5 WWE Superstars whose careers were derailed by injuries or illness
WWE is the biggest professional wrestling company in the world. As such, they make sure to follow regulations and wellness policies to ensure the well-being of their Superstars. In the many years of their existence, the WWE has managed to ensure that they have a reputation for being one of the safest places to compete.
However, despite all the care taken by WWE, the WWE Superstars often find themselves on the wrong side of a badly timed move, or a dangerous spot. In such cases, they were injured, and at least for a time, their careers came to a stand-still.
After all, no matter what people say about WWE at this point, while their results may be fake, the moves they perform are very real and extremely dangerous. There's always a chance that someone may be injured during the performances.
While injuries are a reality during the match, WWE Superstars have also fallen ill, and the illness has made their careers come to a stop for at least a while.
The fact that there is a locker room full of talent waiting for the right opportunity to cease makes any injury lay-off period a tough one for a WWE superstar.
In this article, we will be talking about 5 WWE Superstars whose careers were derailed, at least for a while, due to injuries or illnesses they suffered.
#5 Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels is on this list as the injury he faced came at the height of his career. In 1997, Shawn Michaels had made sure that he had taken over the mantle of the biggest WWE Superstar at the time. His feud against Bret Hart and the memory of the Montreal Screwjob was still fresh in everyone's mind.
He was the WWE Champion that Vince McMahon needed at the time. He was also the perfect opponent for then-rising WWE superstar, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.
This changed completely, however, in 1998. In the first pay-per-view of 1998, Shawn Michaels faced the Undertaker in a Casket Match at the WWE Royal Rumble. What came next was something that no one had expected. Shawn Michaels was badly injured during the match when he landed on the edge of a casket during the match. His vertebrae was damaged and he was in immense pain.
Being the champion performer that he was, he completed the match anyway, and then went on to perform against 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin at WrestleMania. There he dropped his title and retired from the WWE for a four-year period.
It was thought he would never return to in-ring competition. However, he did manage to recover from his injuries and returned in 2002, for what might arguably be called a better 8-year run in the ring.
The injury definitely shortened his career, and he was robbed of some of the best wrestling years of his life. Thankfully this proved a blessing in the long-term -- he managed to get rid of his demons relating to drugs and found God.
When Michaels retired from the WWE, the question on everybody's mind was what would happen to the existence of DX? Triple H, who was largely in Michael's shadow during that the attitude era, took charge and carved a career for himself at the helm of the rebel outfit.