10 Forgotten Wrestlers Who Somehow Survived Ridiculous Bumps In Their Careers
Table of Contents
There is a lot of danger when it comes to the act of professional wrestling, and unfortunately, the show can be life-altering or even deadly for the brave performers who put it all on the line to entertain the fans. It is hard enough to carry on in the world of a risky form of entertainment with a lot of dangerous individuals who have the strength and capabilities to do real damage.
Whether it is a high spot that has gone wrong, a weapon that was not utilized correctly, or just a freak accident there is no shortage of incidents that show how truly tough professional wrestlers must be. Some wrestlers have made a living off of their insanely high tolerance for pain and the lengths they are willing to go to risk their bodies in a match. Meanwhile, some other wrestlers end up having the unfortunate distinction of having survived a ridiculous bump, and it ends up being one of the most well-known moments of their careers for better or worse. Still, it is quite impressive that these superstars across WWE, WCW, and other companies were able to avoid their demise during these insane spots and live to tell the tale.
10 Spike Dudley – A Table Spot Gone Wrong
During a normal multi-team match that ended up in a bit of a brawl, the oft-forgotten third Dudley brother Spike was a part of one of the nastiest bumps to ever be seen by the WWE Universe. The team of Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier picked up Dudley for a powerbomb to the outside where a table had laid out for him to fall through.
Unfortunately, the spot took a scary turn when Dudley was thrown and completely missed the table, clipping the side of his head and falling right onto the mat with a loud thud. Spike is no stranger when it comes to taking some wild bumps, but this was something that could have led to a serious head or neck injury.
9 Taka Michinoku – Front Flip Over The Top Rope And Onto The Floor
In the midst of the chaotic 2000 Royal Rumble match, the team of Kaientai kept inserting themselves into the match to attack random superstars, booked to be angry for not being officially entered into the match. In one of those run-ins, Funaki and Taka found themselves immediately being thrown over the top rope when they entered, and it was at this moment that Taka decided to go the extra mile.
He did a front flip in midair and landed directly on his face, making his head bounce up almost two feet off of the ground. This kind of fall could have easily resulted in a skull fracture or worse.
8 Jack Evans – Leaping Double Moonsault Off Of A Steel Cage Onto The Floor
It is an impressive feat to do a moonsault, and an even greater one to do a double moonsault. Then there is Jack Evans, who was throwing his body around with reckless abandonment of all his own safety with stunts like this wild double moonsault off of the top of a steel cage onto an unprotected hard floor.
Viewers of the stunt have almost nothing to do but be in shock and awe at both the spectacle of the move, and the risk that comes with it. Evans might not be a big name in the industry, but he definitely made a memorable moment when he survived this fall that probably should have resulted in more damage.
7 X-Pac – A Self-Busting Bronco Buster
In a bizarre turn of events, X-Pac was wrestling a match to commemorate and participate in the retirement match for Jerry Lynn and went for his classic Bronco Buster signature maneuver. He had been doing it for several years however, on this fateful night, X-Pac went for it and missed, immediately injuring himself when he landed on the bottom turnbuckle as he held his tailbone and grunted in agony.
He ended up having to have emergency sphincteroplasty surgery to repair the damage to his nether regions and claimed in an interview that the loss of blood from the incident made him dizzy, indicating that he could have passed out from the blood loss and possibly passed away if not for the ambulance.
6 Joey Mercury – The Obliteration of A Nose
In a rare moment of pure disfiguration and one of the worst injuries in WWE history, while wrestling alongside Johnny Nitro, Joey Mercury caught a mean shot from a ladder that slingshotted to his face during his match against The Hardy Boyz. The iconography of the blood that was leaking out of his nose like a bad faucet was stomach churning and left him with an extremely swollen face and stitches across the bridge of his nose.
This was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill weapons spot but resulted in a terrible accident that shattered his nose. With hemorrhaging and complications, Joey Mercury is extremely fortunate to not have suffered any further damage.
5 Dolph Ziggler – Head First Into A Chair
Dolph Ziggler was well known in the early 2010s for being an amazing seller. He would flop and contort his body to get these brutal body bumps and get his opponent over. In a strangely rare spot, Dolph was thrown by Lord Tensai right into one of the commentator’s chairs and went head first into the seat, bouncing directly up off it and slinking to the ground.
There are two aspects of this seemingly low-stakes spot that stand out; the fact that the chair did not get knocked over, and the fact that Ziggler did not immediately snap his neck. It could have turned an otherwise fun affair into a dark, sharp halt. It is relieving that Dolph is a trained professional and an extremely well-conditioned athlete because if it was not for his strength, he probably would have suffered a concussion at best. It also might not be one of the most spectacular spots in MITB history, but it sure is scary to watch.
4 Vic Grimes – One Of The Most Infamous Falls In Wrestling History
The word of mouth that got around about this incident gone awry was enough to make it an infamous tale of New Jack’s penchant for causing pain to pop the crowd. The XPW-held Scaffolding match was all ridiculously planned from the start as most of these insane matches are, but Vic Grimes got cold feet when he realized how high it was and was trying to get out of the spot, which New Jack did not appreciate.
In a shoot, he threw Grimes off of the scaffolding as his large body came pummeling down and through the layers of stacked wooden tables. At that height, almost anything could have made it a deadly fall if the timing or movement was even slightly different. It was as reckless as it was hard to watch, but it did persist as one of the most hardcore moments in wrestling history.
3 Hardcore Holly – Powerbomb Gone Awry
Sometimes, a serious injury can come about from a seemingly mundane maneuver being utilized in the wrong way. In this instance, the otherwise consistent, veteran instinct of Hardcore Holly was momentarily lost as he could not get his body up for a proper powerbomb in his SmackDown match with Brock Lesnar in 2003. Lesnar, who was still relatively green, decided to go forward with the move, believing that Holly would tuck in and be safe.
However, a few seconds later Holly’s neck was broken from the fall and it was just another addition to the wild stories that he has been through. He carried on through the match in an admirable effort, but something had clearly gone wrong, and it would lead to a brief hiatus from wrestling to heal from the injury. This was a textbook case of a freak accident, and Holly is fortunate for it not being any freakier.
2 Sid Vicious – The Leap He Wishes He Never Took
Arguably the most infamous instance of a broken bone in the world of professional wrestling, On an episode of NITRO, Sid Vicious went for a jumping big boot from the corner and ended up with what can only be described as a complete crushing of his left leg onto itself. It was crumpled and broken in unnatural positions, making him look like an action figure with a broken leg piece going in the opposite direction. It is one of the most difficult injuries to watch and the image of it all can be difficult to let go of.
Complications from a broken leg can lead to amputation of the limb or even death in the worst-case scenario. It might have been ugly, but it could have been life-altering in a much more major way.
1 Buff Bagwell – A Bulldog Turns Into A Spinal Injury
Another example of a routine move going all wrong is a lack of timing during a Bulldog spot between Rick Steiner and Buff Bagwell leading to the latter not landing correctly when going onto the mat. Instead of leaping ahead with it and safely planting his upper body down, he curved downward and delayed his fall, which caused Rick to land first. This resulted in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment where Bagwell smashed his head right into the back of Rick, which caused his head to jut down as if it had been pressed inward, and he immediately could not move.
The result was a severely bruised spinal cord, an injury that could have easily made Bagwell permanently paralyzed, but Buff was able to return to action not very long after. This might have been a case of cheating death, as Bagwell was only a few inches away from possibly having his final moments in that very ring.