5 Wrestlers Who Were Blinded In Storyline

On Sunday night, July 19, one wrestler is going to lose an eye. No, really, when Rey Mysterio battles Seth Rollins in the first-ever "Eye for an Eye" match at Extreme Rules, the match can only end when somebody plucks one peeper out of the noggin of the other. I guess most of the intrigue is rooted in how this extraction would take place. Knife? Ice cream scoop? Industrial-strength vacuum cleaner hose? The mind reels at the possibilities.

While the idea of literally gouging out a wrestler's eyeball skedaddles well over the line separating palatable absurdity and full-blown cartoonish super-absurdity, blindings in wrestling have a somewhat rich history. What better way to render your enemy helpless than to rob them of one of their most important senses? That way, you either run them off for good, or, if they *are* gritty enough to valiantly fight back, you can take advantage of their handicap in the grudge match.

While we wait to see who loses an eye on Sunday, let's see some of those who (for a little while anyway) lost their sight.

On Sunday night, July 19, one wrestler is going to lose an eye. No, really, when Rey Mysterio battles Seth Rollins in the first-ever "Eye for an Eye" match at Extreme Rules, the match can only end when somebody plucks one peeper out of the noggin of the other. I guess most of the intrigue is rooted in how this extraction would take place. Knife? Ice cream scoop? Industrial-strength vacuum cleaner hose? The mind reels at the possibilities.

While the idea of literally gouging out a wrestler's eyeball skedaddles well over the line separating palatable absurdity and full-blown cartoonish super-absurdity, blindings in wrestling have a somewhat rich history. What better way to render your enemy helpless than to rob them of one of their most important senses? That way, you either run them off for good, or, if they *are* gritty enough to valiantly fight back, you can take advantage of their handicap in the grudge match.

While we wait to see who loses an eye on Sunday, let's see some of those who (for a little while anyway) lost their sight.

5. Jon Moxley

A former Shield member and former WCW Cruiserweight marvel have a feud that includes a badly-gouged eye, where have I seen that before? Probably when AEW did it earlier this year, after Chris Jericho used a jacket-adorning spike to skewer the ocular organ of Jon Moxley.

As a result, Moxley continued his unabated quest to win Jericho's AEW World title, but had to do so with an eye patch that made him look like Snake Plissken. Bonus sub-entry for Santana, who Moxley went "eye for an eye" on as a message to Inner Circle boss Jericho.

5. Jon Moxley

A former Shield member and former WCW Cruiserweight marvel have a feud that includes a badly-gouged eye, where have I seen that before? Probably when AEW did it earlier this year, after Chris Jericho used a jacket-adorning spike to skewer the ocular organ of Jon Moxley.

As a result, Moxley continued his unabated quest to win Jericho's AEW World title, but had to do so with an eye patch that made him look like Snake Plissken. Bonus sub-entry for Santana, who Moxley went "eye for an eye" on as a message to Inner Circle boss Jericho.

4. Nidia

During a match pitting on-screen beau Jamie Noble against the diabolical Tajiri, Nidia took a faceful of mist that was intended for Noble. Unfortunately, it was the rare "black mist", which blinds you for far longer than the standard green stuff.

While most blindness angles are done with some modicum of seriousness, this was more comically cruel, as the scheming Noble would use an unsuspecting Nidia as an unintended weapon (or shield) of sorts during matches, before she finally caught on to his deeds.

3. The Sandman

In 1994, ECW produced a worked-shoot as the conclusion of an "I Quit" match between the reviled Sandman and gritty underdog Tommy Dreamer. In the conclusion, Dreamer blinded Sandman by knocking his lit cigarette into his eyes, before continuing a merciless assault.

The angle was portrayed as "real", with various ECW personnel (faces included) lighting into an apologetic Tommy while a badly-pained Sandman was rushed to the hospital. He stayed home for over a month to work the angle, before later ambushing Dreamer to show it was all a ruse.

2. Jake Roberts

Rick "The Model" Martel used to carry a cologne atomizer with him to a ring (his own brand called "Arrogance"), and it was during a run-in with Jake Roberts on The Brother Love Show that he sent a spritz into the unprotected eye of "The Snake".

Vignettes aired that showed Roberts going through rehabilitative sessions, and he eventually returned to the ring with an eye patch. After Jake fully healed, the two squared off at WrestleMania 7 in a "blindfold match", which Roberts won following the DDT.

1. The Junkyard Dog

In the Mid South territory in the early-eighties, The Freebirds got scores of heat for blinding the Dog with hair remover cream. Fans in the Louisiana area loved JYD, and when Dog said in and interview that he may never get to see his newborn daughter, their hearts bled for him.

In fact, one fan pulled a gun on the Freebirds one night, only to just narrowly be thwarted by the police. A still-blind Junkyard Dog managed to get his revenge inside a steel cage, defeating ringleader Michael Hayes while the two were tethered by dog collars and a chain.