10 Times WWE Superstars Were Legitimately Knocked Out

If you've ever purchased a DVD of WWE's, you're quite familiar with the unskippable "Don't Try This" adverts that precede the title screens. Despite being well-trained, highly-skilled performers who trust their peers to do right by their health and safety inside the ring, accidents do happen. Whether it's a high-risk move off of or over the ropes, or even a routine manoeuvre dependent on the cooperation of two, the law of averages does catch up to the wrestlers, and injuries are simply a part of the game.

For this list, we will focus on one specific bit of physical trauma: the knockout blow. So many elbows, knees, feet and fists go flying during the course of a worked match, and so many bumps and falls help compose said matches, that once in a while, somebody gets their bell rung legitimately. Those "Don't Try This" PSAs are sobering highlight reels of what could happen in the blink of an eye, no matter how skilled and experienced the wrestlers may be. The list ahead will feature a few examples that were depicted in those disclaimers, and a few you may not have known about.

If you've ever purchased a DVD of WWE's, you're quite familiar with the unskippable "Don't Try This" adverts that precede the title screens. Despite being well-trained, highly-skilled performers who trust their peers to do right by their health and safety inside the ring, accidents do happen. Whether it's a high-risk move off of or over the ropes, or even a routine manoeuvre dependent on the cooperation of two, the law of averages does catch up to the wrestlers, and injuries are simply a part of the game.

For this list, we will focus on one specific bit of physical trauma: the knockout blow. So many elbows, knees, feet and fists go flying during the course of a worked match, and so many bumps and falls help compose said matches, that once in a while, somebody gets their bell rung legitimately. Those "Don't Try This" PSAs are sobering highlight reels of what could happen in the blink of an eye, no matter how skilled and experienced the wrestlers may be. The list ahead will feature a few examples that were depicted in those disclaimers, and a few you may not have known about.

10. Draggin' Dragon

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more consummate pro than Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, a wrestler possessing both cat-like reflexes and near-flawless technical mastery. Surely a wrestler of Steamboat's highest calibre could be trusted to play the victim for a risky move, but his attacker, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, had his reservations. The angle called for Roberts to DDT Steamboat on the bare concrete floor at a Saturday Night's Main Event taping in the spring of 1986.

Roberts feared he would hurt Steamboat, but "The Dragon" assured him that he could cushion himself properly just before impact. And because we're talking about it on this list, you've probably guessed that Steamboat's assurance ended up rather unfounded. Roberts performed the move with his usual suddenness, and Steamboat's head bonks the floor with a frightening thud, knocking him unconscious. Roberts later described the sound as being similar to a watermelon bursting and lamented having to pick up the completely dead-weight Dragon in order to continue the angle.

9. Surface To Air

Timing is everything, whether you're looking for a job, breaking news to somebody, or executing an elaborate pro wrestling stunt. Take Shane McMahon at the 2016 Survivor Series, and the move that was to have facilitated his elimination from the five-on-five men's match. McMahon was to have performed his coast to coast dropkick on Roman Reigns, only to be speared out of the air by a rejuvenated "Big Dog".

McMahon did indeed take a hearty spear from Reigns, though to say the timing could've been a wee bit better is an understatement. Either McMahon propelled too early, or Reigns a hair too late, because the collision was less than ideal. Reigns caught Shane far too high, and The Best in the World was left staring wall-eyed into the void after the landing. McMahon's equilibrium was so off-kilter that he didn't have the wherewithal to stay down for the pin, wriggling out of the fall almost subconsciously. The referee quickly X'ed him out of the match, rather than have Reigns force the foggy Boy Wonder to stay down for the pin.

8. I Was The Table

In 20 years as a professional wrestler, and for many more previous as a freestyle wrestling prodigy, it took so much to keep Kurt Angle from fulfilling the obligations of his physical vocations. Torn muscles, spinal injuries, you name it - Angle's pushed himself through hard-to-fathom barriers, while still delivering instant classics in spite of his hindrances. At SummerSlam 2000, Angle found himself in that very scenario, having to work through traumatic injury - one sustained in the match's preamble.

Angle met Triple H and WWE Champion The Rock in a Triple Threat match for the belt, and before Rock can even make his entrance, Angle brawled with Helmsley around ringside. When Triple H attempted to Pedigree Angle though one of the announcer's desks, the structure prematurely gave way, and the two wrestlers plummeted to the floor rather harshly. Angle was concussed from the impact, sat out of the match for an extended spell, and admitted he had to rely on instructions from the others (including Stephanie at ringside) in order to get through the bout.

7. Quelled Riott

This one made more than a few headlines not only for the injury taking place, but for an apparent lack of proper protocol taken in the aftermath. On an episode of Raw in September 2018, The Riott Squad took on The Bellas Twins and Natalya, in what amounted to basic build for both Super Show-Down and Evolution the following the month. Brie Bella took the heat for the spot that would injure Liv Morgan.

As Brie performed the sharp kicks that are a staple of husband Daniel Bryan's arsenal, she mistimed a few of the strikes and kicked Morgan square in the head, knocking her out. During the confusion, the match continued on and Morgan, after regaining consciousness, re-inserted herself into the action, taking part in a triple Suplex spot. Neither the referee nor any presiding physician stopped the match or at least tried to keep her out of it, which isn't a good look. Morgan was formally diagnosed with a concussion as a result of the errant kicks.

