12 Unluckiest WWE Injuries Ever
2. Daniel Bryan
Unfortunately, the pinnacle of Daniel Bryan's career is inextricably linked to two significant injuries that would cruelly abbreviate one of the most organic feel-good stories ever told in professional wrestling.
Mere weeks after improbably emerging victorious from the main event of Wrestlemania 30, a compressed nerve in Bryan's neck caused him to experience a total lack of strength in his right arm.
Despite undergoing surgery in May, Bryan was forced to surrender his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in June 2014 after only one Pay-Per-View title defence when it was determined a second surgery would still be required.
Instead, Bryan visited a therapist who introduced him to a muscle activation technique programme that brought the feeling back, and left him in reasonable enough fettle to return.
After a scant four months back on the roster in 2015 though, disaster struck again when a concussion-related injury benched him during a new reign as Intercontinental Champion, forcing him to give that title up in a segment that would foreshadow his full retirement.
Frustratedly awaiting clearance from WWE doctors throughout the remainder of the year, Bryan revealed in early 2016 that he may have had several previous concussions misdiagnosed, and an MRI had revealed that recent seizures he'd been privately experiencing were related to a chronic lesion in his brain.
Instant retirement was the only option, as Daniel Bryan bid emotional farewell to the job he loved.