10 WWE Careers That Ended Too Soon Due To Injury

Rick Rude is one of those wrestlers that when you see him in WWF, you know he would have been champion if it wasn't for the overbearing reign of Hulk Hogan during that era.

While in WCW, Rude won the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship three times, and was one of the main stars of an underrated era of wrestling alongside Ric Flair, Sting, Vader and The Great Muta.

It was during a match for the International World Heavyweight Championship against Sting that Rude suffered the injury which would force him into retirement. Although he won the match, he took a over-the-top-rope dive from Sting and hit his back against the raised entrance that surrounded the ring, and the resulting injury led to him vacating the championship and retiring from wrestling.

Following this, Rude jumped from ECW to WWF back to WCW all in one year, this time as manager to longtime friend Curt Hennig and after a cancer scare that turned out to be negative, left wrestling for good. 

In 1999, Rude was reportedly in training for a return to wrestling, but tragically died of heart failure, which according to the coroner's report was due to "mixed medications".