10 Unluckiest Wrestlers Ever

Today is Friday the Thirteenth, a day to avoid black cats, cracking mirrors and walking under ladders, as well as, you know, hockey-mask-wearing serial killers.

I mean, every day is a day for that, but you get my point.

Today being the day that it is has got me thinking about luck and, namely, how much luck plays a part in being a success in wrestling.

There's a lot of hard work, talent and dedication involved, of course, but if successful wrestlers weren't in the right place at the right time and weren't blessed by serendipity, it's hard to imagine they would have had the careers they had.

For example, does Steve Austin become the biggest star in the business if he doesn't cut the famous Austin 3:16 promo at the 1996 King of the Ring? And does he cut that promo if Michael Hayes doesn't tell him seconds before the bout that Jake Roberts had cut a religious-themed promo on him prior to the match? And does Austin get told this information at that time, had he not been returning from the hospital after being cut open in his earlier tournament match with Mark Mero? And does Austin win the tournament if Triple H isn't being punished for the role he played in the Curtain Call incident the month before? And does the Curtain Call happen if...

...OK, you see what I'm trying to say here, right?

Luck plays a big part in wrestling success, but bad luck does too, and many performers have been on the unfortunate end of it.

So, for Friday the Thirteenth, let's explore ten cases of wrestlers who I'm not saying were unlucky but, if they fell into a barrel full of tits, they'd probably come up sucking their thumbs.

10. Rob Van Dam

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Rob Van Dam probably wouldn't call the unfortunate things that happened to him at inopportune times 'bad luck'.

He'd more than likely tell you that that's the way the universe works, dude, and that it's all part of his journey, that everything happens for a reason.

I mean, like, whatever, right?

That's probably a healthy way to look at it and, to be honest, some of RVD's bad luck was really brought on by bad decision making.

Not that the broken ankle he suffered while reigning as ECW Television Champion in 2000 was the result of a bad decision. In fact, it was caused by Mr. Monday Night performing a simple baseball slide, which is probably the least high-flying move in his arsenal.

It's never a good time to get injured, but RVD was put on the shelf a week after being moved into a high-profile main event feud with ECW Champion Mike Awesome. That would have, had things gone to plan, resulted in a major title versus match further down the line that, more than likely, Van Dam would have won.

Instead, he was forced to relinquish his belt and, by the time he was ready to come back, Awesome had already jumped ship to WCW.

He definitely brought on his bad luck in 2006, when he was pulled over for speeding at the worst possible time, leading to the officers at the scene to find drugs and drug paraphernalia in the car that he and Sabu were driving.

The Whole F'N Show was reigning as both ECW and WWE Champion at the time, but was forced to drop both belts and take a 30-day vacation when news of the bust made its way to Titan Towers.

9. Lex Luger

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It feels a bit wrong to call Lex Luger 'unlucky' in wrestling, since he admittedly didn't have much passion or, at times, aptitude for it, but was pushed to the top anyway due to his incredible look.

Not that Luger didn't work hard and improve over time, showing glimpses of potential that would never be fully realised.

His early WCW run was hampered by behind-the-scenes political turmoil, particularly around who was chosen to win the World Title. At one point, Lex was pencilled in to win the strap from Ric Flair, but the Nature Boy refused since he had promised to do the honours for Sting, who was out with an injury.

Rather than follow through with the booker's plans, Flair instead left for WWE and took the belt with him. Luger had to settle for a hollow victory over Barry Windham for the vacant title, which fans saw right through.

A couple of years later, Luger himself would head to WWE. Well, he'd sign with Vince McMahon, anyway, but not as a member of the touring roster. Luger was instead going to be one of the faces of the ill-fated World Bodybuilding Federation, but got into a motorcycle accident and, by the time he had recovered, the WBF was out of business.

So he put on the trunks and boots again and, in time, became Vince's handpicked successor to the departed Hulk Hogan.

Almost guaranteed to win the WWE Title at some point, Luger somehow managed to avoid winning the big one, first beating Yokozuna by countout in their SummerSlam grudge match, and then losing by disqualification at WrestleMania X, paving the way for Bret Hart to topple the faux-sumo in the main event.

There are rumours that Vince was deliberating between putting Luger or Hart over at the Showcase of the Immortals and had decided on the Total Package, before Lex blabbed about plans to a journalist in the days before the event, forcing McMahon to go the other way.

8. Chelsea Green

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Getting injured in your WWE debut match has got to be a disheartening experience.

But happening during two WWE debuts? Well, that's just another level of being snakebit and something that only Chelsea Green can really relate to.

