Top WWE Star Almost Forced To Retire Thanks To Serious Neck Injury
A top WWE star was nearly forced into retirement.
Sheamus was flying high in 2023 following an acclaimed WrestleMania match against Drew McIntyre and Gunther, and several other impressive outings. However, that momentum came to a shuddering halt that summer, and Sheamus wouldn’t wrestle again until April 2024.
At the time it was noted that the former World Champion had suffered a shoulder injury, but he’s now revealed he was actually dealing with a serious neck injury.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Sheamus broke down just how bad the injury was, noting he was almost forced to retire.
“This time last year I was sitting on the on the sidelines coming back from what I thought could have been a career-ending neck injury. People don’t realize I went through a lot of procedures, a lot of physical therapy, and I couldn’t move my neck. I went in. I got cortisone shots, I went to see spine surgeon specialists, and then I thought it was good.
Then I went back in the ring, and I took a bump and I kept getting stingers, so it wasn’t looking good. Then eventually I got my nerves burned in the back of my neck. And even then, it took a while for that all to settle down. But I literally thought that was it.”
Sheamus went on to explain that while his neck problems were something that had been bothering him for a while, things took a serious turn in a match against Edge on the August 18th, 2023 edition of SmackDown.
“Just over time, took one big bump in the last one before I went away in my last match. I think it was Edge’s last match. I just took an awkward fall, and that itself just I woke up the next morning and thought my neck was broken, just because, again, me and Edge were just knocking the sh*te out of each other, just took a bad fall on the ground.
At the time I felt it, but I just worked through it. Then the next day I woke up, it was not good, and it just didn’t go away. I just could not move my neck. And then after that I was trying to work through and then I didn’t know. I didn’t know how serious it was. I just thought it might be something. Because over time, just wear and tear, especially how I work.”
Sheamus Signed Five-Year WWE Contract
In the same interview, Sheamus confirmed earlier reports that he signed a new five-year WWE contract in 2024. The star went on to explain that despite his earlier brush with disaster, he has no plans to retire, and will wrestle “until the wheels fall off.”
Sheamus returned to action on December 30th after suffering a rib injury at Survivor Series as he looked to win the Intercontinental Title from Bron Breakker. He’ll be back in the ring on January 13th when he takes on Ludwig Kaiser.
H/t to WrestleZone