5 WWE Superstars who got knocked out in the ring

We all know that wrestling is dangerous, and it's a sad fact that injuries can happen at any time.

A Superstar can be riding high as Champion one day, and be forced to give up the title, and possibly even their career the next.

Just look at Edge in 2011, who was forced to retire after a neck injury he suffered in early 2003.

And whilst all of the stars on this list were eventually able to return to the squared circle, the prospect of being knocked out is never fun.

Here are 5 WWE Superstars who got KO'd in the ring, and what happened next.

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#5 Enzo Amore

Amore was out cold just minutes into his tag match with Big Cass against the Vaudevillains.

The match between Enzo Amore and Big Cass against the Vaudevillains was only minutes long when it came to a sad and abrupt end.

Meeting at the 2016 Payback pay-per-view, all four men hoped to prove themselves, and one spot saw Simon Gotch slide Amore into the ropes for an intricate Irish Whip.

Along the way though, something went wrong, as Amore’s head was whiplashed into the canvas, legitimately knocking him out.

The injury was made even worse when Amore’s lifeless body slid out of the ring after he was knocked out, with the future Cruiserweight Champion’s head hitting the floor on the outside.

With the Certified-G down for the count, the match was quickly ended, as the official threw up the X, indicating to those in the back that this was not a part of the story.

Being led out on a stretcher, fans in the arena could do nothing but look on in shock, as Amore would miss nearly four weeks of action.

#4 Finn Balor

Balor had only recently returned from injury.

Sometimes, all it takes is just one badly-placed strike to change the landscape of an entire match.

And in 2017, Finn Balor found this out first hand when he took on Jinder Mahal on the April 10th edition of RAW.

Facing off against the Extraordinary Man, Mahal hit Balor with a common forearm strike just as Balor was turning his face away, and caught Balor in the back of the head with his elbow.

Instantly falling down, Balor must have been terrified for his career, as he had just returned from an injury that had kept him on the shelf for eight months, and had cost him the Universal Championship.

Balor would be forced to miss the weekend slate of house shows, but for able to pass concussion testing by the company.

And although many expected Mahal to be punished for what was an unfortunate accident, he would instead be thrust into the main event, winning the WWE Championship at Backlash.

#3 Candice Michelle

The former Women's Champion was knocked out during a 2-out-of-3 falls match.

If you’ve seen some of WWE’s old ‘Don’t Try this at home’ PSAs, you may have noticed Candice Michelle being strapped to a gurney.

This scary situation came during the October 22nd, 2007 edition of RAW, when Michelle faced off against the then Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix.

Already a fall down in their 2-out-of-3-falls match, Michelle went to the top rope to dive on The Glamazon, who countered by bouncing on the ropes to unbalance her.

Crashing down to the mat, Michelle was instantly concussed, and suffered a broken collar bone in the process.

Thinking on the fly, Phoenix quickly pinned Candice to retain her title, and whilst we don’t know if this was the planned finish, it’s unlikely, as WWE usually go 2-1 in matches like this, and Beth retained 2-0.

Returning to RAW in February 2008, it would be another month before Candice would wrestle again, though sadly, she re-injured her previously broken clavicle.

#2 Daniel Bryan

Bryan is fortunately back in the ring, and the current WWE Champion.

Daniel Bryan’s documented history of head injuries was just one part of his forced two-year retirement from competing in the WWE.

Amongst the series of injuries that would plague Bryan, would be a head injury he suffered in 2011, when he took on the then WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio.

Meeting on the August 19th edition of SmackDown Live, the smug Del Rio, who had won the gold earlier that week at SummerSlam, tagged Bryan with a cheeky kick to the face.

Whilst it may not have seemed much, the blow knocked out The Eco-Friendly Superstar, as Del Rio had to forcibly move Bryan out of a pinfall attempt so the match wouldn’t end.

Coming to the end of the match, Bryan would find himself in Del Rio’s armbar, and whilst Bryan may have come up short against The Aristocrat, he did get a receipt, nailing Del Rio with a series of especially stiff kicks of his own, with Del Rio has admitted he deserved.

#1 Mick Foley

Foley could've been killed during his Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker.

There have been plenty of instances of Superstars getting knocked out, but none have become more iconic than when Mick Foley met The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998.

Competing as Mankind, Foley met the Deadman not inside Hell in a Cell, but instead on top of the structure.

Whilst the first fall off the side of the cage was planned, the second fall from up high certainly wasn’t.

Somehow able to continue the match after crashing through the announce table below, the Deadman and Foley would end up back on top of the structure, with The Undertaker chokeslamming the Hardcore legend.

Unfortunately, this caused the roof to break, and Foley fell through the roof to the mat below, and as a chair fell on Foley’s head after it bounced off the canvas, it’s no surprise that the three-time WWF Champion was knocked out cold.

Foley gave the performance of a lifetime, earning the future best-selling author, countless fans.

And speaking of Foley’s books, Mick would later write in his autobiography, that If he’d jumped any higher to take the chokeslam, he probably would’ve died from the unplanned fall and landing.