6 WWE/non-WWE matches that were called off for devastating reasons
Everybody knows WWE, and that pro-wrestling in general is staged. But it is not fake. The moves in the ring are real and can lead to permanent injuries to the wrestlers if not executed correctly.
Triple H tore his quads, Stone Cold broke his neck, Mick Foley had his ear torn off – but there was one thing common to all the above-mentioned instances of WWE Superstars getting hurt. They still completed their match despite battling through severe pain.
But sometimes the injuries might be too severe and it is in the best interest of the performers that the match is stopped. This list takes a look at the six instances when a wrestling match was stopped due to a wrestler getting hurt in the ring.
Note: The Owen Hart incident is omitted as it is too well known.
#6 Paige had a career-ending injury at a WWE live event
Paige has already carved out a Hall of Fame worthy career in the short duration she worked with WWE. One could only imagine the dominance that the two-time WWE Divas Champion would have had, had she not been forced to retire. Having been on a hiatus due to a neck injury, the inaugural NXT Women's Champion made her return to WWE RAW in November 2017, leading Absolution.
This return would be short-lived though, as a house show match mere days after the British wrestler's return would turn out to be her final one. Wrestling a six-woman tag team match at a WWE Live event on December 26, 2017, Paige was on the receiving end of a stiff kick from Sasha Banks, which led to the referee throwing the X sign and calling off the match.
It was later revealed that the kick was one of the contributing factors that ultimately led to Paige announcing her retirement on WWE RAW in 2018, the night after WrestleMania 34.
Suggested: Paige & four other WWE Superstars whose careers were brought to a hault by a tragic neck injury
#5 Perro Aguayo Jr passes away in the ring
Perro Aguayo Jr. was the truth. He was at the top of his game. If he was alive today, he would undoubtedly be one of the biggest stars in the world.
Continue to rest easy. https://t.co/QhR5WgOprC
Perro Aguayo and his partner Manik were competing in a tag team match against Rey Mysterio and Extreme Tiger at a 2015 show in Tijuana when the unexpected happened.
Perro took a bump to set up for Mysterio’s 619 on the middle rope and Manik was soon placed in the same position by Mysterio. However, Aguayo was never revived and all the medical treatment proved futile.
The match was stopped and it was later learnt that Aguayo had suffered three fractured vertebrae during the course of the match.
#4 Droz vs D-Lo Brown
October 5th 1999,SD. D-Lo Brown botched a move which broke Darren Drozdov's neck, he would never wrestle again. #WWE http://t.co/DnJunnzwfH
During a 1999 WWE SmackDown taping, Darren Drozdov aka Droz took on D-Lo Brown. Over the course of the match, D-Lo was supposed to execute his running powerbomb finisher on Droz.
However, Droz was wearing a loose shirt which prevented D-Lo from getting a proper grip and Droz couldn't jump properly in order to assist the powerbomb. This resulted in Droz landing on his head and fractured two disks in his neck.
The match was immediately stopped and Droz was rushed to Nassau County Medical Center. Droz would lose all movement below the neck, but would regain most of his upper body strength a decade later.
#3 Mitsuharu Misawa passes away in the ring
#OnThisDay in 2009: Puroresu legend Mitsuhara Misawa died of heart failure during a match in Hiroshima. He was 46. RIP. https://t.co/PfnxbCVLFK
A legend in Japanese wrestling, Misawa continued wrestling up to his 40s across various arenas in the country. However, his life tragically ended during a tag team match in 2009.
Misawa took a harmless-looking Belly to Back Suplex, but was knocked out in the ring. The match was stopped and Misawa was treated immediately, but he never recovered. It is believed that a spinal cord injury led to his death.
#2 Mike Dibiase’s unfortunate death
On this day in 1969, I lost my dad and wrestling legend Iron Mike DiBiase. 52 years later and he is still one of the greatest influences in my life. https://t.co/tKahiJSRuS
The first Dibiase to take the wrestling world by storm before Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase's WWE run, Mike Dibiase wrestled well into his 40s as well.
When the 45-year-old Dibiase entered the ring to wrestle Mountain Mike in 1969, few thought it would be his last match. Mike collapsed in the ring and it was later revealed that he had suffered a heart attack. The match was immediately stopped and wrestling legend Harley Race tried to revive him, but it was in vain.
He passed away in the ring, but the autopsy revealed that the death was not due to any bumps taken during the match, but due to cholesterol buildup.
#1 Oro’s death
Oro, Mexican wrestler
Jesús Javier Hernández Silva
December 24, 1971 – October 26, 1993 https://t.co/PRNDkcX1RA
Despite being a few months short of 22, Jesus Javier Hernandez Silva aka Oro had the desire to excel in the ring. So his fellow competitors were not surprised when he decided to take an insane bump to the head to sell a clothesline during a tag team match in Mexico in 1993.
Oro executed the bump well enough, but started fading away and couldn’t be lifted to continue the match. The contest was called off and Oro was shifted to an ambulance, but the young wrestler had already passed away.