With the unfortunate news that Seth Rollins tore his ACL and MCL last night, we have a vacated WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It isn’t the first time that the World Champion was forced to vacate a championship due to injury, and it certainly won’t be the last. Let’s look back at some unfortunate times where the Champ went down. I’m only considering WWE and WCW World Champions for this list.
Shawn Michaels – February 13, 1997
Shawn Michaels was in his 2nd reign as WWF Champion after holding onto the title for most of 1996. Michaels had pinned Sid in his hometown of San Antonio at the Royal Rumble. There was tons of controversy surrounding Michaels’ at the time. According to HBK in his book, a doctor told him his knee was damaged beyond repair and he’d need to retire immediately. No one in the locker room, especially Bret Hart, believed Michaels and thought it was HBK’s way of getting out of doing a job, presumably to Bret. To tentative plan was for Bret to extract revenge on Shawn at Wrestlemania XIII for the previous Mania’s loss. When Michaels forfeited the title on Thursday RAW Thursday, the Fatal Four Way Match at the upcoming In Your House PPV turned into a title match. Bret would win that, but drop the title to Sid the next night. HBK would be back in the ring by June.
Bret Hart – January 16, 2000
At Starrcade ’99 Goldberg had kicked Bret Hart in the head, leading to a severe concussion. Bret continued to wrestle for a couple of weeks thinking it wasn’t too bad and he’d be fine. When Bret got himself checked out, the chairman of the NHL injury committee told him his career was over. Bret’s last match (at the time) was on Nitro against Kevin Nash. The WCW World Title wouldn’t gain any stability for a while. Chris Benoit would win the vacant title from Sid in a tournament, but he’d give the title up one day later and jump to the WWF.
Batista – January 13, 2006
While he battled through injuries throughout the latter half of his title reign, Batista suffered a torn triceps that forced him to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship that he held since Wrestlemania XXI. This led to a battle royal on Smackdown, where Kurt Angle would begin his last World Title reign, which would in turn lead to the Rey Mysterio World Title run. Batista would be back in mid ’06, and feuded with Mark Henry and Mr. Kennedy.
Edge – July 20, 2007
Earlier in 2007, then-World Champion The Undertaker had a partially torn pectoral which led to the decision to have Edge win Mr. Kennedy’s Money in the Bank contract and cash in. At the time, Vince McMahon did not want Batista to hold the title. During an Edge-Kane program, Kane injured Edge with a chokeslam, leading to a torn pectoral. The decision was made to put the World Title on The Great Khali as he won a 20 Man Battle Royal on Smackdown. Khali would eventually drop the title to Batista. Batista and Undertaker would continue their war when Taker came back, and then Edge would get in the mix again.
John Cena – October 2, 2007
Cena was in month thirteen of his WWE Championship reign when he tore his pectoral muscle in a match with Mr. Kennedy on the October 1st edition of RAW. The seemingly superhuman Cena’s injury was a shock to many…but he once again became superhuman when he returned quickly at the 2008 Royal Rumble. Unfortunately for Randy Orton, this cut short a feud that finally had Orton reaching that elite level of success he’d failed to achieve since his first World Title reign in 2004. While he didn’t get the clean victory of Cena, he did get a lot of help at No Mercy. The new plan had Orton be handed the title, only for HHH to beat him for it. HHH returned the favor cleanly in a Last Man Standing Match and gave Orton that big win.
Batista – June 9, 2009
Just two days after Batista beat Randy Orton for the title he was forced to forfeit the title due to a torn pectoral muscle. Orton would regain the title in a Fatal Four Way Match on RAW against Big Show, John Cena and Triple H. This would lead to Orton and Cena’s biggest rivalry in late 2009. Batista would return later in 2009 and turn on Rey Mysterio, leading to perhaps the most entertaining version of Batista we’d ever get.
