12 WWE Wrestlers Who Worked Through Chronic Injury

7. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin’s chronic injury was clear to see every time he stepped into the ring. It became his trademark that he’d wear big black knee braces.

They actually ended up making him look that little more badass, but they had a very serious purpose. His knees were shot, mainly down to cumulative wear but also because he’d blown out ligaments. He wrestled his peak years of fame with the braces, with fans not realising that he was constantly under pain and pressure with the joints.

However, what really messed him up was the neck injury at SummerSlam 1997. Owen Hart botched a piledriver, which temporarily paralysed Austin in the ring. He was never the same again, suffering an ongoing neck and spinal issue. He worked through it, achieving his greatest career moments in 1998.

But in late 1999, he had to leave the business for a year. He underwent neck surgery, then returned for another hot run in 2001. A year after that, he was pretty much finished, save for one great match with The Rock in March 2003.

Sadly, Austin was chronically injured for all of his peak years. God knows what this business would have been like if he’d been fit.