10 Wrestling Matches With The Most Unexpected Consequences
1. Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs Owen Hart - WWE SummerSlam 1997
There's only one match most people remember SummerSlam '97 for and it sure as hell ain't Los Boricuas vs The Disciples of Apocalypse.
In fact, it's not even the match that most people remember. It's one move.
After a pretty decent contest, Intercontinental champion Owen Hart scooped Steve Austin up to hit him with a piledriver. A Tombstone Piledriver. A sit-out Tombstone Piledriver.
Uh oh.
Austin's head was way too low when Hart hit the move, compressing his neck into the canvas in a sickening sight. The Rattlesnake was left temporarily paralysed by the incident, informing referee Earl Hebner not to touch him in the ring.
After a lot of stalling for time, Austin regained enough strength to weakly roll Owen up to win the match. But his ordeal was far from over.
Austin's neck would be a constant issue throughout his career. He took time off immediately after this match, would need further time away a few years later, and ended up retiring in 2003 as a result of this one injury.
Although he would become a legend, imagine just how much more Stone Cold could have achieved had his career not been cut short by a single botched piledriver.