Injuries are an unfortunate part of the world of wrestling, and every year, there are a number of superstars out of action for a while due to them. Even with that being the case, 2025 has been a bit rougher in terms of injuries overall, especially in WWE, as there are a number of Superstars who are trying to make their way back to the ring, and their eventual returns will assuredly be a big boost to all three of WWE’s main shows. We’re taking a look at who is currently injured in WWE, as well as the current best guess as to when they will return, starting with an injury that just happened within the past month.
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14. Sol Ruca
Details around Sol Ruca’s injury have been limited, but we do know that the injury was likely to her knee, as she was wearing a knee brace and on a cane when she announced the injury on NXT last month. The injury is also expected to keep Ruca out for a substantial amount of time, as she was forced to vacate her NXT Women’s North American Championship and her WWE Women’s Speed Championship, which have since been won by new owners.
The good news is that WWE continues to feature Ruca on TV in her ongoing storyline with Zaria, and they’ve mentioned to Blake Monroe (who won her NXT Women’s North American Championship) that she is owed a match once she returns, since she never lost it. They wouldn’t do that if she were going to be out a truly lengthy amount of time, so hopefully, Ruca is back in the ring sooner than later.
13. Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins got people talking earlier this year when he was part of an injury storyline, revealing that to be a ruse in order to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase on CM Punk. That ultimately succeeded, and he would become WWE World Heavyweight Champion that very night, but unfortunately, a real injury happened not too long after.
Rollins suffered an injury during his match against Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel, and while he finished the match, he would soon have to get surgery on his shoulder, taking him out of action for a considerable amount of time. That led to Bron Breakker betraying Rollins and The Vision effectively turning on their leader. As of now, the earliest Rollins is expected to return is by the end of the year, but when anything includes surgery, it could end up taking longer, and we wish him all the best in his recovery.
12. Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens delivers some truly fantastic matches throughout the early part of the year, but unfortunately, the discovery of an issue with his neck meant that he would have to miss his scheduled match against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41. The injury would also require surgery, and the good news is that the surgery reportedly went well.
That said, it’s going to be some time before fans see Owens back in the ring. Neck injuries always require a more cautious approach, and even if everything goes according to plan as far as recovery, Owens is expected to miss WrestleMania 42 and at least a year of action in general. Best-case scenario, that would put him back in the ring around late July or August of next year, but regardless of when he does return, we just hope he’s 100% okay.
11. Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair is one of the biggest superstars mixing from the mix, and the injury that’s sidelined her occurred at WrestleMania 41. During her match against Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley, Belair ended up breaking her left finger at the joint, and that’s caused her recovery to take quite a bit longer than your normal broken finger, which itself already takes a while to properly heal.
In this case, it’s just the nature of a slow-healing injury, and it could still be a while before we see Belair back in the ring. There’s been no firm details on an expected timetable for that return, but it’s probably going to be 2026 at the earliest.
10. Zoey Stark
Zoey Stark suffered a number of injuries during the May 19th episode of Monday Night Raw, as after an attempted missile dropkick from the top rope against Rhea Ripley and Kairi Sane, Stark tore her ACL, MCL, and meniscus. Stark was removed from the match immediately after, with Ripley and Sane finishing the match, and the combination of injuries means that she is likely out of action for at least a year.
Stark has since posted on social media that she had successful surgery and is on the mend, but it’s going to be quite some time before she’s up and running in a wrestling ring. It’s probably going to be at least mid-2026 before she’s able to return, and we wish her all the best and a speedy recovery.
9. Chad Gable
At one point, Chad Gable was all over TV as part of the El Grande Americano storyline, but he unfortunately suffered an unknown arm injury that would end up requiring surgery. Gable had successful surgery on that injury in July of this year, but while he is on the mend, it’s unclear when he’ll be back. No details have been shared about his recovery or possible timeline of return, so at this point, you have to look at hopeful return dates as the Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, or WrestleMania 42.
8. Brinley Reece
Brinley Reece suffered a shoulder injury in March of this year, which likely took place during a live event, since that’s the last time she wrestled for NXT or Evolve. Reece did reveal that she underwent successful shoulder surgery in May, but no details have been revealed since, so it’s not clear when she might be able to return.