Edge – April 12, 2011
While the actual moment his injury occurred is unclear, Edge was forced to retire due to a neck injury. While he does grab his neck on the April 9th edition of Smackdown after he takes out Brodius Clay, Edge has stated that it was probably years of wear and tear on the neck and that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Christian would take Edge’s place in a Ladder Match at Backlash against Alberto Del Rio and win his first World Title…only to drop it to Randy Orton two days later (that went over real well with the IWC).
Daniel Bryan – June 9, 2014
Looking back, it’s still incredible just how over Daniel Bryan was in the beginning of 2014. While the fans forced WWE management’s hand (in the ring AND backstage) and Bryan got his Wrestlemania moment, it seemed that management (storyline wise AND backstage) wasn’t completely behind him as champion. At Extreme Rules Bryan’s first World Title defense was against a way past his prime Kane. Didn’t matter, Bryan was so good he tore the house down. Bryan would suffer a neck injury shortly afterwards that still plagues him to this day (it forced him to vacate the Intercontinental Championship this year). What a shame. John Cena would win the title in a special Money in the Bank Ladder Match…and then Brock Lesnar destroyed him for it afterwards.
Seth Rollins – November 15, 2015
This leads us to Rollins, who had a hell of a year as World Champion since Wrestlemania. He injured his knee in a match against Kane in Ireland, leading to a tournament at Survivor Series 2015. He was scheduled to face Roman Reigns for the title at that event.
On the heels of the unfortunate news about Derrick Rose, it seems appropriate to revisit some of the greatest NBA players to have injuries derail what was potentially a Hall of Fame (or better) career. Truthfully, a couple of these guys on this What-If All Star team may make the Hall of Fame anyway. The point of this team is strictly injuries that plagued the prime years or more of a player’s career. Other reasons such as attitude or bad personal habits count against a player making this team, as that’s on the player. Also, for the purposes of this article, I am focusing on players from the 90s on. So no Bill Walton or Sidney Moncrief.
First, a list of “cuts”.
Tim Hardaway: He put up three straight years of about 23-10 for the RUN TMC Warriors before a knee injury took out his age 27 season. He lost tons of quickness, but was still quite effective with a 20-9 in his comeback year. Hardaway later was an effective 2nd option for the Miami Heat in the late 90s as well. Why did he miss this list? I have questions about just how good Hardaway really was (Warriors were 34-48 the year before he got hurt, went 50-32 when he was gone when they got Chris Webber, then dropped back to 26-56 the year he came back). I also don’t think his downfall was as big as others. So he was 85% as good as he was.
Chris Webber: Speaking of Webber, injuries seemed to limit Webber’s overall career. It’s debatable what you thought Webber’s ceiling was but I don’t need to get into that. Webber was mostly healthy in his prime years for the Kings. And the truth was he wasn’t as good as Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki or Kevin Garnett at that time either. Nevermind the fact that the Kings often wondered if they were just as good without him.
Alonzo Mourning: Kidney ailments practically ruined Alonzo Mourning’s twilight years starting from age 30. But as good as he was, he wasn’t good enough to carry the Heat to the finals (or usually past the Knicks). He was who he was and had reached his potential as a good offensive player and destructive defensive player. He still made the Hall of Fame.
Amar’e Stoudemire and Tracy McGrady: Both guys started very young in the NBA and were successful right away and both flourished offensively. T-Mac’s issue is this. Comparing them in 2003, Tracy McGrady was a more talented basketball player than Kobe Bryant. But overall Kobe just wanted it more. That’s why Kobe was still an elite guy as late as 2011 and McGrady was a role player in 2008. Sure injuries played a part of it. But so did passion and hard work. Stoudemire’s case is a bit different, as he basically got the most out of someone who focused on just offense. He should have been a better rebounder and should have at least tried on defense. But he didn’t. Also, both guys had pretty much full careers before injuries really took their tolls (Amar’e came back strong from his 2005-2006 injuries as well). If Chris Bosh’s career ends up being over, you could make the same case about having a full career here. You can make it for Alonzo as well.