Green's first bit of bad fortune happened when she made her NXT debut in March 2019. During her bout, she suffered a broken wrist, which required surgery and forced her to sit out for several months.

Having impressed upon her return, there were plans for Chelsea to be called up to the Raw roster, but those plans were shelved when Paul Heyman was removed from his position as Executive Director.

She did eventually make her main roster bow on the November 13, 2020 SmackDown, competing in a four-way qualifying match for a spot on the blue brand's Survivor Series team.

Friday the Thirteenth, huh? What could possible go wrong?

Amazingly, she broke the same wrist in that match and had to leave midway through for treatment. Even worse, she had been booked to win, forcing WWE to call an audible and change things so that Liv Morgan went over and got the Survivor Series gig instead.

While prepping for another comeback, Green was released (despite having signed a new three-year deal around the time of her second wrist injury).

7. Wade Barrett

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Wade Barrett is no stranger to bad news.

The man who many had pegged as a future headliner and WWE Champion never quite got there, due to bad booking and frequent, ill-timed injuries.

Don't get me wrong, the former Nexus leader had a very good WWE career, but it could have been so much more had he managed to stay 100% fit for longer periods of time.

His first major setback came in 2012 during a disastrous battle royal on the February 20 episode of Raw.

Wade was being supposedly prepped for a potential World Heavyweight Title run at the time, but instead was forced to sit most of the year out when he suffered a nasty arm injury after Big Show threw Dolph Ziggler onto him for an awkward landing.

He came back as the bare-knuckle brawler and had a couple of decent runs as Intercontinental Champion, doing enough to convince those backstage that he may be ready for a run on top.

Unfortunately, the newly-christened Bad News Barrett separated his shoulder and was subsequently stripped of his IC crown.

WWE had clearly cooled on their plans to push him at the highest level, and he had to settle for a role as King Barrett and then a spot in the rubbish League of Nations stable, before deciding to try his luck elsehwere.

6. Evan Bourne

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Similar to Rob Van Dam, Evan Bourne was plagued by bad decisions as much as bad luck.

But there's no doubting his luck was bad, especially when it came to getting injured.

It's worth remembering that, at one point, Bourne was a featured part of the show and was gaining momentum by working with the likes of Chris Jericho, Edge and Randy Orton, before his career took a downturn.

His first bad injury came just days after he almost beat ECW Champion Matt Hardy at Cyber Sunday 2008. It happened on the ECW TV programme as Bourne was performing a dive to the outside of the ring.

He dislocated his right ankle while simultaneously tearing his deltoid ligament, which must have been a really fun thing to experience at the same time.

Surgery wasn't necessary, but he was ruled out for six months.

He kept healthy afterwards (outside of shoulder surgery in late 2010), but his run was interrupted while reigning as World Tag Team Champions with Kofi Kingston, thanks to two Wellness Policy failures in quick succession.

While serving his 60-day suspension, Bourne was involved in a motorcycle accident that completely destroyed his foot and put him out of action for over a year.

He never returned, with WWE deciding to cut ties with him as he convalesced.

5. Muhammad Hassan

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In many ways, Marc Copani was very lucky to do as much as he did in his short but eventful WWE career.

He was pushed to the moon and became one of the most controversial characters in WWE history while getting to work with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Steve Austin and other legendary figures.

However, bad luck (and timing) was ultimately the cause for his downfall and there was nothing he could have done about it.

On the July 7, 2005 episode of SmackDown, Hassan was involved in an angle that saw him instruct ski-mask-clad henchmen to attack The Undertaker, garrotting him with piano wire, before they carried Hassan's manager Daivari (who had been beaten down by 'Taker prior) away martyr-style.

It would have been a button-pushing scene whenever it aired, but the fact is that it was televised on the same day as the London bombings, which saw over fifty people lose their lives due to terrorist attacks in the English capital.

The mainstream media picked up on the angle and the network that SmackDown aired on - UPN - were furious, demanding that Hassan and Daivari be taken off the show immediately.

With so much heat on them and with Hassan having recently moved from Raw to the blue brand, there was really nowhere to go, and WWE took the decision to kill the character off at the Great American Bash pay-per-view.

It was the end of Copani's promising in-ring career.

And to think WWE were considering making him World Heavyweight Champion at the next month's SummerSlam...

4. Magnum T.A.

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Magnum T.A. had everything it took to be a major superstar in wrestling.

Everything, that is, but luck.

Terry Allen could cut a good promo, he could work, he had the look, the body and the charisma necessary to be the NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

WCW bookers (particularly his close friend Dusty Rhodes) recognised this and began grooming him for that spot, with a showdown opposite Ric Flair planned for the main event of 1986's Starrcade.

