You Didn't Know Almost "Left Us" In The Ring

Droz

Look, things were just different in the Attitude Era, alright? No one can really explain why Vince McMahon hired a guy just because he could make himself vomit on command, and there’s no use in trying to figure it out. After all, Darren Drozdov, aka Droz, was a better wrestler than his gimmick would imply, with the look of a superstar and a unique style that helped him stick out in one of the most visible periods in WWE history. Unfortunately, he would nonetheless fail to amount to much in the industry, due to a catastrophic injury suffered during a SmackDown match against D’Lo Brown. Apparently, Droz’s shirt was looser than the average wrestling gear, which caused D’Lo to lose his grip during a running powerbomb and drop Droz on his neck. This led to two fractured discs, in turn, paralyzing Droz and leaving him quadriplegic. Over time, he eventually regained limited use of his arms, but the real miracle is that he even survived in the first place.
Stone Cold” Steve Austin

Of all the close calls on this list, it goes without saying none would’ve changed things as much as WWE and the rest of the wrestling world losing “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the summer of 1997. At this point, the injury Austin suffered at SummerSlam that year is practically equally famous to anything else he did in the ring. To recap anyway, he was wrestling Owen Hart for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and in the final moments of the match, Hart lost his grip during a sit-out piledriver and legitimately drove Austin headfirst into the mat, jamming and breaking his neck. Austin was temporarily paralyzed from the move, and one of his doctors later claimed he was surprised the damage wasn’t worse, speculating Stone Cold easily could’ve been “dead on the spot.” Amazingly, Austin not only overcame the injury to become a six-time WWE Champion, but he also got on his feet and finished the match, a feat requiring a superhuman level of resilience to pain.
Brock Lesnar

One way or another, Brock Lesnar was determined to make his first WrestleMania main event count. Given he was challenging Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship, all Lesnar really needed to accomplish this goal was to win and reclaim the gold he had lost four months earlier. As per usual at the time, Lesnar went the extra mile in putting on a spectacular display while doing so, although his efforts indirectly led to him very nearly losing the match, his career, and perhaps even his life. To finish Angle off for good, Lesnar attempted something he had never before tried while WWE cameras were rolling: the iatnfamous Shooting Star Press, a backflip into a splash from the top rope. Unfortunately, Lesnar slipped when coming off the rope and thus didn’t quite stick the landing, ending up flat on his head rather than on top of Angle in a pinning position. According to Kurt, he genuinely believed Lesnar had either broken his neck or even died on impact, and the blank stares Lesnar gave him after getting to his feet didn’t do much to lessen these fears. Luckily, Lesnar got out of the ordeal without any major bones snapping to pieces, but he did suffer a concussion, which isn’t exactly a good thing.