10 Ups And Downs For WWE In 2014 2

2. Injuries At The Worst Possible Times

In a profession where competitors throw each other into the mat or turnbuckle and hit each other with steel chairs, injuries are bound to happen. It’s just part of the nature of professional wrestling. But 2014 seemed to be the living embodiment of Murphy’s Law in regard to injuries. Pick a wrestler who was being pushed to the moon, and he would get injured.

Daniel Bryan is the best example of this, having closed out WrestleMania XXX on top and defending the title at Extreme Rules, he looked poised to carry the WWE World Heavyweight Championship into SummerSlam in a David versus Goliath battle against Brock Lesnar. Instead, he was sidelined with neck and arm injuries and was stripped of the title in June. Bryan has appeared in a non-wrestling role after Survivor Series, but an in-ring return has not been officially projected.

Riding high after his return to the ring on the post-WrestleMania Raw, Bad News Barrett looked to finally be poised for a major run, capturing the Intercontinental Championship in short order. Unlike previous runs with the title, Barrett was winning matches and getting a great reaction from fans. Unfortunately, he suffered a separated shoulder before the Money in the Bank PPV and hasn’t wrestled since.

Roman Reigns has been pegged for superstardom for a while now, and he was beginning his ascent toward the main event of WrestleMania XXX when he went down in September with a hernia that required emergency surgery. Reigns is making his way back into the ring and has announced he will compete in the Royal Rumble, but his three-month absence certainly didn’t help his progression or WWE’s main event scene.