10 Devastating Bumps WWE Stars Regretted Taking

Whether you’re getting hit or falling on your front, back or side, professional wrestling is an endeavour where daily pain is par for the course.WWE superstars know this as well as any bone-bender and, as tough and calloused to the ring wars as they are, there are still the occasional bumps that shock even their battle-hardened systems. 

These are 10 Devastating Bumps WWE Stars Regretted Taking. 

10. Ricky Steamboat taking a DDT from Jake Roberts on the concrete floor

In order to supercharge the feud between Ricky Steamboat and Jake Roberts, WWE devised an angle that would see The Snake level The Dragon with a DDT on the concrete floor prior to their scheduled match on the sixth-ever episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. 

Roberts was apprehensive about the angle, believing that Steamboat wouldn’t be able to protect himself as his head hurtled towards the floor. It was only after Ricky had assured his foe that he would be fine that Jake agreed to go ahead with it. 

As skilled as The Dragon was, he wasn’t able to prevent himself from kissing the concrete and was knocked out as a result. Roberts would later recall that the impact sounded like a ‘watermelon exploding’ and that an unconscious Steamboat was the heaviest thing he had ever had to pick up in his life. 

Ricky was stretchered out of the arena to sell the devastating effects of the DDT - something he would have needed anyway due to a serious concussion. Somehow, Steamboat was back in the ring four days later. 

9. Stacy Keibler being put through a table by The Dudley Boyz

Stacy Keibler wasn’t exactly known for her in-ring exploits, but she did get physical from time to time.

Though predominantly found at ringside, Keibler competed in the occasional match. In late 2001, Stacy took charge of The Dudley Boyz, guiding them to both the WCW and WWE tag team titles (which they unified) during the Invasion storyline. 

The success did not last forever, however, and when Bubba Ray and D-Von’s luck turned, the Dudleys themselves turned on their Duchess. On the Raw after WrestleMania 18, Keibler accidentally cost them their match with Billy and Chuck and promptly found herself taking a trip through a table. 

The Dudleys had put countless women through tables before and it was a relatively safe bump, with Bubba’s bottom taking the brunt of the impact. 

But, according to Stacy, this was the worst bump she ever took in her career, telling Sam Roberts how she lay among the splinters hoping the feeling would come back to her fingers and still experienced neck issues years later.

8. Shawn Michaels landing on a casket

Shawn Michaels was good at pretty much everything when it came to pro wrestling, but his spectacular bumping certainly helped make him stand out from the crowd. 

The Heartbreak Kid would throw himself around the ring – and outside of it – with reckless abandon, taking spectacular falls that weren’t exactly conducive to having a long career. Despite the wear and tear associated with his punishing style, it was one bump in particular that almost put an end to HBK’s days in the squared circle. 

While defending the WWE Title against The Undertaker in a Casket Match at the 1998 Royal Rumble, Michaels was launched over the top rope with a back body drop, his lower back clipping the edge of the casket on the way down. 

Shawn was fine immediately afterwards, but two days later he couldn’t get out of bed and knew something was seriously wrong. The innocuous-looking bump had herniated two discs and crushed one completely. 

The Showstopper only wrestled one more match, dropping the title to Steve Austin in the main event of WrestleMania 14, before taking a four-year hiatus to recover.

7. Kevin Owens taking a Chokeslam from Braun Strowman

Falling off very tall things, falling through things, or just taking the most ridiculous moves imaginable, nothing is off limits when it comes to what Kevin Owens is willing to put himself through in the name of sports entertainment. 

He does live to regret some of these escapades, mind. Speaking with ESPN ahead of Money in the Bank 2023, Owens singled out taking a Chokeslam onto the steel ramp from Braun Strowman at SummerSlam 2018 as the single worst bump he’d ever taken in a career full of ugly ones. 

According to The Prizefighter, he felt a ringing in his body for four months after and, though he’s unsure if it was directly related, ended up taking six months off not long after. 

Owens has also cited a rolling senton from the ring apron to the floor during a match with Bobby Lashley as a bump that had him questioning his choices

6. Bret Hart collides with the guardrail

Bret Hart prided himself on taking care of his opponents in the ring and never, in the course of his long and illustrious career, injured anyone in the heat of combat. 

A bump in 1989 had Bret him lying on the floor struggling to breathe. Hart was wrestling Dino Bravo at a house show in Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens on October 29 when he was knocked off the apron and collided with the metal crowd barrier. 

The excruciating pain was immediate and Bret couldn’t even speak, let alone stand, with Bravo giving him a few kicks before throwing him back into the ring and going for the cover. 

