10 WWE Stars Who Fought Through The Pain Barrier

8. Mr. Perfect Vs. Bret Hart - WWF SummerSlam 1991

Triple H quad 2007
WWE.com

This awesome technical feast, in which even the humble headlock takedown is performed with balletic grace, isn't just awe-inspiring for its content - that Curt 'Mr. Perfect' Hennig even made it through at all is unbelievable.

His back was mangled at this point, after years of throwing himself around the ring like a rag doll in his patented big bumping style. This wasn't the comparatively bouncy ring seen in WWE today - the WWF rings Hennig threw himself down on were notoriously hard and unforgiving.

Mick Foley went as far as to describe them as 'cement' in 'Have A Nice Day', his first autobiography. Hennig didn't just fight through the pain barrier - he came out of retirement and ignored a broken tailbone and bulged discs in order to do proper justice to his then-prestigious Intercontinental title and his successor as champion, Bret Hart.

Hennig was so pained by the match's conclusion that he couldn't wait for Hart to properly apply the match-winning Sharpshooter before submitting.

It was an incredibly gutsy performance from Perfect, without which the 'Hitman' may not have climbed the WWF ranks as quickly as he did.

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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!