10 Times WWE Stars Were Legitimately Hurt By An Opponent's Finisher

From Batista injuring John Cena to Kofi Kingston rocking The Miz, these are 10 Times WWE Stars Were Legitimately Hurt by An Opponent's Finisher.
JOIN US and hit SUBSCRIBE!
Support Cultaholic on Patreon: / cultaholic
Unlock Cultaholic badges & emojis on KZbin:
/ @cultaholic
Website: cultaholic.com/
Merch: www.cultaholic...
Twitch: / cultaholic
Twitter: / cultaholic
Facebook: / cultaholic
Instagram: / cultaholicwrestling
Discord: www.cultaholic...
Cameo: www.cultaholic...
Sign up to Wrestle Crate UK using code CULTAHOLIC and receive a free signed Ross Tweddell print with your first month's crate: www.wrestlecra...
Cultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live), AEW, IMPACT Wrestling (formerly TNA), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, lists, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more.

[@Mcmacladdie]

Kinda surprised Tyson Kidd vs Samoa Joe wasn't on this list, considering how catastrophic the injury was. It even led to Joe never using the Muscle Buster again during his WWE run.

[@davidyerman4502]

I think he used it during that one house show where he beat Balor for the NXT title. If he used it other than that, it was very sparingly.

[@Snakesshade]

@@davidyerman4502 He also used it again to beat Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship at Takeover 36 I believe

[@anotherplayer8966]

He used it on Roman Rigns in the backlash bout in 2018

[@anotherplayer8966]

But it was no longer a common finish

[@gbrooks2]

Kidd was gonna suffer that injury from his next powerbomb or superplex; honestly an anomaly.

[@pedrolantyer]

Fun fact: Sid managed to finish himself with a Top Rope Big Boot

[@johndonald9239]

Greatest heel turn in pro wrestling history.

[@BaqerF]

@@johndonald9239 ohhh I see what you did there!! you’re a menace but clever tho😂

[@zanethind]

It was Middle Rope and that's because of WCW executives wanting him to use more moves but they gave the wrong moves to do

[@michaelmason1954]

😆😆🤣🤣🤣

[@SkyDog1972]

I'm surprised that Tyson Kidd being hurt by Samoa Joe's Muscle Buster isn't on the list. Not only was Kidd hurt by it, his career was ended by it.

[@TinkSalsa]

Maybe they omitted it because it was no longer his finisher after?

[@mannycacho1346]

I remember seeing THAT trouble in paradise to the miz on tv like WTF just happened

[@okleomaha9299]

it’s so crazy how that was ten years ago

[@zanethind]

Yeah I saw it on repeat and damn

[@Ashannon888]

I think they were avoiding the truly obvious ones so they skipped the Droz/D-Lo and the Samoa Joe/Tyson Kidd ones.

[@BmanTheChamp]

Was that powerbomb D-Lo's finisher though? I thought it was Lo Down, which is his variation of the frog splash.

[@quadryjohnson2099]

That wasn't D-Lo finisher though

[@tinotica]

@@quadryjohnson2099 D-Lo had 2 finishers; the Lo Down and the Sky High (the one that paralyzed Droz)

[@jeremywashington4889]

@@tinotica it was D'los running powerbomb (a signature move not a finisher), not the sky high. The sky high was a spinebuster. Droz and D'lo both agreed it was because Droz's clothes were baggie and hard to grab, causing the accident.

[@jeremywilliams5141]

Honorable mentions: 1. Marty Garner (by Triple H's Pedigree) 2. Chuck Austin (by Marty Jannetty's Rocker Dropper)

[@cuckertarlson3037]

Tbh that guy kinda finished himself on that pedigree lol

[@philippedionne8997]

1. Darren Drozdov( by D-Lo Brown Sky High) he is still paralysed from the move

[@yomamma359]

The Kurt Angle concussion at SS was the first time I recognized a real life injury immediately. As soon as he looked at the camera you knew something was wrong 😵‍💫

[@unlimitedrabbit]

99% of the time, *Animal* was the one hoisting their opponent on his shoulders while *Hawk* was the one delivering the clothesline from the top rope.

