guard with a quick kick to the throat,
which led to Steiner coughing up blood.
He was quickly rushed to hospital,
where the situation looked grim,
as he was diagnosed with a torn trachea,
and reportedly given less than six hours to live.
Over the next month, Steiner would face all sort of procedures to repair his body,
including doctors having to cut through his ribs and lungs to repair the wound.
As if that wasn’t enough, Steiner wasn’t allowed to fly back to the mainland,
as the cabin pressure could’ve caused his lung to collapse,
meaning the former WCW star travelled back on boat,
on a trip that took a gruelling, painful week for Big Poppa Pump.
2. Tyson Kidd (2015)
Tyson Kidd was one of WWE’s most reliable workhorses,
debuting in the company’s ECW brand in 2009.
After a resurgence of his career in NXT in 2014,
the Canadian star faced off against a relatively new Samoa Joe,
who had used his signature muscle buster for over a decade.
Unfortunately, in this dark match, the move fractured Kidd’s neck,
sadly ending his in-ring career
just as Kidd was becoming a big star once again.
The only upside to all this, if there is one,
is that Kidd’s injury could’ve been much worse.
He underwent surgery that required 16 stapes,
four scores and the insertion of a rod into a neck,
an operation that according to Kidd,
only 5% of people survive.
In an interview, Dave Meltzer
compared the injury to
the horse-riding accident
actor Christopher Reeve suffered in 1995,
which led the former Superman
paralyzed for life.
Nowadays, Kidd has transitioned to a backstage role,
and appears regularly on Total Divas
alongside wife Natalya.
12. Sean Waltman (1992)
Whether it be as the 123-Kid in the WWF,
Syxx in WCW
or X-Pac during the Attitude Era,
Sean Waltman has sustained his share of notable injuries,
from neck issues in the 90s,
to a torn anus during Jerry Lyn’s retirement show.
But in November 1992, the 46-year-old’s life
nearly came to an untimely end, at a show in New Jersey.
Waltman was outside of the ring,
where he was supposed to catch his opponent’s suicide dive,
but the un-named star overshot him, causing a collision, with Waltman’s head
crashing into the concrete floor. Instantly knocked out,
Waltman later suffered a blood clot near his brain,
and ended up in hospital for several days after.
The former Intercontinental Champion was even advised to retire,
but clearly did not take doctor’s advice,
and won the Tag Team Champions with Marty Jannetty just over a year later.
11. Tazz (1995)
In the original ECW, Tazz was presented
as the ultimate fighting machine, who mowed down each and every opponent.
A former football star and Judo fighter,
the New Yorker was a huge favourite of the ECW crowd,
who respected his in-ring style, persona and toughness.
But on July 15th 1995, that toughness was pushed to the limit,
as Taz teamed with Eddie Guerrero to face Dean Malenko and 2 Cold Scorpio.
Mid-match, the FTW Champion
was hoisted up for a spike piledriver, but failed to properly brace for the move, coming down on his forehead at a slanted angle.
After the match, Tazz somehow walked to the hospital,
to the amazement of the medical staff,
given the severity of the damage to his neck.
Whilst he would return several months later, the submission machine
would abruptly retire in 2002, due to this and other injuries.
Like he’d say on commentary, this ain’t ballet.
1.Dean Ambrose (2017)
n an interview with the Monitor,
Dean Ambrose recently revealed that he was very close to death
due to a recent incident during his recovery.
After going under the knife for a triceps injury in December 2017,
a Staph infection was detected,
one that could’ve ended the former WWE Champion’s life. Ambrose said:
“I ended up having two different surgeries. I had this MRSA, Staph infection. I nearly died. I was in the hospital for a week,
plugged up to this antibiotic drip thing, and I was on all these antibiotics for months, that make you puke and crap your pants…
To go from not being able to eat my Froot Loops, to being able to get back in the ring and throw people around
and throw punches and do everything back to normal, it was a very gratifying feeling.”
Thankfully, Ambrose has been able to return,
teaming with his Shield brother Seth Rollins,
before betraying him in one of the greatest heel turns in recent memory.
Well guys that's our list, can you think of any other wrestlers who almost died in the ring? Please share your comments below If you like this video , please check our previous video – “Top 14 Famous WWE Superstars In Case You Didn’t Know Grew Up Poor”
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