Injuries as a Blessing in Disguise

[wrestler36]

When have you seen an injury as blessing for that superstar or a different superstar to 'replace' or step up, so to speak.

For example, when Austin seriously injured his neck in '97, to keep him on TV but not active, he was always cutting promos leading up to the stunner on McMahon. If he was never injured, who knows if Austin vs McMahon would have been a thing.

Shawn Michaels less than a year later having serious back injuries opened the door for HHH to lead DX. I think he still would have risen to the top eventually, but maybe not nearly as quick with Michaels in the picture

Most recently, Daniel Bryan. Now this is just me making assumptions, but I think he's the reason why the Shield broke up much sooner than I would have liked. It's pretty obvious that all 3 are being pushed to the moon now, with Rollins as MITB winner and already main eventing with Ambrose on Raw. Reigns is slowburning to main event status.

So real simple, when do you remember an injury helping out that particular star or opening up opportunity for somebody else?

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Didn't really work out, but Brutus Beefcake's near-fatal parasailing accident in August 1991 led to Kerry Von Erich coming in and winning the Intercontinental Title from Mr Perfect, in what I believe was Perfect's first televised pinfall loss (could be wrong on that) - sadly Kerry's issues meant he never got higher than that, but what a start.

Completely different scenario, and we will never know this for sure, but it definitely felt like Rey Mysterio winning the 2006 Royal Rumble and World Title at Wrestlemania 22 was only done because of Eddie Guerrerro's death a few months earlier.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

In fact, Beefcake was also injured in 1988, allowing the Ultimate Warrior to replace him in his IC title match at Summerslam, and win the belt.

Not sure if the injury was real or kayfabe, though - I've heard both over the years

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I would take the theory of Shawn Michaels' injury a step further & say it not only helped Triple H advance quicker but helped HBK himself. In that time off Shawn found his faith & healed up to come back as good as he ever was & even had some of the best matches of his entire career. Also in that off time he opened up his wrestling school & taught guys like Daniel Bryan, so it arguably helped out Bryan in the long run as well too.

I think Triple H's injury in 2001 could also be looked at as somewhat of a positive for his career since he came back super fresh to get the best babyface pop of his career thus far & seemingly returned better than he ever was.

Also I think Ryback's current injury will turn out to be a blessing in disquise (if it is in fact real). I was actually really starting to like Rybaxel but let's face it, they weren't really going anywhere. I've never been the biggest Ryback fan but he was really hot in late 2012, even in early 2013 I was still enjoying a lot of his work & was still really interested to see what the WWE was going to do with him. Then he had a 2nd feud with CM Punk with the face/heel roles reversed & floated off into obscurity. Even if he isn't the next John Cena or Goldberg like the WWE thought he was, he is still worth more than just being lost in an irrelevant tag team & I hope he can make a real impact when he returns.

 

[Mudlup50]

You could argue this for just about any injury really, the beautiful thing about the WWE is that if you fall someone else is about to jump up and take your spot.

I mean as recently as Barrett's injury, Miz got another IC title run and Ziggler is getting another push, which to be fair might be enough to earn him another shot at the main event.

Bryan's injury gave Cena another title run which I think helped Cena get another title run and helped make Lesnar a more believable champion. Debatable I know.

The Shawn Michaels back injury definitely helped Triple H, and even HBK as someone else mentioned, didn't he find religion and get clean?

I'm pretty sure any injury can be viewed as a blessing for some other superstar

 

[FickMoley]

Kurt Angle had the "best" injury during his second neck surgery in 2002. When WWE produced the Coldplay-Clocks video packages it really made people realize how great Kurt was and how much affection they had for him. Angle may have been the most well rounded Attitude Era star. He came back to a MASSIVE Austin-level pop

Kane would get lost in the shuffle at times, but his various layoffs during that time period always led to him returning with a massive reaction and renewed monster push ("Monster" push?), he's the "all time injury champ"

These days, WWE fails to make lemonade out of injury lemons. Fandango and Ziggler suffered injuries in 2013 that paved the way for Curtis Axel and Del Rio respectively. WWE dropped the ball with all four guys. Completely failed. Axel sucks anyway, but that's still 3 creative failures and 1 talent gaffe.

