wrestling / News
Braun Strowman Recalls Career-Threatening Neck Injury
Image Credit: WWE
On a recent episode of his podcast, TMZ Inside The Ring, Braun Strowman discussed a career-threatening neck injury he suffered in the ring, which caused him to take time off and led to the creation of his new television series, “Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman.” The injury happened while wrestling Otis in 2023. Here are the highlights:
On the Match:
“All right, so I’ll give you the quick rundown on it. So in 2023, I had that really bad neck injury in the ring where I pinched my spine. And both my arms went limp, [and] were paralyzed for about three seconds during the match. You watch that match with Otis, you can see it happen. I go to take off. I’m really wobbling. I give the rest of the match.”
On Fearing His Career Was Over:
“And while I’m out there in the ring and in the back, it feels like I’m having boiling water poured down my arms. My fingers are numb. As you see me kind of look at my hands and move them. So I get the match done, get in the back. The doctors check me out. We’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“And then for like the three or four days before I ended up having to have surgery, every half hour or so it would feel like boiling water would get poured down my arms. Or my fingers would go numb and go to sleep. So I’m literally freaking out of, ‘Oh my God, my career is over. My day-to-day life’s over.'”
On Getting Surgery:
“Thankfully, I’m really close with Stone Cold Steve Austin. This injury was really, really similar to the injury that ended his career. So I called Steve. I talked to Steve a lot, man. He gave me a lot of reassurance and eased my mind with having the surgery. He’s had great success afterwards. No issues and stuff like that. WWE took great care of me, got me down to Andrews Medical. [They] got me patched up. They threw a metal plate with four screws in there—time off at, like, a year or whatever to recover from that.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the TMZ Inside The Ring podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.