[@tidesofsulfurcb]

I came here to say this

[@stevestop]

im surprised they didnt include Daniel Bryan taking Mustafa Ali's 054 (inverted 450) cause that was a scary incident given Daniel had recently returned from being forced into retirement for neck injuries and Mustafa just dropped his knee on Daniel's head. This was also the reason Ali changed his finishing move to a standard 450 as opposed to the inverted variant.

[@Macephtopheles]

Why would they? The list is specifically "WWE Stars [That] Were Legitimately Hurt" and Bryan wasn't. Admittedly, he was lucky he wasn't and things could've gone a lot worse for him but they didn't and he was perfectly fine after it. If the list was "Botched Moves Which Could Have Gone a Lot Worse" then it would likely be number 1 on the list but it meets none of the criteria for inclusion on this one.

[@jonathansmithwick5703]

I really liked the 0 5 4, too. Very impactful. Maybe a little too impactful. Shaaaame

[@mannameddeclan2577]

When explaining the doomsday device you got the roadwarriors’ positions wrong as it would be animal holding up the opponent and hawk delivering the clothesline

[@tysoncarpenter8628]

Hey do I want the only one who cought that hahaha

[@telenikros]

Yeah noticed that straight away

[@cuckertarlson3037]

I think they saw your comment. They made a correction.

[@timleahy6169]

Just so you guys know, Hawk came off top rope and Animal held the opponent on his shoulders.....

[@tinotica]

Honorable mention: -Jerry Lawler by Bret Harts Sharpshooter -Undertaker by Goldberg’s Jackhammer -Droz by DLo’s Sky High -Christian by Edge’s Con-chair-to -Edge by Cenas STFU

[@DJDoubleCee]

I kinda cringe seeing Kurt Angle fall headfirst into concrete when Triple H tried to pedigree him. How he was able to finish that match is beyond me.

[@oMINCEo]

He’s Kurt FREAKING Angle

[@stevegallo8483]

You're talking about a guy who won an Olympic gold medal with a broken freaking neck. In all seriousness, Stephanie and Trips talked him through the match once Kurt returned.

[@benespinosa6725]

The Very First Elimination Chamber Match @ Survivor Series 2002 is the Greatest Elimination Chamber Match of All-time no other Chamber match has come close in my Honest opinion.

[@lumwiid2720]

The 2019 WWE Title chamber was pretty incredible imo

[@benespinosa6725]

@@lumwiid2720 that one was awesome

[@joshuaperez441]

@@benespinosa6725 don't forget the forgotten one. That one with [REDACTED], it was pretty good and pretty much the start of the end of Evolution

[@Lithonian]

Even in WCW Kidman did the SSP badly

[@cuckertarlson3037]

I never realized how bad his ssp was until other guys started doing it way better.

[@FloundBlacky]

Suprised that Samoa Joe vs Tyson Kid when Joe ended Tysons career with the muscle buster, isnt on this list

[@keithgriner61]

I believe Rey also sliced open Matt Hardy with his knee brace around the same time. Think it was a hurricanrana

[@ReaverPrime]

That Trouble in Paradise was gnarly! The sound of Kofi's foot bashing Miz in the face is legendary. There was no thigh slap. It was all boot to the head (if ya know, ya know).

[@danielmiller3596]

Boot to the head. *k-thunk*

[@brettwilson359]

You got the Doomsday device backwards. Hawk came off the rope when Animal held them up.

[@Rando1975]

I remember watching the Jake/Steamboat match. Jake struggles to get Ricky back in the ring as Ricky is out cold and completely dead weight.

[@moopert86]

F5 the most potential to injure? I think you're forgetting the time Brock legit broke Bob Holly's neck with a failed power bomb. Granted Holly looked like he was trying to sandbag Brock but still.

[@badbooking3221]

That triple power bomb was a mid-match move, not a finisher like what this video is showcasing.

[@benjaminprunty56]

Animal picked up the opponent and Hawk came off the top rope.

