10 Scariest In-Ring Wrestling Accidents
7. Yoshi Tatsu’s Botched Styles Clash
The Styles Clash has injured a number of different wrestlers over the years, but it usually isn’t AJ’s fault. Wrestlers are trained to tuck their chin on a move’s impact rather than raise it, but the Clash requires the opposite, and if the performer taking the move forgets this, the results can be catastrophic.
No wrestler was more disastrously affected by the move than Yoshi Tatsu. The former WWE lower-carder instinctively tucked his head while wrestling AJ in NJPW a few years ago, and paid the ultimately price. His neck was broken on impact, forcing him to have a supportive halo drilled into his skull. He was sidelined him for over 18 months.
Tatsu’s recovery process was torturous, but he eventually stepped back into the squared circle in April 2016. Now 39 years old, Yoshi is lucky to still be walking, let alone wrestling. The bump itself looks absolutely horrific, particularly on replay, and frankly, it’s surprising more damage wasn’t done to Tatsu’s head, neck, and spine.
WWE’s wrestlers have fortunately stayed smart with the Styles Clash thus far, but given its injury record, it’s surprising that Vince McMahon allows AJ to use the move at all.