Vin Baker: Alcoholism is a sad deal for sure. But it won’t count as an injury here.
Gilbert Arenas: Knee injuries hurt his career sure. But bringing guns into the locker room was a lot worse.
Vince Carter: Notably one of the softest players of his generation (knock him down once and no more dunking), but let’s not forget he also outright gave up on Toronto.
Jay Williams and Shaun Livingston: Two lottery picks. Williams ruined his career in a motorcycle accident and while he had some bright spots his rookie year, that’s wasn’t enough for me to think he was a Hall of Famer in waiting (his advanced metrics were quite bad for a rookie too). Livingston blew his knee out in about 10 different places at once, but again, nothing really indicated just how good he would be.
Steve Francis: With Francis, it’s more bad attitude than anything else. Notes about Francis: practically finished off basketball in Vancouver when he didn’t want to go there. Got Jeff Van Gundy tons of praise for inspiring Francis to play any defense. Got suspended in Orlando for conduct detrimental to the team. And there’s a video out there (I’ll post it if I can find it) that shows Francis walking away from an opponent taking a three pointer. It wasn’t just the knee.
Now, your What-If All Stars.
The Bench
Andrew Bynum, C, Lakers, Sixers, Cavs, Pacers
Resume: Peak Year: 19-12-2, 56% FG, .183 WS/48, All Star, NBA All 2nd Team (11-12, 24 Yrs.). Two Time NBA Champion.
Bynum hasn’t played effective basketball since that 2012 season. The Lakers, with amazing timing, traded Bynum for Dwight Howard. Bynum didn’t play the next year at all, then played 26 rough games for the Pacers and Cavs (averaging a 9-6 on 41% shooting) due to deteriorating knees. He hasn’t played since. Sure he was (and is) a hot head, but Bynum was a force for the Lakers through their two title teams and a couple years beyond, and he was only 24 for that 2012 season. Now he’s out of the league at 27.
Seems odd to put Oden here when not including Jay Williams or Shaun Livingston? Well Oden’s advanced metrics were off the charts in his first two seasons…at least for the 82 games he played. He showed significant improvement in his second season (including a 24-12-2 in 27 minutes). But he couldn’t stay on the court. Any reason not to include him on this team would be more of what happened later (domestic violence, sending sexual explicit images to women, alcohol issues, lack of desire to play), but it’s clear that what derailed his career first was the injuries. In fact, a lot of those may have even been caused by the expectation and pressure he was under.
Let’s put it this way: if you agree that Chauncey Billups is a top 50 player of all time (he is), then this is an easy sell. If not, well you probably won’t buy this. His 25.2 PER was 6th that season, behind David Robinson, Michael Jordan, Shaq, Karl Malone and Hakeem, and right ahead of Charles Barkley. Here’s the list of players who had a season of at least 27.6% usage and a 121 offensive rating for one season in the 3 point era: Barkley, Bird, Stephen Curry (so far in 14-15 at least), Adrian Dantley, Durant, LeBron, Jordan, Nowitzki, Amar’e and Kiki Vandeweghe. And Terrell Brandon. Just look at that list! Brandon’s stats for 1996 look a lot like Billups later during the Pistons run in the mid 00s. Not surprisingly Billups’ teams “overachieved”. Brandon dragged a Cavs team that featured Chris Mills, Bobby Phills, Danny Ferry and Michael Cage to 47-35. It’s worth noting that this was Brandon’s first year as a starter and he was very good in 1997 as well. He was the main piece of the haul that the Bucks received for parting with Vin Baker where Cleveland got Shawn Kemp (so Brandon was traded with a 1st that had middling potential for an in his prime Shawn Kemp. Not bad). Knee injuries screwed up Brandon in Milwaukee. Look, he was really damn good and even remained effective after those injuries. Don’t scoff at the 19-6.
