During the main event of Monday’s Raw, Seth Rollins threw a Tiger Knee to the face of U.S. Champion John Cena and broke his nose. Cena was able to shake off ringside doctors and finish the match strong, but his nose came out worse for wear.
In celebration — no, that’s not the right word — of Cena’s injury, we put together a list of nine other times wrestlers had their noses broken during matches. As a light content warning in case you weren’t paying attention, this is a list of people getting their noses broken, so reader discretion is advised.
Let’s start off with the worst one:
A ladder breaks Joey Mercury’s nose.
One of the most famous broken noses in recent WWE history — and definitely the most gruesome, so please, watch the video with caution — happened to Joey Mercury at Armageddon in 2006. Before he was one of the Js in J&J Security, Mercury was one half of the “A-lister” tag team MNM. During a four-way tag team ladder match, Jeff Hardy came off the ropes and used a see-saw configuration of ladders as a weapon. What was intended to be a “double noggin-knocker” split open Mercury’s face, breaking his nose and orbital bone. Very few times in wrestling will you see a man bleed this much, this fast.
Floyd Mayweather breaks Big Show’s nose.
At No Way Out 2008 in Las Vegas, champion boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather hit the ring to defend Rey Mysterio against Big Show. The 7-foot Show dropped to a knee as an insult, so Mayweather popped him in the face with a series of punches. It busted open Show’s nose, and at WrestleMania XXIV, the two had the most surprisingly-good celebrity vs. wrestler match in WWE history.
CM Punk breaks Rey Mysterio’s nose.
Also in 2008, CM Punk defeated Rey Mysterio with what is, in my opinion, the greatest Go To Sleep of all-time. Unfortunately for Mysterio, it was also the realest Go To Sleep of all-time, and it shattered his nose.
Rey Mysterio breaks The Undertaker’s nose.
During a 2010 edition of Smackdown, Rey Mysterio sat on The Undertaker’s face and broke it. It was a legitimate injury, but WWE had to come up with a reason for the mighty Undertaker to miss TV beyond, “The smallest guy on our roster injured him.” So, Kane found Undertaker “in a vegetative state,” and the rest is ridiculous WWE history.
Rey Mysterio breaks Cody Rhodes’ nose.
Mysterio is involved in a lot of these. This one happened on a 2011 Smackdown, and famously transitioned Cody Rhodes from “Dashing” to a plastic mask wearing, paper bag distributing “monster.” Sources say the injury was legit and kept Rhodes off TV for several weeks, but watching the clip (with the hilarious doctor follow-up), it seems wonderfully phony. Still, though, Rhodes says the plastic mask “saved his life,” and it gave us Evil Cody Rhodes, so why complain?
Randy Orton breaks CM Punk’s nose.
On a 2011 episode of Raw, Randy Orton headbutted CM Punk in the nose and broke it. Punk’s had a long career of getting his face broken… so long, in fact, that you can still read about it on his LiveJournal. Here’s to hoping his first UFC fight ends with a run-in and beatdown from The New Nexus.
Victoria breaks Candice Michelle’s nose.
Jump to the 5:00 mark to see Victoria unleash a brutal kick in the face of otherwise not-brutal-at-all Candice Michelle and break her nose during a Divas Battle Royal. Mickie James’ reaction on commentary tells you everything you need to know. It’s not as bad as when she fell and broke her collarbone, but you don’t hear “oh, Jesus” a lot on Raw.
CJ Parker breaks Kevin Owens’ nose.
During Kevin Owens’ highly-anticipated WWE debut, NXT journeyman CJ Parker threw a “Third Eye” palm strike and almost put the poor guy’s nose bone through his brain. It happens at around the :40 second mark in the video if you haven’t seen it. Owens rolled with it and destroyed Parker, and, thanks to NXT’s taping schedule, wrestled most of his early NXT career with a horrible-looking nose.
Wade Barrett.
… just in general.
