10 Sickening In-Ring Injuries You Won't Believe Stars Wrestled Through

3. Steve Austin Breaks His Neck

Steve Austin and Owen Hart were having a great match at SummerSlam '97 until a fairly routine piledriver proved to be near fatal. Owen had performed the move countless times before, but on this occasion Austin's head was inadvertently exposed beneath his legs and spiked straight into the mat. After the move was delivered, it was clear that something was wrong. Austin wasn't moving; he was temporarily paralyzed.

The replays were brutal to watch. Owen had to awkwardly kill time until the ref and Austin could figure out what to do. The match had to go on; It was a "kiss my ass match," and there was no way the Austin character would ever do that. What happened next was the absolute weakest roll-up in wrestling history. That's not a knock on Austin though. The fact that he was even able to raise his arms was a downright miracle. After the match ended, Austin was clearly in pain. Amazingly, with a little help he was even able to walk out of the ring and make it all the way to the back. It would be the last we'd see of him in the ring for quite some time.

It was an unfortunate moment, but it could have been a tragedy. It was also horrendous timing for Austin, who had begun developing a huge following, but the injury ironically worked out better for him; restricted to just promos for the next few months, the Austin character became hotter than ever.

Not often mentioned, but in a strange twist of fate, the piledriver performed on Austin was the exact same move that he used on Masahiro Chono a few years earlier in Japan, breaking his neck. Anyway, when Austin talks about being one tough S.O.B. it was impossible to argue with him after that match.