6 Times WWE Used Concussion Injuries For Storylines

6. The Enziguri Heard Around The World

Shawn Michaels is widely regarded as one of, if not the, best 'sellers' the business has ever seen, his ability to feign pain and provoke sympathy unmatched. Which is why nobody really batted an eyelid when he theatrically crumpled to the canvas after taking an enziguri kick from Owen Hart on the November 20th, 1995 episode of Raw. But then he stayed down. And he didn't get up. People in the crowd began to sense that something was very, very wrong. Abandoning their position at ringside, commentators Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon entered the ring to check on the fallen HBK, something which wouldn't happen unless it was a serious situation. The announcers abandoning the show was unheard of. Raw that evening went off the air with an oxygen mask being applied to Michaels by paramedics as women in the crowd openly wept. It was powerful stuff for the time, a worked-shoot unlike anything WWE had done before. The choice to allow for dead air (which Michaels had to fight for) really added to proceedings. WWE later informed the audience that Michaels had suffered a concussion, a storyline excuse for Shawn taking some time off following a very real beating suffered at the hands of a group of US Marines, the consequences of a night of partying gone wrong. It would be the catalyst for HBK's huge babyface run a few months later, which eventually saw him dethrone Bret Hart for the WWF Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XII.