10 Wrestlers Who Returned From Injury And Then Got Injured

If you’re mad enough to take powerbombs and get chucked through tables for a living, then you should probably be aware that injuries in wrestling happen fairly often.

Most performers are lucky enough to recover from their knocks and get back to the ring after some time out, but sometimes the universe decides to play a cruel joke and injure them again almost immediately.

These 10 performers all know this pain (both figuratively and literally), as their big comebacks were all spoiled by another quick trip to the hospital.

This is 10 Wrestlers Who Returned From Injury… And Then Got Injured.

10. Batista

Batista has had a career most wrestlers could only dream of.

WrestleMania main eventer, multiple-time world champion, Hollywood favourite, all of this and more has come The Animal’s way. However, there was a time very close to the start of his in-ring career where he was nearly written off entirely.

Batista got his big break when he was chosen to be part of Triple H’s new Evolution stable in 2003, representing the future of the company alongside Randy Orton. Unfortunately, he tore his triceps in a tag team match against The Dudley Boyz shortly thereafter, taking him off TV.

Then, as he was nearing the end of his recovery, Batista re-tore the same muscle whilst training for his comeback, leading to more agonising months off-screen.

For most people, this would have been it, as they’d have been dismissed as unreliable or injury-prone.

Clearly, Vince McMahon saw something special in the young Leviathan, and decided to give him another chance.

Batista returned in late 2003, and began his rise up the ranks in earnest.

9. Christian Cage

Much like his former best buddy Adam Copeland, Christian - now Christian Cage in AEW - had his in-ring career cut short by injury, only to return many years later and have one of the best runs of his entire career.

Before he retired the first time round in 2014, the Canadian star hurt his ankle whilst on a European tour in late 2011.

The injury took him out of a traditional Survivor Series match at the upcoming pay-per-view, which means he missed the opportunity to share the ring with Mason Ryan.

Captain Charisma returned in February 2012, but was then taken out of action again with a storyline injury. He came back from that in May, but, by July, he picked up another knock, for real this time, whilst competing in an Intercontinental Championship match with The Miz.

This kept Christian out of the ring for the better part of a year, until mid-2013. By the same time the following year, he’d be “retired” from pro wrestling entirely after suffering a concussion.

Many thought this was the end of Mr. Cage, but the lure of wrestlers with dead dads brought him back from the brink.

8. Mr Kennedy

The career of Mr. Kennedy is a classic case of “What If?”.

He was given the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2007, but had it taken away from him and given to Edge. He was supposed to be Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son, but that honour was given to Hornswoggle instead.

Injuries certainly played their part in Kennedy’s unlucky streak, starting when he tore a muscle in his back just four months into his main roster run. He returned to SmackDown after about six months away, being chosen to replace an injured Mark Henry in a match with Batista at the 2006 Great American Bash.

Batista, who was clearly angry at also being on this list, chucked Kennedy into the steel steps early on in the bout, giving him a massive cut that required 20 stitches to close.

Whilst this didn’t keep Kennedy away for very long, it was still a sign of things to come.

7. Samoa Joe

Easily the best Samoan in wrestling called Joe (until Roman Reigns made that choice a lot harder), Samoa Joe has been wrestling for a very, very long time.

He’d been on the scene for 15 years before he made his NXT debut in 2015, so, it’s not a surprise that he ended up getting hurt a lot during his time with WWE.

A knee injury in August 2017 kept him away until October, but he was only back for around two months before he hurt his foot and was sidelined again, missing WrestleMania 34 as a result.

Joe was then able to stay healthy for over a year until he broke his thumb in a King of the Ring semi-final in 2019.

He came back to the ring in early 2020, which lasted for about a month until he sustained a second concussion in quick succession whilst filming a commercial and was once again rendered unable to wrestle.

This is what led to his time as a colour commentator, which in turn gave us the all-time great image of him in a poncho at WrestleMania 37.

6. Kevin Nash

Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Goldberg.

Kevin Nash has had intense feuds with some of sports entertainment’s biggest stars, but his greatest enemy of all was actually his own legs. One of the longest-running jokes in wrestling is that Nash can’t do anything without tearing a quad.

This stems from a multi-man tag team match on Raw in 2002 where, after hitting Booker T with a Big Boot, Big Daddy Cool tried to attack the other team standing on the apron, but buckled to the mat instead.

This injury kept Nash away for nine months, but this wasn’t the only injury Nash had sustained in ‘02.

Prior to his legs exploding, he’d torn his biceps earlier in the year. In fact, this tag match was his in-ring return, meaning that Nash had only lasted about 10 minutes before hurting himself again.

