12 Unluckiest WWE Injuries Ever

11. Brutus Beefcake

Big Cass
WWE.com

Ed Leslie often finds himself the butt of jokes amongst wrestling fans, particularly due to his friendship with Hulk Hogan affording him several laughable free rides in the industry, particularly in the mid-to-late-90s.

However, at the very start of the decade, 'The Barber' was hugely over, and primed to deservedly scoop the Intercontinental Title at Summerslam '90 in a follow-up to handing future champion Mr Perfect his first Pay-Per-View defeat four months earlier at WrestleMania 6.

Tragically, before Beefcake could make it to the August supershow, he suffered heinous facial injuries following a parasailing catastrophe that left him with over one hundred metal plates in his skull holding everything together.

Brutus was out of Summerslam, but tentatively returned several months later, first as a mystery babyface attacker with his entire head completely covered (and thus protected from harm), then later strictly as an interviewer on his own talk show segment 'The Barber Shop'.

His eventual in-ring return came long past his sell-by date in 1993, where the injuries were famously revisited to trigger the return of Hulk Hogan to television following Beefcake suffering a vicious beating at the hands of Ted Dibiase and Irwin R Shyster.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett