10 Disastrously Timed WWE Injuries

5. Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels eventually managed to defy doctors and make a grand return to active wrestling in time for SummerSlam 2002, after a serious back injury suffered at the 1998 Royal Rumble had kept one of the promotion's best performers out for close to four years.

Michaels managed to hang on and drop the WWF Title to Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV, but the bump he had taken over a casket at the Rumble would come back to haunt him. Surgeons told HBK he would never wrestle again.

That must have been distressing news for Michaels. The WWF were about to strike gold and earn untold millions during the 'Attitude Era'. Meanwhile, the dejected ex-champ who had helped carry the company through less lucrative years in the mid-90s would be on the outside looking in.

Just as the WWF's most financially fulfilling years were about to start, Shawn Michaels was struck down with the news that he'd have to step away from wrestling if he ever wanted to walk again.