10 Wrestlers Who Inflicted The Most Damage To Their Bodies

1. Mick Foley

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WWE.com

While Mick Foley was actually a skilled high school amateur, he was never the best technician, nor did he sport an especially impressive physique in the era of the body guy.

But he was also smart - in an all wrestlers are sort of dumb way - and so he worked around fashionable archetypes with an intensive, debilitating style. He treated concrete like it was a ring apron. He didn’t enjoy the pain - that was character work and a marketing device - but he did have a high threshold for it. This is a man who took a backwards bump from apron to concrete just to get something, anything out of Mil Mascaras, and allowed Vader to crush him with his full, immense weight. He was in such pain that he wanted to nab a cushy Lloyd's of London policy, and yet he continued to work full-time for almost a decade - during which he performed even more demented bumps.

Foley has spoken at length about the effects his style had on his career. The most sobering quote was given to TSN on 'Off The Record' in 2010.

"Honestly, I feel like something hasn't been right for a long time, like, uh, like I'm just submerged underwater, like things are not clear...I have not felt sharp for a long time."

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!