[@woobgamer5210]

I'm surprised *that* injury done to Droz by D-Lo Brown wasnt on here since its, well, the most obvious one. Pretty sure that bomb was D-lo's finisher

[@chrisrobinson7739]

DLos finisher was the Lo Down. Frog splash

[@andu1854]

Or he used the Sky High (beat XPac with it on a PPV

[@unknownapproach9410]

Not to be that guy, but the LOD had Animal do the lifting and Hawk do the jumping clothesline

[@maze1914]

I remember the Trouble In Paradise jeez, I was like that had to hurt

[@LilStan900]

I'll never forget watching the Kofi/Miz match live and I said "Damn I think he knocked him out for real" when he kicked him

[@nickmokrzewski]

Vividly remember that trouble in paradise. I almost went through the ceiling and called my mom in to see it. Gruelling finish, but kinda awesome!

[@still-standingrunner810]

Farooq almost broke Jeff Hardy's neck with a Dominator. Lesnar broke Hardcore Holly's neck with a botched powerbomb. Benoit got a concussion when Lesnar dropped him on his head onto a chair

[@BmanTheChamp]

Only one of those you mentioned was a wrestler's finisher, unless the move you said Lesnar hit Benoit with was an F-5.

[@johnnypericles1353]

The 619 is such a safe looking move while still being hype. Crazy that it hurt Cody and uh... killed Perro Aguayo Jr. It was technically the setup, but still I never would have expected that to happen.

[@canonkingsley6569]

That 619 never landed on Perro.

[@dutchvanderlinde8099]

It was the way he took Rey's dropkick setup, separating vertebrae, killing Perro.

[@DKCG0113]

I legit thought Batista’s broken back and Cody’s broken nose were both works

[@tysoncarpenter8628]

Vise versa bro animal held them while hawk closed lined em off animals shoulders lol

[@theupliftchannel]

What about the guy who had his neck broken and ended up paralyzed after taking a pedigree from Triple H several years ago?

[@chikowashere]

Cena was hurt prior to the match against Batista and they used the match to write him off. He never got hurt on the powerbomb, he never gets hurt on powerbombs, he always takes them elbows first.

[@DJDoubleCee]

I wonder if Triple H harbored any resentment toward RVD for crushing his larynx.

[@tinotica]

It’s interesting since RVD doesn’t talk ill at all about Triple H in shoot interviews

[@50STFPAUL]

The most surprising thing is you didn't mention the 619 "killed" someone.👀

[@Torthrodhel]

Gotta cringe at those old school match continuations nowadays. There are ways to show you're tough without risking your life like that. Of course it's not the wrestler making the decision - any wrestler would make the same decision every time - it's down to management to know better from an observing perspective and say no. You can have any sort of backup plan - some third party runs in to interfere, someone distracts with an interrupting promo, etc. But honestly these days fans are smart enough that I feel you could just be plain about it and stop the match due to injury. Just don't do it so often when it isn't real, and it'll balance out. No fued plan is worth someone's health.

[@acemushroom_]

Absolutely love this content

[@sh00ner]

Shocked Kevin Nash's Jacknife on Giant didn't make the cut, honestly.

[@xximboredxx123]

Itami needs to pay tribute to danhausen stealing danhausens move hope he curses him lol

[@aliinlondon]

Thanks, bonnie lads ... so much more Pachitti recently :)

[@locoloboxiii]

Soo.... lemme get this straight... we have The L.o.D. to thank for Naked Mideon..... great. Now I can't forget that while I'm talking about one of the best teams in history........

[@zanethind]

Rip both Road Warriors. The Doomsday Device is the most popular used tag finisher ever also you forgot to mention Batista's Batista Bite/Beast Bite aka Rings of Saturn Submission move. I like how people complain about Orton vs Cena and then Miz and Kingston comes along lol. I didn't know that Punk took the Anaconda Vice from a Japanese wrestler

[@omarzarzuela]

The powerbomb from Brock to Hardcore Holly.

[@roshandave1634]

People really need to stop talking about Rey and Perro Aguayo Jr. Rey was involved in the match, his move happened right before Perro went into cardiac arrest, but nothing he did resulted in Perro's death. Stop using that to say Rey in unsafe in the ring, it was a tragic accident attributed to three broken vertebrae and cardiac arrest.

[@coltonwilkie241]

Exactly. People will reach for anything. Bunch of fucking bots.

