History DentedIron / ProfessionalWrestling

[[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestling By its own nature]], ProfessionalWrestling, at its core, is still a contact sport, even when the outcome of the matches are predefined. Wrestlers, after all, are human beings, putting their bodies on the line for the sake of entertaining their audiences, and taking dangerous bumps and participating in [[GarbageWrestler certain matches with dangerous stipulations]] usually end up with them risking their lives and health, even when everything goes OK. [[DentedIron The insane amount of damage a wrestler can take during their matches eventually leads them to]] [[CareerEndingInjury retire]] or even [[DiedDuringProduction die]], especially if (as many examples show) some of them also compete on other contact-based sports such as UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts. DoNotTryThisAtHome!

* '''Jimmy Rave''' developed a staph infection in his left arm which required it to be amputated. The infection then developed into MRSA which also cost him his legs.

[[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestling By its own nature]], ProfessionalWrestling, at its core, is still a contact sport, even when the outcome of the matches are predefined. Wrestlers, after all, are human beings, putting their bodies on the line for the sake of entertaining their audiences, and taking dangerous bumps and participating in [[GarbageWrestler certain matches with dangerous stipulations]] usually end up with them risking their lives and health, even when everything goes OK. It comes to no surprise, then, that several of them either [[DiedDuringProduction died]] or [[CareerEndingInjury had to retire]], especially if (as many examples show) some of them also compete on other contact-based sports such as UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts. DoNotTryThisAtHome!

%% (ZCE) * '''Wrestling/BrianPillman'''[='=]s accumulated injuries became very apparent near the end.

* Even managers aren't immune to this, '''Wrestling/JimCornette's''' knees are basically shot after tearing both his [=ACLs=] (though not at the same time) and having multiple knee surgeries. He also has neck issues from Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}} muffing a legdrop and sitting on this head, and pretty bad tinnitus from his time in the [[Wrestling/{{TNA}} Impact Zone]], which he likened to "shooting off pyro in a broom closet."

* Repeated head injuries as part of his SignatureMove may have been one of the causes behind '''Wrestling/ChrisBenoit'''[='=]s increasingly erratic behaviour and eventual mental breakdown and [[PaterFamilicide murder-suicide]]. He may have had a history of steroid abuse and been taking testosterone tablets for its long-term side effects. After his death, studies showed that his brain had significant degradation, and certain proteins that are most commonly found in elderly Alzheimer's patients. He also wasn't helped by nagging neck injuries and severe emotional stress since the death of best friend Wrestling/EddieGuerrero (among others), as well as coming very close to a second divorce.

* Ever since the late 80's '''Wrestling/SuperstarBillyGraham'''[='=]s body has been a wreck. Graham is the earliest example of what doing drugs, let alone steroids, can do to a person.

* '''Wrestling/{{Kamala}}''' was forced to retire in November 2011, due to having one of his legs amputated because of diabetes. In April 2012, his right leg was amputated. He finally passed away in 2020, at the age of 70.

* The series of injuries that british wrestler '''Kid Lykos''' sustained during his career eventually catched up to him and forced him to retire.

* There's a reason Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}}'s second champion, '''Wrestling/MsChif''', wrestled in a pair of [=DonJoy=]s. Years of Gateway's signature Light Heavyweight Fatal Four Ways had done her legs few favors and that extra support let her tough out two years as champion of Shimmer and the Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA World Women's division.

* '''Wrestling/{{Paige}}''' was forced to retire from wrestling at only ''25'' years old (the age that most wrestlers are either just starting out or are at the peaks of their career), due to similar neck problems that Edge and Sting had. Paige had been wrestling since she was 13, meaning that she was a 12-year veteran at the time, and participating in such a dangerous and physically taxing activity before her body had finished developing would have no doubt contributed to her early retirement. She also has Scoliosis like Hulk Hogan.

* One of '''Wrestling/HarleyRace'''[='=]s goals with World League Wrestling was to reduce this, High Spots having quoted him saying that if he had wrestled in a ring like the one his own promotion uses, he would not have had to retire from wrestling when he did.
* '''Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr'''[='=]s long career and acrobatic style has taken a ''hellish'' toll on his body, especially his knees, which are in bad shape even for a luchador. This, however, didn't stop Rey from performing to an ''extremely'' high level, as seen on Wrestling/LuchaUnderground.

