10 Disastrously Timed WWE Injuries

5. Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels The Undertaker Casket Match Royal Rumble 1998
WWE.com

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.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.