[@spike3082]

Shinsuke Nakamura dislocating Samoa Joe's jaw or AJ Styles almost breaking James Ellsworths neck are a few others

[@BmanTheChamp]

If I recall correctly, AJ had to adjust his Styles Clash to avoid injuring Ellsworth since he had tucked in his chin, when that is absolutely the wrong way to take that move.

[@spike3082]

@@BmanTheChamp yes he did and that's what saves james

[@ashtonyoshi6811]

RVD's frog splash was one of my favorite finisher

[@pyrusane]

Didn't Rey also break the Undertaker's orbital socket with a 619? Or was that kayfabe? It's been so long now I can't remember.

[@lordsauron3979]

Video would have been better if the actual footage of said injury was included. Was this because of copyright issues or something of that nature?

[@moffjerjerrod1579]

Ha! The pic os Lesnar punching Strowman was a receipt. Strowman had legit hit Lesnar multiple times and got it back.

[@that.canadian.vaper.guyTCVG]

I remember that Batista vs Cena match. For Ruthless Aggression Era kids, that match was HUGE. The face of Raw vs the face of Smackdown, finally going at it to see who would win, and at the time, that was big business. They were both literally the faces of WWE at that time and that was epic. The wrestling wasn't that great looking back, it was more of seeing an immovable object versus an unstoppable force. Up to this match, they only teamed up, so that first match was awesome. WWE always pushed Cena more, after Batistas fued with Triple H finished. But whenever they were pitted against each other, Batista came up as the winner more often than not. Until Batista quit, then that's when they really started putting John over Batista more regularly.

[@zacharymicah]

Don't forget that Batista pulled a hamstring at the same time he hit Cena with the Batista Bomb.

[@ericgoldberg8358]

Don't forget Buddy Rodgers and that guy he faced in the tournament in Rio De Janeiro for the WWWF Championship 🤣

[@LuciferLonseraph]

Yeah, we never saw or heard from that guy ever again - Rogers must have actually killed him in the ring, what a badass.

[@captcharisma]

9:34 I thought that was Jay White 😂

[@mitchtucker4304]

No one does a SSP worse than Kidman

[@jeffmiller4845]

The GTS never looks dangerous

[@cuckertarlson3037]

It's a lame finisher imo. Most of the time, dudes land on their feet before the knee even hits the face.

[@simonhancock9204]

But if it's being done to a smaller guy like Mysterio or Kendrick there's bound to be problems

[@martinrubio9943]

Chavo was out of the shooting star press he turned face

[@WWChampion16]

Honorable Mention: Marty Garner botched Pedigree by Hunter Hearst Helmsley at WWF Superstars 1996.

[@Sunprism]

I once saw brock lesner order across the room from me, ordering a sandwich, My spine still hasn't recovered

[@kylehc15]

so 10 times wwe wrestlers got real should be more like it

[@gremlin.x]

that trouble in paradise was the only time it looked legitimate

[@nicktaylor2657]

I remember Kofi hitting Miz with Trouble in Paradise They replayed it a half dozen times Nothing fake about that 😳

[@dustincongello5802]

Alot of people like to hate on triple h because he married the bosses daughter. But he finished more matched after being injured then anyone else in the wwe..serious injuries that puts a wrestler out of action. He took the hit for the Curtain Call and works his way back up to his spot and surpassing it to the main event I say he earned what he has and more even

[@sh-spectrum409]

God, looking back now Kidman’s Shooting Star Press was really shite to look at because he wouldn’t hit it in a straight line and was proven to be dangerous.

[@cuckertarlson3037]

Remember when he came down and landed on the turnbuckle ? Lol

[@sh-spectrum409]

@@cuckertarlson3037 I rest my case.

[@nealroberts5844]

Jake came up with the name not the move it was first used by black gordman in the 70s

[@leviathan_is_me]

The doomsday device would have been MUCH safer if Amimal just did an electric chair drop when Hawk hit the clothesline...but no HE wasn't taking a bump..(been said by people who took the move.)

