Joey Mercury's Face & 9 Other Wrestlers Mostly Remembered For Their Injuries
Injuries are sadly commonplace in wrestling. Too many stars have suffered some brutal injuries, some more than others. It's arguable Steve Austin might have wrestled longer if not for his brutal broken neck in 1997. Some careers were cut short, like Magnum TA, but what's impressive is how many wrestlers became huge stars after injuries that should have ended their careers. There are also workers who are famous for more than just a nasty break like Sid's shattered leg.
Yet some workers are famous for a nasty injury more than anything else they did in the ring. Some were able to rebound for decent careers, while others sadly saw their end. The circumstances can also be famous with some incidents actually changing up their companies. These 10 workers are sadly better known for their nasty injuries than any titles they won, demonstrating a reminder of the risks the business holds.
10 Chuck Austin
It's likely Chuck Austin would never be a real star. He was the epitome of a jobber in 1990, among the scores of guys whose only job was to lose to the bigger stars on TV shows and make them look good. Austin was in a tag team match against the Rockers where Marty Jannetty hit the "Rocker Dropper" legdrop move on Austin's neck.
Austin landed wrong to break his neck, all caught on camera. He then filed a lawsuit that cost WWE $10 million. It was after this that the company began to use more experienced contracted workers as Austin's injury cost the company a lot.
9 Lionheart
The Styles Clash is one of the coolest finishers in wrestling, but it can be risky if it's taken wrong. That was the case in 2014 when AJ Styles faced British wrestler Lionheart and hit the Clash for a finisher. Lionheart would report he had broken his neck in two places and warned he might never walk again.
He defied the odds to return to the ring a year later but also put out warnings, including openly asking Styles to stop using the move. Lionheart sadly passed away in 2019 and the Clash is still used.
8 Tegan Nox
Her recent release sadly highlights how Tegan Nox's WWE career was better known for her injuries than her ring work. While she'd had a couple of minor injuries here and there, Nox's big one was in the 2018 Mae Young Classic, where her match with Rhea Ripley led to Nox getting a torn ACL, among other problems.
She would post messages on her year-long rehab, finally returning with some kayfabe "reinjuries." Sadly, Nox never got back on track before being released from WWE, as that injury was her most notable bit in the business.
7 Tyson Kidd
After being trained by the Harts, Tyson Kidd began breaking out in WWE with the Hart Dynasty. He was a multiple tag team champion and was beginning to show his stuff as a singles star in 2015. He and Samoa Joe faced off at a house show, with Joe hitting the Muscle Buster, a move Kidd had taken several times. Somehow, this time, Kidd suffered a brutal neck injury which he said only 5% of people survive. He managed to get back on his feet, but a return to wrestling was not to be. Kidd still works for WWE backstage and never blamed Joe for the freak accident, but it's too bad his career ended like this.
6 Jesse Sorensen
One of the biggest black eyes in TNA's history is what they did with Jesse Sorensen. A very promising young star, Sorensen began working for TNA in 2011, where his high-flying antics made him a rising standout in the X Division. He was on his way up the ranks when in 2012, he and Zema Ion fought and Ion landed right on his head in a botched dive.
He suffered a serious neck break and was close to being paralyzed. Worse, right after Dixie Carter promised Sorensen "would have a job for life" in TNA, he was let go in a mass talent cut. Rather than becoming one of TNA's homegrown stars, Sorensen ended up being an example of the company at its worst.
5 Droz
Darren Droz was a promising worker, although his early stuff in WWE was rough. Nicknamed "Puke", he was encouraged to vomit in the ring, but thankfully, that didn't last long. He was then put into a complex storyline with the Legion of Doom that ended badly.
In 1999, Droz wrestled D-Lo Brown in what was supposed to be a regular match. Brown botched a piledriver, driving Droz's neck right into the canvas. The man was sadly paralyzed for life, although he thankfully has regained much of his upper torso use. Still, it's a shame a guy with such promise had his career cut short so brutally.
4 Sabu
Back in 1994, Sabu was getting some attention with his wild style yet didn't quite become a major name. That all changed in a famous match in ECW where Sabu was given a toss, meant to land on his back. Instead, he landed directly on his head, suffering a nasty broken neck. As a result of this incident, Sabu's opponent became known as "The Crippler".
He was amazingly back on his feet fast and would suffer scores of injuries afterward. But this was the moment that made him the "homicidal, genocidal, suicidal" hardcore icon, and that injury transformed Sabu into a legend for ECW.
3 Hardcore Holly
There are two ways the former "Bob" Holly earned the name "Hardcore." The first was in 2002 when Holly faced Brock Lesnar, who nailed him with a brutal F5 that broke Holly's neck, putting him on the shelf for a year.
Then, in 2006, on ECW, Holly took a nasty bump that opened a hideous gash across his back against Rob Van Dam. Stunningly, Holly kept right on wrestling despite the cameras showing him with a slash across his back, earning huge respect. While he was never a massive star, Holly's injuries are a reason he's famous today.
2 Mass Transit
This incident nearly destroyed ECW years early. In late 1996, needing a fill-in for a match against the Gangstas, Paul Heyman made the huge mistake of sending in Eric Kulas, an aspiring wrestler wannabe with a bus driver gimmick called Mass Transit. Heyman was unaware the kid lied about his age and was only 17 and his "training" was practically nil.
New Jack went wild on the kid, blading him way too deep to the point Kulas nearly died on the mat. The resulting scandal initially canceled ECW's first PPV, and they came close to losing their TV show. It also sadly hung a shadow over Kulas' tragic life.
1 Joey Mercury
In 2006, MNM was a hot team with Johnny Nitro (later known as John Morrison) about to break out as a singles star. At Armageddon 2006, the pair were put into a surprise four-team ladder match against the Hardyz, William Regal and Dave Taylor, and tag champions Brian Kendrick and Paul London.
At one point, MNM had Jeff Hardy near two ladders balanced on each other when Matt attacked them. Jeff then leaped off the top rope onto a ladder, sending it smashing into MNM's heads. Mercury took the blow full on, basically shattering half his face, including losing 40% of the vision in one eye. He was never the same after that and this injury cut a promising career short.
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