"He should not have been able to even walk" - Bruce Prichard recalls star fighting through injury to complete RAW match

Bruce Prichard has been at Gorilla Position for some of the biggest WWE shows in the company's history, and the WWE Executive Director has witnessed his fair share of unplanned incidents unfold inside the ring.

There is nothing worse that can happen during a wrestling event than a talent injury. During a recent episode of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard spoke about the serious injury suffered by Triple H on a RAW episode in May 2001.

Triple H sustained the injury during the main event in which he and Steve Austin defended the WWF tag team straps against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho.

The Game tore his quadriceps muscle while attempting to free Austin from the Walls of Jericho submission. Triple H's quick dash forward resulted in an agonizing muscle tear.

He suffered a potentially career-threatening injury, and none of the officials or talent involved at the time had any idea about the seriousness of the situation.

Bruce Prichard was backstage during the RAW is War episode, and he admitted that the freak injury was the last thing WWE needed at that crucial phase.

Prichard was stunned that Triple H could even walk, let alone wrestle and somehow execute all the planned spots.

"Well, it was absolutely terrible because, again, you're watching it, and I don't think anybody in the moment had any idea how bad Triple H really was, and it's not just, 'Oh, he tore his left side, no, god!' Folks, it ripped from the bone and curled up. He should not have been able to even walk. (He) really couldn't walk, but (he) did!" said Prichard.

"That was one of those holy s*** moments" - Bruce Prichard on Triple H's serious injury

Bruce Prichard commended Triple H's tolerance levels and unwavering willpower for staying in the ring and continuing the match. According to him, there aren't many people apart from The Game capable enough of delivering a heroic performance while being seriously hurt.

"A testament to pulling through and finishing the match. I don't know that many people, a: would have been able to do that. That was one of those holy s*** moments. Once you realize, even more so after the fact, he couldn't put any weight on his leg at all and still went in, finished the match, did his spots, limping badly and not really being able to do much of anything at all," added Prichard.

Of course, Triple H wasn't a 'hero' from a kayfabe sense as the multi-time world champion was the company's top heel.

Bruce Prichard stated that WWE even chalked out plans revolving around Triple H, and the injury brought about an unexpected change.

"So, it was an incredible match, and it was a turning point in so many different ways because it was a point that we had lost Triple H in there and realizing, 'Oh, wow!' Everything that we had planned for the summer going forward that included Triple H on that side, now goes away, and now you go to plan, really b or c, because we were already on plan b, and it's like, 'Okay, this is going to be interesting, to say the least,'" recalled Bruce Prichard.

Triple H missed eight months of in-ring time following the injury. However, his absence turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The legend returned as a babyface to one of the loudest pops in wrestling history at the iconic Madison Square Garden in 2002. Relive the moment below:

If any quotes are used from this article, please credit Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard on AdFreeShows.com and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.