9 Times Injuries Actually Helped A Wrestler's Career

Everyone knows the story: At SummerSlam 1997, Owen Hart delivered a botched piledriver to Stone Cold that broke The Rattlesnake's neck and temporarily forced him out of the company just as his star was beginning to rise. It looked like the worst possible thing that could've happened to the newly-minted Intercontinental Champion.

But although Austin was taken away from in-ring competition, that didn't stop him from making his presence felt on WWE television. In fact, fans were treated to a full-on barrage of Stone Cold's rebellious, anti-authoritarian, anti-hero personality, even more so than when he was wrestling. He was constantly cutting promos, working commentary, and otherwise regaling audiences with his mic work.

It was also during this time that his feud with Mr. McMahon took off, a storyline that officially made Stone Cold the guy in the company. Vince kayfabe refusing to let Austin wrestle on the grounds that he hadn't been medically cleared, and Austin's displeasure with that fact kicked off the greatest rivalry of all time.

Sure, Stone Cold had to adjust his in-ring style a little bit, turning into more of a brawler than a mat tactician, but let's face it, nobody cared if he could execute a picture-perfect Sunset Flip. We were all perfectly fine with him stomping a mud-hole in someone and then pummeling them with punches. In fact, most of us preferred it.