7 top WWE Superstars who almost died on live television
A few top WWE Superstars have gone through some scary experiences on live television in which they almost died.
Many WWE Superstars have suffered injuries while competing inside the ring over the past few years. While some of these injuries were not serious, others were. Triple H, for example, tore his quadricep muscle during a tag team match in 2001. It kept The Game out of action for eight months.
Meanwhile, other superstars went through even scarier experiences where they were very close to losing their lives during WWE events. Some of these wrestlers later spoke in interviews about how they just about escaped death on live television.
Here are seven top WWE Superstars who almost died on live television.
#7. Former WWE Champion Big E
A few weeks ago, Big E sustained a horrific injury on SmackDown during the tag team match between The New Day and Ridge Holland & Sheamus. The former WWE Champion landed awkwardly on his head when Holland hit him with a belly-to-belly suplex outside the ring.
Big E later revealed that he had suffered a broken neck. In a Twitter post, he also disclosed that his doctor told him that he could have died on live television.
"Had my first doctor's appointment and learning (because of the C1 fracture) I narrowly escaped a stroke, paralysis or death is very sobering. Life feels even more precious and valuable now," he wrote.
Fellow WWE Superstar Sami Zayn also commented on Big E's post, stating that it was a miracle that the 36-year-old was still alive.
"It’s a miracle just to be alive. Grateful for the chance to have this short time together, sharing the ring, sharing stories, and sharing laughs," he wrote.
Big E is currently out of action. Some reports have suggested that he would probably need 8-12 weeks to recover from his injury.
#6. WWE legend The Undertaker
The Undertaker and Goldberg went head-to-head in a dream match at WWE Super Showdown in 2019. However, the bout turned out to be a huge disappointment, as it witnessed several botches. The two legends later confessed that it did not go according to plan.
During the match, Goldberg tried to hit The Deadman with the Jackhammer. Nevertheless, things went wrong as Goldberg dropped The Undertaker awkwardly on his head.
Speaking about the incident in his documentary "Undertaker: The Last Ride," The Phenom revealed that he was inches away from dying inside the ring.
"I was two inches away from making my wife a widow, and my kids fatherless," he said.
The match's referee, Mike Chioda, also revealed in an interview with Metro that he thought about calling the bout off.
"I almost had to call an audible during the Undertaker/Goldberg match at Saudi Arabia. It went downhill after Goldberg got gashed open in the turnbuckle, got concussed. He was badly concussed and he got through the match, but barely. That’s when I was kinda worried because I thought, 'oh my God!' After the suplex, they almost broke their necks. 'Oh my God, let’s get this done,' he was so concussed," he said.
The Undertaker ended up winning the forgettable battle. Less than a year later, he announced his retirement from in-ring action.
#5. WWE legend Chris Jericho
December 13th, 2009. 11 years ago today D-Generation X(@TripleH & @ShawnMichaels ) beat JeriShow(@IAmJericho & @WWETheBigShow ) in a Tables, Ladders And Chairs Match to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles #WWETLC https://t.co/dJtXo20E3Q
Chris Jericho teamed up with Big Show to defend their WWE Unified Tag Team Championships against D-Generation X in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match at TLC in 2009.
During the match, Jericho stood on his partner's shoulder. The plan was then for Shawn Michaels to hit The Big Show with a Sweet Chin Music, which would result in Jericho falling and crashing through a table outside the ring. However, things went wrong. Jericho did not land as planned. Instead of crashing through the table, he went into it facefirst.
In December 2020, a fan posted a video of the botch on Twitter. The current AEW star then replied to the post, revealing that that botch almost resulted in his death on live television.
Jericho and Show ended up losing their titles to Michaels and Triple H. The 51-year-old later left Vince McMahon's company. He is currently active in All Elite Wrestling.
#4. WWE Hall of Famer Sting
In 1999, former WWE Superstar Owen Hart suffered a tragic accident that saw him fall 78 feet from the rafters, landing chest-first on the ropes during his entrance at the Over the Edge pay-per-view. Despite the attempts to revive him, he died due to the injuries he suffered from the fall.
In an interview with WrestlingEpicenter, WWE Hall of Famer Sting disclosed that he almost suffered the same fate as Owen Hart at a WCW event where he had to make a similar entrance.