The best example of WWE failing to improvise the way they used to is Sheamus. When Sheamus got hurt in 2013 it should've been the best "injury blessing" in years. Sheamus is a really talented guy, believable in the ring and unique looking. Yet, he'd become a boring, pointless character and the second most stale competitor in the entire company. His injury was an opportunity to do ANYTHING interesting with him. They failed. He came back as pointless and boring as ever, the only difference is that he gets less mic time to do his "Cena in Dublin" cornball schtick. He is the definitive milquetoast babyface. If a 6 month layoff wasn't enough to get Sheamus out of purgatory then WWE creative is simply shot.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I feel like Christian, Randy Orton, R-Truth and CM Punk (possibly) all benefited from Edge having to retire. Christian obviously won the world title twice, Randy Orton was moved to Smackdown to replace Edge where he won two more titles, Randy Orton leaving meant losing a top challenger to Cena after the Miz, R Truth is turned heel to compensate, I personally feel like had Orton been on RAW at the time, Vince might not have felt like Punk was the best option. That would of course mean no Summer of Punk and no huge success afterwards. Punk actually might have ended up leaving (a few years sooner).

 

[Savior of Silence]

When WWE produced the Coldplay-Clocks video packages it really made people realize how great Kurt was and how much affection they had for him.

I remember those desire videos. They did one for Jeff Hardy as well. Really cool.

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On topic, there are a few:

1. Barretts first injury wound up helping him. He returned with a gimmick change and Bad News Barrett was more over than Wade Barrett was before the injury.

2. RVD getting injured in January 2005. Didn't come back until Royal Rumble 2006, went on to win MITB at Wrestlemania and cash in on John Cena.

3. This one may be a little weird but I'd say Foley being injured at KotR 1998 in the HIAC match really put him over the top. He wasn't out for an extended period of time but his willingness to put his body and life on the line for the fans pushed him in to superstardom.

 

[Uncle Sam]

At first, it appeared that Daniel Bryan's most recent injury was going to be a blessing in disguise. If Daniel Bryan stealing WrestleMania was an earth-shattering orgasm, what followed was being taken shopping, having to buy lunch and-- fuck the metaphor, having to watch Kane matches all the time.

Oh, you've beaten Kane? Then allow me to present your next challenge: Kane. Oh, you think beating Kane was tough? Just wait until you have to face... Kane. It was the worst sort of purgatory - a wrestling-themed one.

Daniel Bryan's injury ended all that and added to the whole "guy who just can't catch a fucking break" character that WWE had been cultivating for so long. The Shield got pushed front and center, and flourished.

But it would have all been worthwhile - Kane, Brie Bella, all of it - if the people had been given Daniel Bryan versus Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Maybe we'll still see that match.

Get well soon, Daniel. I miss you.

 

[HeyYo]

Great recall on Kerry Von Erich! The WWF gave him the immediate hard push but he fizzled soon after.

 

[HeyYo]

My choice is Sting's injury while wrestling Ric Flair in the cage match. The injury built up the anticipation for the inevitable rematch between the two and Sting finally captured the WCW World Title and the rest was history!

 

[MCMG]

There were two injuries at a similar time that turned out to be pivotal for a couple of superstars. The Undertaker and Steve Austin both got injured in 1999 leaving the door open for Triple H and The Rock to become huge (or even bigger) stars.

Taker and Austin were already established before the Attitude Era. Indeed, the WWE was in a great position and had pretty much won the Monday Night Wars but these two injuries gave birth to a wonderful - and overlooked- feud. Triple H and The Rock had some superb matches in early 2000 that showed just how good these two were. Their Iron Man match is perfection (probably the best ever) and it is a true shame they never went one-on-one at WM16.

This feud helped to cement Triple H as a top level guy and The Rock's legacy was improved greatly. He wasn't just the guy who worked with Austin and he got a stint as the number one babyface. Now, The Rock and HHH would both have been huge names regardless of this but they really shone at this time with the roster looking absolutely fucking atrocious. People idolise the Attitude Era back but late 1999 WWF is pitiful and thank god these two were around.

As for Taker and Austin: Steve got time off and came back as popular as ever. Taker returned with a new gimmick that wasn't as bad as people remember. It was refreshing, effective and gave us some pretty good matches.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Shawn Michaels' "pussy-foot injury" helped out Austin big time at Wrestlemania 13. I believe that Austin still would have went on to become a big star, it just might've taken him a little longer. Who knows who Austin would have faced at Wrestlemania 13 if HBK hadn't faked his injury and agreed to lose to Bret in their planned rematch from the Mania before. As another poster in another thread mentioned, the submission match took Austin to the next level as far as popularity and toughness goes.