10 Best Times Wrestlers Faked Life-Changing Injuries

What do snakebites, scorched flesh and blindness have in common?

No, they're not the next members of Retribution - they're all worked injuries that WWE has used over the years to further angles. All of them have something else in common too. Namely, the wrestlers claiming them were lying pieces of sh*t (or, in some cases, cunning goodies) who only sought to pull the proverbial cashmere over everyone's eyes and trick them into believing they were seriously hurt.

Then, once foes were ensnared, they'd reveal that it was all a ruse and go on the attack. That's really the main criteria here: WWE stars (and one from beyond McMahon city limits) had to be 100% faking it. Injuries also had to be significant enough that they'd tease retirement, permanent scarring or possibly change a worker's plans forever.

Then, surprise! Nothing was actually wrong with the "afflicted".

There's no room for authentic injuries in here. Nah, it's much more fun to look at kayfabe melted faces, possibly-mangled-but-not-really limbs, cigarettes being pushed into eyeballs and some of the best mock-suffering in pro wrestling history.

Bring on those Academy Awards...

Sadness gripped the air on the 14 September 2009 episode of Raw. There, some in the Toronto crowd believed that Batista might actually retire, or at least announce that he couldn't compete for a while. You see, dishy Dave had turned up with his left arm locked in a cast.

He was still selling an attack by Randy Orton's Legacy group from a few months prior; during that, Batista had legitimately suffered a torn bicep. That very-real injury came into play when Orton teased his old Evolution running buddy and took credit for his impending retirement.

BOOM! It was all mind games from the 'Animal'.

Batista slid off his cast and battered the hell out of Orton instead. He then went on to reveal that the big announcement WWE had teased was a jump to SmackDown, and ended his night by beating Randy in a blow off to their feud.