10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Dec 5)

7. Early Return Ended Henry Godwinn's Career

As Henry O. Godwinn, Mark Canterbury worked for the then-World Wrestling Federation from 1994-1999. Along with his kayfabe cousin Phineas I, he performed as part of the tag-team known as The Godwinns. The pair were portrayed as pig farming country boys, and worked as both heels and babyfaces whilst together. In 1997, Henry suffered a nasty neck injury during a match against The Legion Of Doom. Landing badly on his head and neck following 'The Doomsday Device' finishing move, he was advised by doctors to step away from the ring. According to comments made by Henry to The Register-Herald this week, that wasn't something he was prepared to do. Instead of heeding their advice, he returned to wrestling. The early return would end up costing him his career. Initially, Henry was fine, but he re-injured the neck in late-1998. He required immediate spinal fusion surgery, something which would make it impossible to wrestle again. To this day, the guy feels he would have had a longer career had he taken longer to recover from the first injury. The fact he didn't caused him problems years later.