Antonio McDyess, PF, Nuggets, Suns, Knicks, Pistons, Spurs
Resume: Peak Year: 21-11-2, All NBA Third Team (1999, 24 Yrs.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZLXkRGH_0
You can argue McDyess’ 2000-2001 year is better (21-12). Anyway, McDyess was a high flying power forward known to try to touch the top of the backboard. He had 21-11, 19-9 and 21-12 coming up to his age 28 season. He would rupture his patella tendon, resulting him only playing 10 games in 01-02. Got dealt to the Knicks and while it’s only the pre-season, put up the following lines: 17-17, 13-7 in 17 minutes and a 23-15 before getting injured again with a fractured kneecap. He wouldn’t be the same. It’s one of the forgotten what-ifs for the mid-2000 Knicks.
McDyess was an explosive power forward who was just hitting his prime. It would have only benefitted him playing in the Eastern Conference at that time…the best power forward in the East was Kenyon Martin at that point…and injuries took away his shot at being a top player. He would re-invent himself in Detroit and San Antonio, but would narrowly miss winning a title.
A tough call, but ultimately decided Lewis makes the team for the following reasons.
His cause of death: If it was ruled to be cocaine, I wouldn’t have him here (why I didn’t consider Len Bias). But his heart scarring showed to be inconsistent with cocaine.
While Lewis’ advanced metrics as a whole showed to be rather average, he scored well on a good percentage on a good team and had some good offensive metrics.
He was a crucial part of the post-Bird Celtics. Bird retired…and the Celtics under Lewis in 1992-1993 won 48 games and made the playoffs. He had been handed the keys and all indications pointed to him leading Boston to some more winning seasons. He was just about to hit his prime. But sadly we’ll never know.
Drazen Petrovic, SG, Blazers, Nets
Resume: Peak Year: 22.3 PPG, 52-45-87%s, All NBA Third Team (92-93, 28 Yrs.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLlPtBsGbYo
Drazen’s death potentially set back the immersion of international players in the NBA…but his success ultimately aided that same immersion. Drazen was a dead eye scorer who feared no one. Just watch the highlight reel against the ’93 Rockets (featuring the best defensive player in the world at that point, Hakeem).
He wasn’t happy being benched behind Clyde Drexler in Portland, got a trade to New Jersey and flourished, showing international players CAN succeed in the NBA. For all the talk about Toni Kukoc for Croatia in the 1992 Olympics…Drazen was the true best player on that team. Of the first 14 years that the NBA had a three point line, Drazen had three of the top 17 shooting seasons (2 of those with high enough volume in NJ). He shot 43.7% for his career from the 3 point line (255/583). I mean what?
Maybe it’s a bit of cheating to add someone who was trending upward in his age 28 season, but we had no idea how much better Petrovic was going to get. And when he died in a car crash, we never would know. He also set the stage for Manu, Dragic and all the other international guards that come through the NBA. If anything Drazen was 20 years ahead of his time. He would be a more devastating version of Klay Thompson if he were in the league today.
Brandon Roy, SG, Blazers, T-Wolves
Resume: Peak Year: 23-5-5, 48-38-82%s, .223 WS/48, All NBA Second Team (08-09, 24 Yrs.). All NBA Third Team in 2010.
One of the biggest disappointments in recent NBA history in terms of injuries, because there was nothing Roy could do about it. His knees didn’t have any cartilage and it zapped all of his explosiveness and quickness. Roy was the #2 SG in the league behind Kobe and his injuries turned him into a fraction of that player. He injured the knee late in 2010 and he never recovered. He started slowly in 2010-2011, scoring the same but shooting a much lower percentage. He took a month off and came back worse. Other than one throwback game (how sad is it that at 26 he has a throwback game) in the 2011 playoffs against Dallas, Brandon Roy was done. He would attempt one more season a couple of years later, got paid somehow, got everyone excited…and played five pitiful games. One of the most promising careers a half-decade earlier was over.