* Right at the end of his career and life, '''Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith'''[='=]s back ended up being his AchillesHeel in {{Kayfabe}} and in RealLife.

* '''Wrestling/DaffneyUnger''' retired from active competition due to various injuries, including multiple concussions and a crushed sternum. She ended up suing Wrestling/{{TNA}} for repeatedly booking her in matches where she had to take extreme bumps even when she protested, and for refusing to cover her hospital bills. The case was settled out of court, but she said she would likely never wrestle again and never did for the rest of her life.

* Blood clots in his lungs forced '''Wrestling/JesseVentura''' into retirement. To this day, he's still on blood-thinners.

* '''Wrestling/MickFoley''' is another prime example. Never the most physically intimidating specimen, he was more than willing to go through the most hardcore matches imaginable. The toll those early years took on him are evident to this day, and he once described a trip to the doctor: "He told me that I'm in my thirties, but I have the skeleton of an eighty-year-old." He is so bad now that he can't even tie his own shoes. Heck, the back of his first book, ''Have a Nice Day'' (pictured above), lists all of his various injuries up to that point. Bear in mind, that book was written ''fourteen years'' before he retired.

* '''Wrestling/{{Kamala}}''' was forced to retire in November 2011, due to having one of his legs amputated because of diabetes. In April 2012, his right leg was amputated.

* For a wrestler his size, '''Wrestling/KevinNash''' still looks good, pretty ripped, and since his face hasn't aged much since his WCW days, he could actually pass for a lot younger when he colors his hair, but he's still carrying plenty of injuries and has trouble being on his feet for long periods of time.

* '''Wrestling/TheUndertaker''' relies more on his "zombie magic" than his strength as the years go on, due to his age. He has been wrestling for nearly 30 years and he can still go toe-to-toe with the younger guys. In a great bit of kayfabe exposition, Wrestling/JohnCena once described The Undertaker as the only wrestler who intimidates him.\\

Seeing the Undertaker actually wrestle is increasingly uncommon; due to the many injuries that have piled up over his long career he works a much shorter schedule than most WWE performers. In fact by the early 2010s he worked '''once''' a year, at [=WrestleMania=]. His appearances started to go up again during 2015, though he still tended to only wrestle sporadically before finally retiring in 2020.

* '''Wrestling/MickFoley''' is another prime example. Never the most physically intimidating specimen, he was more than willing to go through the most hardcore matches imaginable. The toll those early years took on him are evident to this day, and he once described a trip to the doctor: "He told me that I'm in my thirties, but I have the skeleton of an eighty-year-old." He is so bad now that he can't even tie his own shoes. Heck, the back of his first book, ''Have a Nice Day'' (pictured above), lists all of his various injuries up to that point.

* '''Wrestling/{{Edge}}''' had to retire in 2011 due to multiple injuries, particularly chronic neck injuries. It got to a point where simply working a match would be risking his mobility, if not his life. He would be cleared to return to the ring in 2020.

* '''Wrestling/AndreTheGiant''' is known to have suffered from acromegaly, a condition where he continued to grow in adulthood due to an overactive pituitary gland. This caused the natural rigors of professional wrestling to take a particularly hard toll on him. In 1987, he had surgery on his lower back to relieve the pain of his past injuries, but this robbed him of a lot of his strength. As a result, when he filmed ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', he needed physical support to do a lot of the feats attributed to his character, Fezzik. He did very little himself in wrestling appearances in his final years; in his last appearances with the [[Wrestling/WorldWrestlingEntertainment WWF]], they even wrote in his infirmity, with the crutches he used to get around frequently used as weapons. He ultimately died in 1993 from congestive heart failure, another side effect of his acromegaly.

* '''Wrestling/AndreTheGiant''' is known to have suffered from acromegaly, a condition where he continued to grow in adulthood due to an overactive pituitary gland. This caused the natural rigors of professional wrestling to take a particularly hard toll on him. In 1987, he had surgery on his lower back to relieve the pain of his past injuries, but this robbed him of a lot of his strength. As a result, when he filmed ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', he needed physical support to do a lot of the feats attributed to his character, Fezzik. He did very little himself in wrestling appearances in his final years; in his last appearances with the [[Creator/WorldWrestlingEntertainment WWF]], they even wrote in his infirmity, with the crutches he used to get around frequently used as weapons. He ultimately died in 1993 from congestive heart failure, another side effect of his acromegaly.