10 Worst Mid-Match Injuries Wrestlers Fought Through
For the love of God, someone stop the damn match!
Throughout the history of pro wrestling, injuries have stopped matches, shortened careers, and ruined lives. Nevertheless, it's become an accepted part of the sport and WWE is no exception.
The biggest brand in wrestling has seen an alarming myriad of injuries over the last couple of years. WrestleMania 32 was particularly ravaged by injury in the build-up - with Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Sting, and John Cena all succumbing to injury before it - and left the 'Showcase of the Immortals' without several of WWE's key players in 2016.
Outside of the WWE, 2015 also saw the tragic loss of Perro Aguayo Jr, who died in the ring in Tijuana. In an industry that’s all too often accused of being fake, it doesn’t get any more shockingly real than that. Perro Aguayo Jr wasn't the first wrestler to lose his life between the ropes either. Most notably, Japanese legend, Mitsuharu Misawa tragically died in the ring in 2009 as a result of cumulative injuries.
With so many serious afflicitions sustained over the years, it's impossible to collate them all. Here's a list of just some of the most horrific injuries from the last 20 years that incredibly didn't result in the bell being called.
10. Bob Holly - ECW (26 September 2006)
The return of ECW to TV in 2006 was initially met with global excitement. Sadly, that excitement was about as short lived as the careers of The Zombie and Macho Libre. WWE's version was a far cry from the original that set the industry (and countless tables) alight years before.
Nevertheless, many superstars attempted to retain the extreme integrity of old, with the likes of RVD, Sabu, Big Show, and even Ric Flair all making a conscious effort to live up to the ECW label. Surprisingly, it was Bob Holly who supplied the most extreme spot of the revival, when he squared off with RVD in an Extreme Rules match on ECW #16.
After several minutes of action, Holly stood perched on the apron with a table set up on the outside. Holly would suplex his opponent through the table in an impressive bump for Van Dam; however, it was Holly that came off worse in the fall.
The broken table sliced Holly's back like a piece of ham, leaving a wound that would require 24 stitches to close. With his back severely lacerated, Holly continued for another eight minutes before he succumbed to the Five Star Frog Splash. Regardless of the outcome, Holly certainly lived up to his name as "Hardcore".