10 Nasty Wrestling Bumps Nobody Talks About
4. Taka Michinoku (WWF Royal Rumble 2000)
Recoiling in pain, Taka Michinoku smashed his face on the mats around the ring at the 2000 Royal Rumble. Gleefully encouraging the production truck to show the footage again and again, Jerry 'The King' Lawler seemed to revel in the Japanese grappler's misfortune. Obligingly, production staff repeatedly showed the bump to viewers at home.
As bad as Kane's tumble out of the ring at Fully Loaded 1999 had been, at least he didn't hit his face on the hard ground. Unfortunately, Taka did, and only a few inches of soft mat sandwiched his nose from a solid concrete floor. Ironically, Michinoku wasn't even in the match to begin with.
Running in more than once to interfere with his Kaientai partner Funaki, Taka was eventually thrown over the top rope by both The Big Boss Man and Gangrel. Flipping right over, he struck the ground face-first, leaving some blood on the slightly-cushioned mats around him.
That can't have been fun, and Taka didn't even have the consolation prize of people talking about the incident for long afterwards.