The ramifications are huge. When LaMarcusAldridge eventually became a much better player he did it after Roy. Roy and the Aldridge of today teaming up would have made Portland a legit championship contender (and if they made the same Gerald Wallace trade, impossible to say, that could be Aldridge, Roy AND Lillard). We get to miss out on Brandon Roy vs. James Harden battles. It’s a shame all around.
Your Starting Lineup
Danny Manning, PF, Clippers, Hawks, Suns, Bucks, Jazz, Mavericks, Pistons
Resume: Peak Year: 23-6, 51% FG, All-Star (91-92, 25 Yrs.), Two Time All-Star
Manning’s peak year looks pretty disappointing. But he’s here for a totally different reason. Here was one of the great college players of all time coming into his rookie year, averaging 17-6 the first 26 games of the season. And at age 21…he tore his ACL. Manning never regained any of the elite skills he showed at Kansas but to his credit, he still became a very good player. He dragged the Clippers from pretty much hell and took them to the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons. Got traded for an aging but still All-Star Dominique during his 2nd All Star year…although the Hawks sent a 1st as well. That’s still good company. He left Atlanta but tore up his other knee the next year…and despite being the first player to play in the NBA with both knees surgically reconstructed, he STILL managed to be an effective player. Who knows what happens if he never tears his ACL in his rookie year.
Resume: Peak Year: 22-7-4-2, 51% FG, .229 WS/48, All NBA First Team (95-96, 24 Yrs.). Also made All NBA First Team in 94-95, and Third Team in 96-97. 2nd Best Player on Eastern Conference Champ (’95 Magic)
Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal were supposed to own the East and the NBA forever. But Penny and Shaq didn’t get along, and Shaq bolted to LA. Penny still looked very good post-Shaq…until knee injuries destroyed his career. Penny made two All NBA First Teams pretty much right away and was Shaq’s original #2 man in the path to the NBA Finals in 1995. They would get close in 1996 as well…but MJ and the ’96 Bulls were too much to handle.
Many said Penny was Magic Johnson 2.0, and there were similarities for sure…but Penny earlier in his career was a better scorer than Magic. Penny wanted that superstar glory for himself. The only thing that could have held him back was his attitude. Otherwise, the Penny vs. Hill battles throughout the early 2000s would have been fascinating. An example of just how devastating Penny could be? Down 0-2 to the Heat in the 1997 playoffs he put together back to back 40 point games and kept Orlando alive (31-6 in the series against a great defensive team). As long as he kept his head on straight and kept his brand in check (lil’ Penny!) and stayed healthy Penny would go down as one of the all time greats.
Penny injured his ACL in a way that was unidentifiable at the time. Penny eventually came back in late ’97, early ’98, clearly not himself. There was controversy in regards to him playing the 1998 All-Star Game…which was made worse when he didn’t play during the rest of the season afterwards (reminds me of Carmelo actually). He was good, but not nearly the same in 1999 and got wrecked by Allen Iverson in the playoffs. He got sent to the Suns…and did okay for a while but then ended up with microfracture surgery and became a shell of his former self. Just read these last two paragraphs again. Penny and Hill’s injuries were major reasons the Eastern Conference was horrible in the early 2000s.
Grant Hill, SF, Pistons, Magic, Suns, Clippers
Resume: Peak Year: 21-9-7-2, 50% FG, .223 WS/48, All NBA First Team (96-97, 24 Yrs.) Other seasons: 20-6-5 (22 Yrs, Rookie), 20-10-7, 21-7-8, 26-5-7. Seven Time All Star. Made four other All NBA Second Teams.
Basically LeBron before LeBron. With the exception of two of those All Star appearances, he accomplished all on his resume before his 28th birthday.
