5 Wrestling Careers Cut Short by Neck Injury

Sting suffered an apparent neck injury at Night of Champions.Wrestling icon Sting injured his neck during a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions, and that has put his future in the ring in question.While “The Stinger" has certainly had a lengthy career to this point and was far from his prime at the time of injury, others haven’t been so lucky. Here are a few wrestlers who had their time in the spotlight cut short, at least to some extent, by the dreaded neck injury.

#1 Droz

Droz was paralyzed in 1999.

The most dramatic entry on this list is Droz. During a match with D’Lo Brown in 1999, Droz took a nasty bump after a powerbomb that left him paralyzed at the age of 30.

Since then, he’s recovered some feeling and movement in his upper extremities, but he remains in a wheelchair. Droz never blamed D’Lo for the gaffe, but the damage had clearly been done to his neck.

This was unfortunate because, in addition to the tragedy of his paralysis, the accident ended what could have been a promising career for the former professional football player.

#2 Stone Cold Steve Austin

Fans still clamor for Austin’s return more than a decade after he retired.

Few wrestlers have made the type of cultural impact that Stone Cold Steve Austin had during the Attitude Era days. Yet you can’t really talk about Austin without thinking about what might have been if it weren’t for injury.

Austin’s neck woes began in 1997 during a match with Owen Hart, but he didn’t retire until 2003, at the age of 38. He’s had roles in the company since then, but fans are still hopefully waiting for that glass to break for another Stone Cold appearance in the ring.

#3 Edge

Edge retired publicly on Raw in 2011.

Edge’s retirement due to neck injury might be the most famous occurrence of this list, mainly because he did so publicly on Raw in 2011 at the age of 37. Since then, he’s returned for special appearances, and during one of those his neck was threatened by Seth Rollins as part of a storyline.

Still, fans miss the “Rated R Superstar’s” prowess in the ring, from his high-flying tag team days when he helped make Tables, Ladders and Chairs matchups famous to his singles run as a 11-time world champion – four as WWE champ and seven as the World Heavyweight Champion.

#4 Santino Marella

Santino Marella was known as more of a comic figure in WWE.

Even though Santino Marella became more of a comic relief character than serious wrestler in the WWE, his injury highlights that even that role has its risks. After multiple surgeries, Santino quietly retired in 2014 at the age of 40.

The oldest member of this list, Marella held multiple championships in WWE and could always be counted on for humor, like the time he was eliminated from the 2009 Royal Rumble after just 1 second. That still stands as the record for the shortest stint in the Royal Rumble match.

#5 Daniel Bryan?

Daniel Bryan has spent a lot of time on the shelf since first injuring his neck in 2014.

To be clear, Daniel Bryan has not retired from the sport. In fact, all indications from social media are that he has been cleared by a doctor to some degree and is only waiting for WWE’s approval to get back in the ring.

Still, since he went out with a neck injury after winning the world title at Wrestlemania 30 in 2014, the 34-year-old fan favorite has struggled to stay active, and many have speculated that his career won’t extend much longer if he does return.