5 Pro Wrestling World Champions' Careers That Were Altered By Sudden Injuries

It can happen in the blink of an eye. One minute, you're the company's top champion, a ring general and hero to millions, doing what you do best. A moment later, you've sustained the injury that will ultimately take away your capacity to continue down that ordained path. Said superstar might be forced into retirement then and there, with next to no chance that they'd ever be able to resume that lifestyle normally. Or maybe they *are* able to come back, but with limitations. And even then, retirement lurks not too far down the road anyway.

Jim Cornette condemns the word "fake" in regards to pro wrestling because there's nothing fake about the wear and tear, or the injuries, that come with the territory. Listed in this feature are five former World champions whose careers were altered in large part due to one such "blink of an eye" moment in their careers, an instant that robbed them of their once-mighty physical prowess.

Nobody is immune to the sudden pratfalls that exist in the wrestling industry. These five men are proof.

It can happen in the blink of an eye. One minute, you're the company's top champion, a ring general and hero to millions, doing what you do best. A moment later, you've sustained the injury that will ultimately take away your capacity to continue down that ordained path. Said superstar might be forced into retirement then and there, with next to no chance that they'd ever be able to resume that lifestyle normally. Or maybe they *are* able to come back, but with limitations. And even then, retirement lurks not too far down the road anyway.

Jim Cornette condemns the word "fake" in regards to pro wrestling because there's nothing fake about the wear and tear, or the injuries, that come with the territory. Listed in this feature are five former World champions whose careers were altered in large part due to one such "blink of an eye" moment in their careers, an instant that robbed them of their once-mighty physical prowess.

Nobody is immune to the sudden pratfalls that exist in the wrestling industry. These five men are proof.

5. Shawn Michaels (1998)

Because of his eight-year "second act", we sometimes forget that Michaels spent over four years in retirement as one millennium turned to another. Though he'd accumulated lots of pains as a result of his bump-heavy style, it was Michaels' back that gave out here.

During a Casket Match with The Undertaker at the 1998 Royal Rumble, Michaels took a back body drop onto the coffin, his lower back catching the edge of the lid. In the days that followed, Michaels' back pains grew worse, and ultimately steered him toward the long sabbatical.

4. Sting (2015)

It's hard to believe it's been five years since Sting's first-ever WWE match. Sadly, we're also rolling up on five years since Sting's *last* WWE match, as well as last match anywhere, as a result of an injury sustained in a WWE championship match against Seth Rollins.

Rollins delivered his patented Buckle Bomb onto Sting late in their title bout, resulting in the 56-year-old icon sustaining cervical spinal stenosis, which required surgery to fix. As a result of the injury, Sting officially announced his retirement the following April.

3. Bret Hart (1999)

"The Hitman" takes immense pride in the fact that he was considered safe to work with by so many of his peers. But pro wrestling is filled with many ironies, one of which is that a careful, responsible pro like Bret's undoing could begin with one exceptionally-jarring strike by an opponent.

During a WCW championship bout at the 1999 Starrcade, Goldberg levelled Hart with a brutal thrust kick that resulted in a concussion. Hart's condition was compounded by receiving additional damage in subsequent appearances, and by mid-January, he was no longer cleared to wrestle.

2. Macho Man Randy Savage (1997)

Savage wrestled close to 70 matches following this moment, but it ultimately rerouted his career. During the Steel Cage main event of the 1997 Halloween Havoc, Savage ran interference, and astonishingly, the 44-year-old attempted a Flying Axe Handle from the cage's apex.

The landing was far from optimal, and Savage was bothered by knee injuries for months before he finally took a 10-month sabbatical, beginning in June 1998, in order to have two surgeries. When he returned, Savage was much more muscular, and far, far less mobile.

1. Stone Cold Steve Austin (1997)

Who knows how differently the WWF (and the entire wrestling industry) would've been had Austin not been able to return at all? You probably know the story: Austin badly messes up his neck on Owen Hart's Sitout Piledriver at the 1997 SummerSlam, damage immediately evident.

Austin returned by November, limited at first, then more regularly once he became WWF champion. His style soon eschewed traditional wrestling in favour of more stand-up brawling (to cut down on bumps), but still, further degeneration did lead to his retirement at age 38, less than six years later.