How crazy is that? Grant Hill came into the league and was great right away. He had a killer crossover…yet could play power forward. He was literally the LeBron prototype. After the first six seasons of his career, he had 9,393 points, 3,417 rebounds and 2,720 assists. Only three players in NBA history surpassed those numbers in their first three seasons: Larry Bird, LeBron and Oscar Robertson. Grant Hill was the future. He was traded to Orlando since he planned to sign with them, which netted Detroit Ben Wallace. Some called the deal the most lopsided in NBA history. But it turned out Detroit got the better end when Wallace helped bring a championship to Detriot.
He sprained his ankle late in 2000, but continued to gut it out knowing what he meant to the Pistons organization. He fought hard against the Heat but made the ankle significantly worse (Hill deserves a lot of credit for this considering his impending free agency…although he got max money anyway). He would never fully recover from his ankle injury. Over the next few seasons he barely played for Orlando, his new team, and the following procedure were done: a re-fracturing of his ankle to line it up with his leg…and he also contracted MRSA from that. While he would finally play a near full season and even make one more All-Star team in ’05, he was still a shell of his former self. Hill remained a solid role player throughout the rest of his career.
Remember those Jason Kidd led Nets teams that went to the finals in the early 2000s? Something tells me those don’t happen with a healthy Grant Hill in the league. For his 28, 29, 30 and 31 year old seasons…Hill played 47 games total.
Derrick Rose, PG, Bulls
Resume: Peak Year: 25-8-4, .208 WS/48, NBA MVP, All NBA First Team (10-11, 22 Yrs.) Three Time NBA All-Star. .211 WS/48 in 11-12.
How crazy is it that this may be the end of Derrick Rose’s resume? That MVP is his ONLY All NBA Team and probably will be for the rest of his career (whether or not he deserved the MVP is a different question).
It all began with a serious torn ACL in his left knee in the 2012 playoffs against the Sixers. While in the 90s ACL injuries were huge, these days it should be as bad. But Rose failed to return in 12-13, then managed only 10 games in 13-14 after tearing his meniscus and missing the rest of the season. Rose came back in 14-15…and another tear in the meniscus has put his season in jeopardy. While the meniscus tear is bad…the 18 month recovery time needed from the first ACL injury is a bigger red flag considering he struggled when he came back. Something happened from that first ACL injury that Derrick Rose never got past. Of course, there’s the stats as well: 21-7, 46% FG before the ACL tear in his career…18-5, 40% since.
The good thing for Rose? He’s the only person who can actually play off this team. Good luck Derrick Rose! He’s only 26!
Yao Ming, C, Rockets
Resume: Peak Year: 20-10-2, 54% FG, All NBA Second Team (08-09, 28 Yrs.) .200 CAREER WS/48. Lowest Orating for a season: 110. .220 WS/48, 25-9 in 48 G in 06-07. 8 Time All Star. One other All NBA 2nd Team and three All NBA Third Teams.
Some people called Yao soft. Somewhere in that soft tag was a dominant defensive player, a great offensive player, a legit 20-10 guy who blocked 2 shots a game. Yet in 8 seasons he didn’t even manage to play 500 games. He got through his first three seasons injury free but couldn’t get out of Round 1. Got hurt in April of his 4th season and wouldn’t play another full season until 08-09, where he was great. Without T-Mac, he led the Rockets past Roy and the Blazers and led a shocking upset in Game 1 against the Lakers. While the Rockets would go down 2-1, they would have to press further without Yao as he suffered a hairline fracture. And just like that, it was over. Great secret what-if? Do the Rockets win the series if Yao stays healthy. I mean…they took it to seven anyway.
Yao was a physical freak. Despite all the injuries, his game never wavered. He was pretty much a 20-10 guy since year two. If he stayed healthy, do the Rockets make a Finals? Impossible to say, but I think Yao did have that in him. His stats were good. The advanced metrics were great. He just threw in a “yeah, I’m a great player” performance against the Lakers in Game 1. I think he’s a Hall of Famer anyway.
There they are…your What-If All Stars. Try not to be too sad like me right now. And best of luck to Derrick Rose. And while we are at it…I really hope we don’t see Paul George on this team soon.
