10 Wrestlers Who Broke Their Neck For The Business
8. Sabu
One of many cases in which Paul Heyman helped turn an awful situation for one performer into a money-spinning one for another, Chris Benoit's 'Crippler' moniker was forged from the result of his brutal ECW Arena non-match with Sabu in November 1994.
Time hasn't eased the discomfort of watching Sabu's headfirst near-90 degree plunge into the canvas, and it's one of the many bumps he probably now regrets as he continues to make a living on the fringes of wrestling's otherwise-thriving independent circuit. An eerie sense of panic enveloped the ordinarily bullet-proof bingo hall as he hit the deck and rolled to the outside, with Heyman and in-house monster babyface 911 both dropping character to tend to the fallen 'Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal' star.
Sabu missed hardly any time despite the fall (a practice that will be increasingly commonplace in this article), whilst the remainder of Benoit's time in ECW and entire stint in WCW were defined by his propensity for breaking bones. Though it flew in the face of his crisp, technical style, it gave gravitas to his steely and occasionally vacant personality.