6. Stone Cold Stunned

Steve Austin's history at SummerSlam has been a combination of high-profile title matches, along with significant pains. None were as life-altering as the neck-crunching Piledriver he endured from Owen Hart at the 1997 show, nearly ending his career in the blink of an eye. One year later, Austin was in a better place, defending the WWE Championship against The Undertaker in the culmination of the summer-long "Highway to Hell" storyline.

It's kind of a "blink and you may miss it" moment, but there's a brief period where Austin totally loses his bearings, if only for a short spell. Stone Cold charges off the ropes and kicks a hunched Undertaker, causing the challenger to stand up suddenly. On the upswing, Undertaker's head cracks Austin in the chin, knocking him through a loop temporarily. Austin came around soon enough to where he could continue wrestling, and to most observers, nothing was amiss.

5. Thinking On His Feet

As this list has demonstrated, sometimes it's the most routine of moments in a match that can compromise a wrestler's health and well-being. In this example, a wrestler ends up in a serious daze as a result of a bodyslam that didn't go right, and it was his tag team partner who noticed something was off. William Regal took said slam from Kane during a Tag Team title match at the 2003 No Way Out, and if not for some quick thinking, an unplanned title change may have occurred.

Kane's pinfall attempt on Regal was broken up by Lance Storm, and good thing, because Regal wasn't in any condition to roll his shoulder up in time. Later in the match, while in position to catch Rob Van Dam off of a top rope move, Storm subtly but noticeably pushed Regal away, not wanting his hazy-minded partner to have any part of the complex spot, instead breaking RVD's fall alone. Either Van Dam could have inadvertently hurt Regal worse, or Regal's inability to catch properly in his state could've hurt Van Dam, so that's quite the noble heads up from Storm.

4. Main Event Murkiness

Getting to headline WrestleMania is something a wrestler would never forget - unless you're The Miz. As reigning WWE Champion, Mike Mizanin went on last at WrestleMania 27 against John Cena, and although the two were essentially background fodder for The Rock's posing session at the end, at least Miz got his big moment, including a main event victory. It's on film forever, and thank God if you're The Miz.

During a spot that resulted in a brief double count out, Cena tackled Miz over a railing, and the back of Miz's head bounces off the concrete floor like a tennis ball. As a result, Miz has said his memories of the match are a bit diminished and looking at his eyes during the restart portion of the match, you can see he's a bit off. He did manage to finish the match, which thankfully wasn't long after guest host Rock restarted it.

3. A Dangerous Drop

Candice Michelle was among the various WWE stars that have had their painful moments put to use in those disclaimer videos warning fans not to replicate the moves they see on TV. Her brief moment in those old PSAs is two-fold: a horrifying fall to the canvas, followed by a shot of her lying on a stretcher in a neck brace.

The incident took place on an episode of Raw in 2007, while wrestling Beth Phoenix for the Women's title. As Candice set her feet on the top turnbuckle, Beth hit the ropes, and Candice apparently attempted to use the ropes as a spring to flip herself to the mat. Instead, she didn't get the desired spring, and simply plummeted like a satellite dish falling off of your roof. Candice was knocked out upon impact, and worse, sustained a broken collarbone. Perhaps not understanding the severity of the injuries, Beth dragged Candice away from the buckles in order to render the pin, a move that posed its own risks, given the circumstances.

2. Tag, You're Out

Watching Daniel Bryan go today on SmackDown, you might forget that he was forced into over two years of retirement due to accumulated head injuries that one Dr. Joseph Maroon would not clear him from. Bryan followed in the footsteps of many junior heavyweight marvels before him, mixing risky dives and bumps with hard-hitting give-and-take with strikes in order to justify his place in a world where heavyweights have more of a premium.

Bryan suffered one such serious blow to the head in a match with Alberto Del Rio on an episode of SmackDown in August 2011. At some point relatively early in the contest, Del Rio kicks Bryan in the face a bit too snugly, and then had to aid Bryan in the ensuing kickout, since his opponent was limper than cooked noodles. Del Rio resorted to keeping Bryan in a hold until he finally came to, at which point Bryan managed to finish the match, while stiffing Del Rio hard a few times in return (which Del Rio later admitted he deserved).

1. Straight To Hell

Mick Foley's list of injuries sustained in the Hell in a Cell match at the 1998 King of the Ring is so numerous that it makes Chris Jericho's moves list look like a "Gone fishin'" note. Teeth knocked out, separated shoulder, internal bleeding, enough tack holes to qualify his back as a spaghetti strainer, you name it. If we were to add "knocked unconscious" to that list, would it surprise you?

Though Foley would later admit that there were parts of the match against The Undertaker that were hard to remember (understandably), he was only apparently unconscious after the infamous second fall, when the roof of the cage gave way off of the chokeslam. The partition was not meant to give way, and Foley's back-first descent into the ring put his lights out for roughly 45 seconds. And Foley was actually quite lucky there - he admits that had he gone up higher for the chokeslam, he likely would have rotated and landed on his head and neck, which would likely have killed him. Thankfully, despite all of the trauma he *did* sustain, Mick Foley is alive and with us today.