10 Wrestlers Who Retired Young Because Of Injuries

Injuries are the worst enemy of any athlete, whether it's a baseball player, soccer player, basketball player, or a wrestler. Like it or not, injuries are a common occurrence, especially in a fighting sport like wrestling. Most of the time a wrestler recovers from injury, sooner or later, but sometimes it is an injury so severe that it forces them to retire.

Over the years there have been some young wrestlers, who still had several years of career ahead of them, who unfortunately had to retire due to injury, giving up their dreams and passion. So, without further ado, let's take a look at 10 wrestlers who had to retire young due to injuries in WWE and across other promotions.

10 Edge

Edge is probably the most popular case of all, as his career has been like a movie. Edge suffered a neck injury in a match against Eddie Guerrero in 2002, which got worse as the weeks went by, and he ended up undergoing surgery in 2003.

He came back in 2004 and had the best years of his career, but as time went by his neck got worse and worse until he had cervical spinal stenosis, and in 2011 he had no choice but to retire at the age of 37. But we know how the story ends, and Edge ended up making an epic comeback in the 2020s.

9 Paige

Paige had one of the fastest rises in wrestling history, as before the age of 23 she was already a two-time Divas Champion and NXT Women's Champion as well.

It looked like she would go on to have a legendary career, but a neck injury forced her to retire in 2017, at the age of 25. This was a real shame. Paige managed to return to wrestling and is currently in AEW, but it's just not the same anymore.

8 Steve Austin

Neck injuries are the most devastating and, unfortunately, they are more frequent than we would like. Stone Cold Steve Austin was another wrestler who had to retire due to a neck injury, and he did so relatively young, at the age of 38. Had he been healthy, Austin could have wrestled at a world-class level for at least five more years, but injuries wouldn't let him. Stone Cold was retired for nearly 20 years until he came back and defeated Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38.

7 Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan reached the top of the world at WrestleMania 30 when he defeated Batista and Randy Orton to become World Heavyweight Champion, which was one of the most memorable moments in WWE history. Unfortunately, he had to relinquish the title due to injuries.

Bryan eventually returned but was injured again, and his brain injuries were so severe that he had to retire in 2016, at the age of 35. Fortunately, he came back and continued his fantastic career.

6 Arisa Hoshiki

Maybe you didn't know about Arisa Hoshiki, but she is worth talking about. Hoshiki is a retired wrestler who wrestled in Stardom in 2019 and 2020.

She was extremely talented, on the level of Mayu Iwatani, Syuri, or Utami Hayashishita, and she didn't even have a chance to reach her prime, as she retired at 24 due to head and neck injuries. She could have become a legend.

5 Tyson Kidd

Tyson Kidd was forced to hang up his boots in 2015 when he suffered a very serious neck injury. Kidd was in a dark match against Samoa Joe, and when the latter hit his Muscle Buster finisher, Kidd landed wrong and his discs collided with his spinal cord.

Kidd was nearly paralyzed and had to end his career, but at least he survived an accident that kills most people. Kidd was a solid mid-card wrestler with serious tag team pedigree as well, but his career ended early.

4 Jason Jordan

Jason Jordan could have been a top WWE star, as he was talented and Vince McMahon apparently liked him. Jordan could have had important roles and major feuds with wrestlers like Seth Rollins and Kurt Angle, but unfortunately, he got injured and his career seemingly ended.

Jordan is still trying to get back in the ring, but he hasn't had a wrestling match since January 2018, when he wasn’t even 30.

3 Corey Graves

Corey Graves retired at the age of 30 due to the several concussions he suffered in his career. Doctors advised him not to wrestle again and he then became a color commentator.

It's a shame we didn't get to see much of him in WWE, but he spent nearly a decade wrestling in independent promotions. It's worth mentioning that Graves is already medically cleared to return to wrestling, but it seems he has no interest in doing so.

2 Chris Nowinski

Maybe you don't even know who Christopher Nowinski is, or you forgot, but he was a good wrestler who retired very young due to post-concussion syndrome. He made his WWE debut in 2001, and in 2003, when he was just 24 years old, he had to retire.

Sadly, Nowinski had to give up his dream and was unable to thrive in WWE due to concussions. Upon retirement, Nowinski decided to dedicate himself to concussion research and awareness.

1 Droz

Droz had a career of only two years due to a terrible injury. During a match against D-Lo Brown, Droz landed on his head after receiving a powerbomb and the impact was lethal.

He was unable to fight again because he was quadriplegic, and was only 30 years old. It was a tragic and sad injury. Over the years, Droz recovered some upper body mobility, before he passed away in June 2023 at the age of 54.