[@zanethind]

I miss Paige, Banks, and Naomi. Even though Miz got knocked out that's still the best sell I've ever seen of the Trouble in Paradise. I didn't know RVD had a reputation for hurting people in WWE. There's two stories about how the DDT was made. There was actually a report on Google saying that Brock went into business for himself by pinning Taker at Mania 30 by injury Taker so bad in the match but idk how true that is. One more you could've added was at Takeover where Aleister Black broke Lars Sullivan's jaw by the Black Mass

[@danielmiller3596]

I had been told the rvd stuff was over hyped, due to politics

[@Nbflowers1989]

I'm sorry in their what? 😳 0:06

[@thegoat2874]

Wait I thought the whole broken nose depression Cody Rhodes was just for character I didn’t think his nose actually broke

[@iainmooney8610]

I wouldn't say Ray is that safe, he's hurt people for years, plus that time he accidentally killed a guy.

[@mazor775]

Youre saying Hawk & Animal backwards and Ricky & Jake too.

[@kylehill3883]

K-Kwik(R-Truth) by Test's Big Boot.

[@martinrubio9943]

Kurt angle got a concussion but he still wrestled

[@BBudd18]

Big Bad Lemon 🍋 does it again

[@jerranspearman3369]

good video

[@bigitaly4554]

I remember a few more…. Beverly Brothers almost killing a prelim guy with the Shaker Heights Spike Triple H turning the Pedigree into a piledriver on a job guy The Rockers (Marty Janetty) breaking a jobbers neck with the Rocker Dropper

[@BaloneWithAGoat]

Great video, Adam x

[@superultramegamaga4021]

kevin nash paul white ??.

[@t.jefferson6365]

Brock didn't go into business for himself with Strowman jabroni.

[@AlexaBlissgamer]

Animal would hold up the opponent and Hawk would do the clothesline not the other way around.

[@Kusanagikaiser999]

How Samoa Joe muscle buster to Tyson Kidd isn't here?

[@martinrubio9943]

John cena got hurt by the batista his neck got bad but he came back quick

[@justj.c6769]

Not the first neck Brock broke. Look what happened to Bob Holly.

[@GabbyPlaysGames02]

Idk how you can make a list of this without including the muscle buster that damn near killed/paralyzed Tyson Kidd. Watching the footage of that made me cringe.

[@chrisrobinson7739]

Didn't Rey injure The Undertaker with the 619 too?

[@multiyapples]

Sucks they got injured.

[@Jesus1sLord777]

Brian Kendrick or Jay White?..

[@KT-cz7rm]

I don't always watch WWE, but when I do, I realize the "superpunch" is a horrible move

[@michaelroszell8156]

Finishers mean nothing now

[@Tegridy_Gaming]

Surprised

[@julianhernandez6457]

Why do u keep calling it "a local medical facility" after calling it a hospital like that's how we say it here? We Def call it a hospital so whomever told u diff should go Play in traffic at night dressed in all black. Wooooo, love the channel and all u guys do there.

[@mjptv9561]

I think the 619, that broke the Undertaker's orbital bone, and could have lost sight in that eye, in June 2010, would have been a better number 1.

[@TheMyuyen]

Also in a freak accident Rey did a drop kick to his opponents back to set up the 619 over in México which sadly ended in dead.

[@ytubebrowser7560]

Perro Aguayo Jr, RIP

[@slasherdope8065]

Correction, Undertaker is the highest profile wrestler that Rey Mysterio injured. Rey also killed a guy

[@coltonwilkie241]

Rey didn't kill anybody. The guy had a heart attack.

[@michaelscriver5395]

HHH with the jobber brutal

[@JackTheSlayer-ok5eq]

Hello

[@wilsonchadbenitez3021]

RVD!

[@acemushroom_]

Heyyyy

[@BigMick502]

So no mention of rey Mysterio and that whole thing about that guy dying in Mexico with the 619

[@coltonwilkie241]

He had a heart attack. Literally nothing Rey did led to his death.

[@abagofcats4673]

Conveniently forgetting Rey Mysterio killing a guy in the ring, setting up the 619

[@grey1288]

Uh, no. It's the dropkick that caused the victim's vertebraes to break and a cardiac arrest, causing the victim to die and clearly, the 619 did not even hit the guy. It's a freak accident.

[@cuckertarlson3037]

I have to include yokozuna splatting jobbers with the bonzai drop...