An amazingly popular babyface, everything indicated that Magnum would dethrone the Nature Boy on the night.

A month before the planned bout, however, fate intervened when Allen crashed his Porsche while out driving in the rain, the vehicle colliding with a telephone pole just a couple of miles away from his house.

Lucky to be alive after the high-speed collision, doctors nevertheless wondered if he would ever be able to walk again, let alone wrestle.

The wreck had left him with serious, life-altering injuries and immediately ended his wrestling career.

3. Daniel Bryan

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It all worked out in the end, but there were a lot of setbacks along the way for Daniel Bryan.

He almost never made it (back) to WWE when his medical reports showed that he had elevated liver enzymes, though they thankfully cleared up and he was signed to a developmental deal.

Then he made an impact on the first season of NXT the game show, but gets fired following the Nexus' debut attack on the WWE roster after choking Justin Roberts with his own tie, which was (unbeknownst to him) in contravention of WWE policy.

When Bryan was brought back, he managed to get himself over to the point that he became the most popular star on the roster.

The fans forced him into the main event of WrestleMania XXX, where he won the WWE Title and looked set for a long reign.

Sadly, he would be forced to vacate the belt a short time after to undergo neck surgery, returning to the ring in early 2015.

He came back again and won the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 31, but just weeks later was forced to relinquish it and, ultimately, retire due to persistent concussion issues.

As I said, it worked out alright in the end, but D-Bry lost some of the prime years of his career to bad luck.

2. Batista

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Yeah, the massively muscled future Hall of Famer who now makes his living as a Hollywood star is a 'unlucky', huh?

Though The Animal had a tremendous WWE career, it was also one that was constantly interrupted by injuries, which often came at the worst possible time.

The first big setback came in a 2003, shortly after Big Dave was given a prime spot in Evolution. He (along with Randy Orton and Bubba Dudley) got crocked in a house show tag match. Adding injury to injury, the triceps tear was made worse while Batista was preparing for his comeback, ultimately sidelining him for most of the year.

Then in January 2006, while reigning as World Heavyweight Champion, he suffered another triceps tear in a match with Mark Henry, which prematurely ended a reign that would have surely made it to WrestleMania 22, if not beyond.

He suffered another big injury (hamstring) in late 2008 and then, just a few weeks after his comeback, got bitten by the injury bug yet again.

This one happened at Extreme Rules 2009, in a cage match that saw Batista beat Randy Orton to win the WWE Title. The next night on Raw, he was forced to vacate it.

During his 2014 return, Dave managed to avoid serious injury but couldn't avoid bad luck or bad timing, as his plans were scuppered due to the burgeoning popularity of Daniel Bryan.

Batista was originally supposed to win the Royal Rumble and then beat Orton for the WWE Title in the main event of WrestleMania XXX as the conquering hero, but the YES! Movement forced the writers to change the script and Dave had to take a backseat to D-Bry.

1. Mr. Kennedy

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Ken 'Mr. Kennedy' Anderson is undoubtedly the most unlucky person in wrestling history, as far as injuries, timing and backstage politics are concerned.

Bursting onto the scene in the summer of 2005 as a member of the SmackDown roster, the future looked bright for the man with verbal skills many compared with the likes of The Rock and Steve Austin.

Regrettably, Kennedy suffered his first of many injuries while on an international tour just a few months into his main roster tenure.

He was out for six months, but came back to win the United States title, his first and only one in WWE.

Injuries reared their ugly head again shortly after Kennedy won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23. Fearing he would be out for a while, WWE made the decision to have Edge beat him for the briefcase and claim his guaranteed world title shot.

After the fact, it turned out that Ken's injury wasn't nearly as bad as first thought and had actually been misdiagnosed. It was actually a very deep muscle bruise, rather than the triceps tear that was initially feared. Had WWE waited a little longer, it could have been Kennedy cashing-in on an injured Undertaker to become World Heavyweight Champion.

So now he was without the Money in the Bank briefcase, but WWE still had grand plans for him. Namely, being revealed as the illegitimate son of Vince McMahon at the end of that whole storyline.

The kibosh was put on that, however, when Anderson was named in the Signature Pharmacy scandal and suspended for 30 days.

He never managed to regain the momentum he had lost during this period, finding himself floundering before yet another injury suffered in the summer of 2008 took him out for many more months.

He returned to action on the May 11, 2009 episode of Raw, but was fired four days later after Randy Orton allegedly complained to Vince McMahon about an unsafe backdrop Kennedy had given him during the match.

Rumour has it that Kennedy once cracked a mirror while walking under a ladder which had a black cat on top of it.