Hart didn’t want to lose to Dino by pinfall, however, so he rolled back out of the ring and took a count-out loss. A subsequent trip to the hospital confirmed broken ribs and a broken sternum, yet the Excellence of Execution was back at work just a few weeks later.

5. Seth Rollins falling off the cell

One of WWE’s most enduring gimmick matches, Hell in a Cell has produced some of the company's most iconic moments since it made its first appearance at Badd Blood 1997. 

From the start, WWE stars have been falling off the structure, with Shawn Michaels taking that maiden leap of faith in the Cell’s debut outing. Since then, many have taken the risky bump, with Seth Rollins citing the second time he did it as the moment he thought his wrestling career had come to an end. 

Rollins and Dolph Ziggler were, in Seth’s words, sent out to save the rotten finish of the Universal Title match between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman and took a stereo bump off the side through the announce tables. 

Recalling the pain with ESPN, The Architect said he lay there thinking he may have to call it a career upon landing, noting that they did the stunt without the aid of a concealed crash pad under the table.

Five years later, Seth’s lower back still hurt from the bump, which may have contributed to two fractures of his lumbar spine. 

4. Drew McIntyre falls off the cell

Two years after Seth Rollins fell off the side of the cell, Drew McIntyre suffered the same fate. The Scottish Warrior was defending his WWE Title against Randy Ortona at Hell in a Cell 2020 when he fell off the side of the steel structure. 

Drew said that, even though he was ‘only 10ft up’, the added height of his body and his 280-pound frame combined with gravity, and led to a fast fall. 

McIntyre not only received whiplash from the bump, but he also bit through the middle of his tongue. To cap off Drew’s evening, he lost the match and the belt to Orton, bringing his first WWE Title reign to a particularly painful end.

3. Jeff Hardy obliterates a table

For Jeff Hardy, jumping off a ladder or going through a table was as routine as taking a hip toss and his exploits in stipulation matches such as TLC are the stuff of legend. 

He may have been more durable than most, but Jeff did indeed suffer for his art. Of all the spectacular thrills and spills throughout his highlight reel of a career, Hardy pointed out one particular bump that stands out as the very worst he ever took. 

Challenging Rob Van Dam for the WWE Hardcore Championship on the August 23, 2001, episode of SmackDown, Jeff attempted to win the tattered belt by hitting RVD with a Swanton Bomb from the top of a ladder through a table on the floor. 

This time, though, Hardy had placed the table vertically and, when The Whole F’N Show moved out of the way, Jeff couldn’t breathe. Assuming he had broken his back upon impact, the daredevil lay in a pile of debris as EMTs came out to check on him and the match was ruled a no contest. 

2. Kurt Angle chokeslammed with Charles Robinson on top of him

Kurt Angle’s body was beaten up years before he decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling, the Olympic Hero knowing full well that he was bumping on borrowed time after winning a gold medal with a broken neck. 

He may have been aware that one wrong move could lead to tragedy, but that didn’t stop Angle from going full throttle every single night. Protecting his neck may have been at the forefront of his mind, but the worst bump Kurt ever took had him more worried about soiling his singlet. 

Angle was wrestling Kane on the January 14, 2002, episode of Raw, when The Big Red Machine went for his trademark Chokeslam. Attempting to get out of the move, Kurt grabbed referee Charles Robinson and tried to use Lil’ Naitch as a human shield. 

Sure enough, Kane followed through with the move as Kurt Angle had Robinson land directly on his stomach.

1. Rey Mysterio smashed into a ring post by The Big Show

Backlash 2003 saw Rey Mysterio take on The Big Show in a singles contest. The World’s Largest Athlete had a major height and weight advantage over WWE’s so-called Biggest Little Man, but Mysterio had proven his toughness and perseverance time and time again, not least by repeatedly coming back from serious injuries. 

Show won the match rather easily but wasn’t satisfied with the victory and, as Rey was being strapped to a backboard, decided now would be a good time to work on his baseball swing. 

He picked Mysterio up and flung him into the ring post, with the Master of the 619 dropping to the floor upon impact. 

Rey had been okay with the bump beforehand, assuming that he would be protected by the backboard, but didn’t consider that Show might not be able to hold onto him after the thud. 

It was hitting his head off the floor that did the most damage and Rey had to go to the hospital afterwards. Thankfully, he wasn’t seriously injured, sustaining a big bump on the head, as well as a sprained thumb and wrist, but it could have been a lot worse.