Top five WWE wrestlers who retired due to neck injuries

These stars decided to hang up their wrestling boots due to neck injury!

While high-flying and jaw-dropping moments in the WWE are a spectacle for fans, sometimes it results in career-ending scenarios for the person inside the squared ring. The punishment that some wrestlers take in their matches can hinder their ability to perform in the long run but there are some instances where they are forced to hang up their wrestling boots.

Over the years, we’ve seen wrestlers with many years left in their careers forced to retire early due to injury, giving up their dreams and passion in the process. Here we will take a look at such five stars who competed in the Stamford-based promotion but had to retire due to life-threatening neck injuries.

5. Jason Jordan

Jason Jordan started his journey in the promotion in 2011 and after his run in NXT, where he formed the tag team American Alpha with Chad Gable, and captured the NXT Tag Team Championship, before being drafted to the SmackDown brand and winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

Jordan had the potential to be a top WWE star with his impressive talent. He could’ve had major storylines and intense feuds with wrestlers like Seth Rollins and Kurt Angle, but sadly a neck injury cut his career short. Jordan has not wrestled since 2018 and is currently working as a producer.

4. Tyson Kidd

Tyson Kidd was forced to hang up his wrestling boots after a life-threatening neck injury following Samoa Joe’s “Muscle Buster” finishing maneuver during a dark match on Monday Night Raw. Kidd took a bad landing, causing his discs to collide with his spinal cord which caused the injury.

Kidd signed with the promotion in 2006 with his main roster debut in 2009, he was also in a tag team with Cesaro in 2014.

3. Paige

Paige, known among AEW fans as Saraya, had a meteoric rise in the WWE, becoming a two-time Divas Champion and NXT Women’s Champion before the age of 23. It seemed like she was destined for a legendary career, but a neck injury led to her retirement in 2017 at just 25 which left fans wondering where her career would have been without the injury.

Paige made her in-ring return from retirement in AEW, debuting in September 2022. She has recently announced her departure from AEW and has spoken positively about making a return to the WWE.

2. Edge

“One of the most well-known cases of a neck injury forcing a wrestler to retire is Edge’s. In 2002, he injured his neck during a match with Eddie Guerrero which only got worse over time. After surgery in 2003, Edge made a comeback in 2004 and had some of the best years of his career. However, his neck condition kept deteriorating, leading to cervical spinal stenosis. In 2011, at the age of 37, he had no choice but to retire.

However, as we all know he ended up making an epic comeback in the 2020s at the Royal Rumble PLE. After his contract expired with the promotion Edge signed with AEW now known as ‘Cope’ and is currently performing in the promotion.

1. Stone Cold

While he has become an icon, Stone Cold’s career would have been even more iconic only if it wasn’t for a neck injury that forced him into retirement at the age of 38. While he made sporadic appearances in the promotion his in-ring return came in 2022.

At WrestleMania 38, Stone Cold made his in-ring return after nearly twenty years of absence and defeated Kevin Owens in a no-holds-barred match.

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