Every WWE and AEW Star Who Caught the 2022 Injury Bug

By Connor Casey

Both WWE and AEW's rosters have been bitten by the injury bug in recent months. Thanks to injuries from the likes of CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Bryan Danielson, both companies have needed to drop major plans for their pay-per-views, turning the Summer of 2022 into something quite different than originally planned. Below is the full list of every major injury wrestlers have suffered in both companies since the start of the year. Stay tuned as we'll be updating the list whenever news of a new injury or recovery occurs!

AEW returns to pay-per-view this Sunday with the Forbidden Door crossover event with New Japan. WWE's next premium live event, Money in the Bank, takes place on July 2 in Las Vegas.

Cody Rhodes

Rhodes suffered a torn rotator cuff while training for his Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins in early June. He still managed to compete in (and win) the bout despite his arm, shoulder and ribs being bright purple, then was written off the following night when Rollins "further injured" Rhodes' pec with a sledgehammer. He has since undergone surgery and swears he'll make it back sooner than the nine-month recovery timetable WWE initially announced.

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Big E

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(Photo: WWE)

Just two months after his WWE Championship reign was brought to an abrupt end, E took an overhead belly-to-belly suplex outside the ring from Ridge Holland on the March 11 episode of SmackDown. He landed on his neck, fracturing his C1 and C6 vertebrae in the process. Thankfully, E has provided recent updates showing that he no longer needs the neck brace and has improved movement in his neck.

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Io Shirai

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(Photo: WWE)

Shirai's last match was at the NXT Stand & Deliver event on April 2, but news of her injury didn't drop until noon. The type and severity have not been confirmed, though she was spotted with a leg brace.

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Nikkita Lyons

Lyons had to be pulled from the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament in May due to a partial MCL tear and MCL sprain. A vignette of her return dropped this week, stating she'd be back on June 28 episode of NXT 2.0.

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Shelton Benjamin

Benjamin announced in May that, for only the second time in his wrestling career, he's on the shelf with an injury. He did not disclose what it was or how long he'd be out.

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Randy Orton

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(Photo: WWE)

Orton was written off TV following the unification of the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships on May 20 with a back injury. Fans initially believed the injury was for a storyline that would set up a match with Roman Reigns at SummerSlam, but then news broke that his injury was not only real but worse than expected. Orton has since been replaced by Brock Lesnar for SummerSlam and could potentially be out until 2023 if he has to undergo surgery.

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Anthony Bowens

Bowens suffered a knee injury in May, but has managed to stay active on television alongside Max Caster and The Gunn Club. This is good news because everyone loves The Acclaimed!

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Darius Martin

Martin finally returned to action from a torn ACL tear in March, but by late April he was off television once again. It was revealed a month later that he had been in a car accident, one that could keep him out of action until 2023.

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Leyla Hirsch

Hirsch suffered a torn ACL in April and underwent surgery in May.

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Adam Cole

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(Photo: All Elite Wrestling)

Cole has reportedly been dealing with a number of injuries lately, including an issue with his labrum, that has resulted in him staying out of in-ring action since beating Samoa Joe at Double or Nothing for the finals of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament. Despite that, he's still being teased for a match at Forbidden Door.

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CM Punk

Punk suffered a leg injury days after winning the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing, and as a result, he had to be pulled from his AEW World Championship match with Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door. However, AEW opted to keep the championship on him and crown an interim champion, which will set up for a unification match down the road.

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Bryan Danielson

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(Photo: AEW)

Danielson has been out of action since the Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing, with conflicting reports of whether or not he's dealing with a concussion. He confirmed on this week's AEW Dynamite that he would be forced to miss Forbidden Door and Blood and Guts, though assured fans he would be back soon

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Scorpio Sky

Sky is reportedly dealing with a knee injury, but won't be stripped of the TNT Championship.

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Rhea Ripley

Ripley was pulled from the Raw Women's Championship match at Money in the Bank on Raw, then revealed on Instagram she's dealing with a brain and dental injury.

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The Bunny

The Bunny (aka Allie) hasn't wrestled since April and confirmed on Wednesday that she's been dealing with an undisclosed injury.

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Buddy Matthews

Matthews announced this week he's dealing with a shoulder injury after losing his qualifying match for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship.

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Queen Zelina

Zelina hasn't wrestled since April but teased her return on social media earlier this week.

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Rick Boogs

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(Photo: WWE)

Boogs suffered a torn quad and injured his patellar tendon at WrestleMania 38 during a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match with Shinsuke Nakamura and The Usos. He has since shared videos of his recovery.

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Matt Hardy

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(Photo: AEW)

Hardy's knee was reportedly banged up after competing in a tag team match at AAA Triplemania: Tijuana this past week, with swelling in his knee.

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Lee Johnson

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(Photo: AEW)

The Nightmare Family member will reportedly miss the rest of the summer due to a knee injury. He hasn't wrestled since May.

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