10 Devastating Injuries That Made Wrestlers WORSE

1. Samoa Joe

Triple H Before And Way Before
WWE.com

People forget how awesome Samoa Joe once was, and awesome is the word.

This is a man who performed like such a killer and radiated such lethal, badass energy that he convincingly went eye-to-eye with Kenta f*cking Kobashi in a classic war legendary for its quality, significance, and sheer cacophony.

He was an unreal athlete in a new athlete's world, too, handing him the edge to stand arms-folded above his trailblazing 2000s indie peers. He was capable of producing legit Holy Sh*t reactions by vaulting to the outside and flattening the competition like a motherf*cking avalanche of a man. Samoa Joe ruled.

That was before he took an inexplicable bump in a match against Sting at TNA Bound For Glory 2008. As the action sprawled to the stands, he leaped into a dropkick, barely connected, and landed coccyx-first on the unforgiving edge of a concrete step. He was never the same.

He was good enough to adjust - after a terrible spell of booking which almost ruined him in parallel - and entered some very respectable and even great performances in NXT.

But his physical limitations and the limitations of the in-house WWE style never yielded the big stage classics of which he was once so capable.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!