5 WWE Superstars Who Benefited From Somebody Else's Injury

#2 Ryback (John Cena injury)

Ryback faced CM Punk for the WWE Championship

John Cena underwent surgery to repair an elbow injury in September 2012, ruling him out of the following month’s Hell In A Cell pay-per-view and putting a stop to his WWE Championship rivalry with CM Punk, meaning somebody needed to take his place.

At the time, previous title challengers Daniel Bryan and Kane were preoccupied in a tag team storyline and The Big Show, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and Randy Orton were all involved in other rivalries, so WWE turned to Ryback to fill the void left by Cena.

“The Big Guy” had only been a singles competitor on Raw and SmackDown for six months, with most of his matches ending in quick victories, and his meteoric rise to the top of the card wouldn't have happened so suddenly had it not been for Cena's injury.

He went on to lose against Punk at Hell In A Cell 2012, courtesy of controversial refereeing from Brad Maddox, and he spent most of the next eight months in major storylines with the likes of Cena and The Shield.