At least there was something nice waiting for Big Sexy upon his return, as he was almost immediately slotted into a World Heavyweight Championship programme with Triple H.

However, his frequent spells on the sidelines were a major contributing factor to WWE’s decision to cut bait once his series with The Game had run its course.

5. Ahmed Johnson

Much like with Mr. Kennedy earlier in this list, Ahmed Johnson also had all the potential in the world but, for a multitude of reasons, it didn’t work out.

The former football player was one of the company’s pet projects during the New Generation era, given a sizeable push straight out of the gate.

He won the Intercontinental Championship at the 1996 King of the Ring, becoming the first African-American performer to do so, and headlined the following In Your House event alongside Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid. And then, everything went a bit wrong.

Johnson was diagnosed with kidney issues shortly after becoming number one contender to the WWE Championship, which derailed that angle.

He returned later in 1996, joined The Nation of Domination the following year, and was set to re-assume his position as an upper-midcarder before a flurry of injuries put rest to those plans once again.

By 1998, he was gone from the promotion, his momentum entirely snuffed out. He then had a brief, infamous stint in WCW as Big T as Johnson has hardly been involved in pro wrestling since.

4. Tegan Nox

Though she’s not exactly a top star in WWE’s women’s division today, it’s could be considered amazing that Tegan Nox is there at all, considering how rotten the start of her time there was.

Formerly Nixon Newell on the British independent scene, the Welsh star signed a WWE contract in 2017, and was announced for the first ever Mae Young Classic. However, before the tournament even started, she tore her ACL and had to be replaced.

Nox returned on the NXT live circuit in early 2018, but her first televised WWE match was in the 2018 Mae Young Classic. She got through to the quarter-finals against Rhea Ripley where, you guessed it, she hurt her knee again, tearing her ACL, MCL, and a bunch of other stuff too.

Tegan must have felt like if she didn’t have bad luck she’d have no luck at all.

Thankfully, Nox finally got back on track in 2019, wrestling for both NXT and NXT UK, teaming and feuding with Dakota Kai, and getting her main roster call-up in 2021… but only after she tore her ACL again in 2020!

3. Bret Hart

If you thought the Tegan Nox stuff was sad, then you ain’t seen nothing yet.

After being screwed out of the WWE title at Survivor Series 1997, Bret Hart turned up in WCW and his talents and star power were completely wasted and, when he was finally given a chance as a main eventer, his career was ended by a single kick to the head.

During the main event of Starrcade 1999, whilst defending his world championship against Goldberg, Hart was struck in the head by a thrust kick from his opponent. The Hitman suffered a massive concussion, which set in motion a devastating snowball effect.

You could argue that Bret shouldn’t be on this list, as he didn’t “return” from his injury - he merely kept wrestling through it. Hart suffered more bumps and bruises over the next few weeks, wrestling what would be his final match for a decade in January 2000.

2. CM Punk

In a touching tribute to his Canadian hero, CM Punk also left WWE under dubious circumstances and then got injured a lot whilst working for another company.

The first signs that The Best in the World’s AEW run was a tiny bit cursed came when he announced he’d injured his foot shortly after defeating Hangman Adam Page for the world title at Double or Nothing 2022.

Punk didn’t relinquish the belt; instead, he held onto his whilst Jon Moxley won an interim version. Mox squashed Punk on an episode of Dynamite to unify the titles, only for the Chicago native to win the belt back at All Out 2022.

During the second Moxley match, Punk tore one of his triceps, which once again left him unable to defend his championship. Not that this mattered, as he, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks had all been suspended following their infamous post-press conference brawl.

Anyway, Punk returned in June the following year, met a delightful young man named Jack Perry and was promptly fired.

1. Bryan Danielson

Had this list been written any time before March 20, 2018, this entry would have had a much sadder tone.

Daniel Bryan (AKA Bryan Danielson) finally achieved his full potential at WrestleMania 30, overcoming Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton in one night to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans cheering him on with chants of YES! YES! YES!

The fairytale wouldn’t last long for D-Bry as, just two months later, he vacated the belt due to a series of injuries that, at one point, left him with no strength in his right arm.

Bryan came back to the ring in January 2015 and, after a less-than-popular run in the Royal Rumble match, captured the Intercontinental Championship at Mania 31. Then, we were all smacked with a horrible case of deja vu.

Old injuries returned and forced The American Dragon to vacate yet another title shortly after winning it and, in February 2016, he gave his first retirement speech.

Thankfully for all of us, this wouldn’t last, and Bryan’s most recent runs in WWE and AEW have been mercifully injury-free. Ok, that’s not exactly true, the guy’s hurt himself a lot, just not like before.

What a brilliant lunatic.