7. Adriana Rizzo
Adriana Rizzo experienced an injury in April of this year, revealing that she had suffered a torn ACL and meniscus. Rizzo would also reveal that she had actually been wrestling with a partially torn ACL for around a year and a half, but the ACL and meniscus tear on top of that meant she had to undergo surgery.
Thankfully, she is on the mend and even posted a check-in on her progress at the 4-month mark on social media last month. While she’s likely still out of action for a while, it’s good to see her up and running, and the current thinking would be sometime in early to mid-2026 as far as a return if you’re looking at that one-year timeline.
6. Piper Niven
Piper Niven has unfortunately suffered a neck injury, and while details are scarce on when it happened, Niven hasn’t wrestled since her match on the August 22nd episode of SmackDown, where she got a huge win against Charlotte Flair. There’s no word on the exact injury, and while some reports have said that it could be career-threatening, there is a hope that she can return to the ring at some point. Right now, there’s no timetable for a return, but we wish her all the best and hope for a full recovery.
5. Jacob Fatu
Jacob Fatu was in the midst of a feud with Drew McIntyre on SmackDown when Fatu was essentially written off TV after a vicious assault from McIntyre. The attack left Fatu bleeding and gave credence to what reports had said about Fatu suffering an undisclosed real injury, and while the cause of the injury hasn’t been revealed, reports have stated that it is a non-wrestling-related injury.
Unfortunately, Fatu could be out of action for a while, as the only date that’s been heard as of now is a return sometime well into 2026. If that’s the case, he’s likely missing the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, though there is a chance we could see him back in time for WrestleMania in April.
4. Elton Prince
One-half of Pretty Deadly is currently out of action after suffering an injury on the June 20th episode of SmackDown. It’s not known what that injury is, but there is movement on the Pretty Deadly front, as Prince’s partner Kit Wilson revealed that the Tag Team is still intact and will likely pick up where they left off when Prince is back to full health.
There’s currently no return timetable for Prince, but Wilson is keeping busy as a singles star on SmackDown. It’s actually not all that common for WWE to utilize one half of a Tag Team on TV when their partner is out of action, at least in the past, but WWE has seemed to change that stance over the past year with the War Raiders and now Pretty Deadly, which is a welcome change.
3. Apollo Crews
Apollo Crews experienced a pectoral injury during the January 31st episode of SmackDown, where he had a match against Johnny Gargano. Crews would then have surgery in February, and he’s been on the mend ever since, but he did recently tease that his return is likely happening sooner than later.
In August of this year, Crews shared a video on social media showing him back in a wrestling ring training. That means he’s probably going to be ready for a comeback either by the end of this year or early next year, and it will be great to see him back in action whenever he does return to WWE TV.
2. Gunther
The Ring General Gunther has been out of action since SummerSlam after suffering a septal hematoma and orbital blowout fracture during his match against CM Punk. Since then, he’s been absent from WWE TV, but little to no details have been shared about his injury in the aftermath or his recovery time.
That said, Gunther has been heavily rumored to be John Cena’s final opponent of his retirement tour, and that match takes place at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13th. If that ends up being the case, then Gunther could return at some point during the current tournament to decide Cena’s opponent, and that could happen any week now, as it starts on next week’s Monday Night Raw. Odds are we see Gunther return either way before the end of the year.
1. Liv Morgan
Liv Morgan was unfortunately sidelined after experiencing a separated shoulder in her match against Kairi Sane in June of this year on Monday Night Raw, which caused her to have to miss out on her scheduled match against Nikki Bella at Evolution. That also meant that she couldn’t defend her WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships alongside Raquel Rodriguez, though Roxanne Perez would step in to defend them in her place.
There is some good news though, as recent rumors have teased a return is starting to come into view. Recent reports have stated that WWE is hopeful Morgan will be cleared to return in early 2026, and she could possibly be back in the ring even sooner. Depending on how early in 2026 we’re talking, there’s a chance Morgan could be in the mix at Royal Rumble (January 31), but then there’s also a perfect place for a return at February 18th’s Elimination Chamber. The hope would be that Morgan could at least be back for WrestleMania 42, and fans would assuredly love to see her back.
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