"I don't know what happened up there [with Owen Hart's accident in 1999]. I mean, I've heard what happened up there, but I don't even wanna say, but the night that we did it in Chicago at the United Center was as scary as can possibly be. The cue comes – the crowd is as loud as you can imagine, and the sound just travels up — it's deafening. And then we're talking to each other up there, and then you're screaming at each other- the pyro's going off, the lights, and suddenly you can't even think straight; you can't even hear yourself think. That's how chaotic it is up there. And when I stepped over, we realized we had the thing set up backward – so while I was standing on the edge, we had to flip the rope around and then reweave it through… I'm telling you if I'd stepped over and done it, the same thing that happened to Owen would have happened to me," he said.
Sting spent nearly a decade and a half in WCW. He then competed in a few promotions before joining Vince McMahon's company in 2014. After six years in WWE, during which he competed in only four matches, the 63-year-old left the company to join AEW. He is currently active in Tony Khan's company.
#3. WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley
Mick Foley and The Undertaker had a historic Hell in a Cell match at the 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view. During the bout, the two legends battled on the top of the cell. Foley then went through the roof and crashed into the ring after receiving a chokeslam from The Deadman.
Speaking to the Bill Simmons Podcast, The Undertaker revealed that things did not go as planned.
"That cell wasn't supposed to break like that. It was only supposed to give way. I had already had that match with Shawn [Michaels] and Shawn's half of what Mick weighed, I'm 315 and Mick's probably 280 and we're walking on the chain linked panels and you can hear the wire cling and they're shooting off. I'm just really fortunate, right before I chokeslammed him, I stepped off the panel on top the poles, if I hadn't, we could have had a really far worse outcome. He landed, his tooth went through his lip and lodged in his nose."
Foley also spoke about the terrifying incident, disclosing that a small mistake from his side saved his life because he could have landed on his head.
"This is where I regret that I didn't have the energy to exchange with Mark [The Undertaker] But if I'd had the energy and I'd gone up for this chokeslam the way that I usually did, then you and I are not having this conversation. It's the only time I take a bad chokeslam, but because of that, I don't over-rotate and land on my head," he told Stone Cold Steve Austin on Broken Skull Sessions.
Despite this, Foley continued the match and lost.
#2. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar
How could I forget Brock Lesnar's SHOOTING STAR PRESS! #WrestleMania http://t.co/vdukQr2XMU
In 2003, Brock Lesnar went one-on-one with Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Lesnar attempted to hit Angle with a Shooting Star Press during the match. However, he failed and landed awkwardly on his head.
The WWE Hall of Famer later spoke about the incident on his podcast, disclosing that he thought Lesnar had died.
"When he went to jump, he hesitated and then just said 'awe f*** it, I'm just going to go.' I think that hesitation cost him to fall off balance forward so he couldn't get a full rotation backwards when he went to flip. When he landed, I thought he was dead. I thought he broke his neck, I thought he was dead," he said.
In his autobiography "Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival," The Beast Incarnate stated that he suffered a massive concussion and almost broke his neck when he landed on his head.
"My boot slipped off the wet rope, I under-rotated, crashed in spectacular fashion, and gave myself a massive concussion. I d*mn near broke my neck. I still had enough sense left to know that I had to win, but I don't remember finishing the match. I did finish, which meant I was the champion again, but I sure don't remember it. Not at all," he wrote.
Lesnar is currently holding the WWE Championship. He will now go head-to-head against the Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a Winner Takes All Title Unification Match at WrestleMania 38.
#1. WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin
At the 1997 SummerSlam pay-per-view, Stone Cold Steve Austin faced Owen Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. During the bout, Austin suffered a broken neck after Hart landed him awkwardly on his head while attempting to hit him with a Tombstone Piledriver.
Luckily for The Texas Rattlesnake, Owen's mistake did not kill him. However, it left him temporarily paralyzed. Nevertheless, Austin managed to finish the match by rolling Hart up for the pin to capture the title.
In his autobiography "The Stone Cold Truth," the WWE Hall of Famer disclosed that he did not want to work with Owen Hart again after that incident.
"Did I hate Owen? No. That's just the business and we weren't really friends to start with. Did I want to work with him after that? No, I didn't. I didn't want to do business with him again. Right or wrong, that's how I felt. Sometimes I wonder how it could have happened. As good a technical wrestler as Owen was, he should have known he needed to drop on his knees, not his a**, to protect my neck," he wrote.
After the incident, Austin continued to compete for several more years in Vince McMahon's company before retiring from in-ring action in 2003. The Texas Rattlesnake will make an appearance next month at WrestleMania 38.
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