The 5 Worst WWE injuries

3. Joey Mercury’s Face Explodes

Even in the most skilled hands, ladders are dangerous in a wrestling ring.

Any match with a great deal of plunder carries some very real risk to the performers in the ring. Ladders can prove a particularly dangerous implement of destruction, not just for the big bumps they facilitate, but for the unwieldy size and weight of them when used as blunt objects.

Joey Mercury was a rock solid in ring performer, and the Armageddon 2006 PPV saw him engage in ladder match with his similarly skilled partner Johnny Nitro, and skilled, experienced opponents The Hardy Boyz, Dave Taylor and William Regal, and Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Despite the fact that the men involved were all trustworthy, they were nonetheless working a dangerous match style.

In an absolutely brutal spot, Mercury had a ladder see-sawed straight into face, immediately reducing him to the proverbial crimson mask. The injury fortunately didn’t have a huge effect on his long-term career but was one of the more brutal in the moment injuries ever aired to fans live on PPV.