Ranking WWE and AEW's Most Gruesome Moments in Recent History

Professional wrestling is a grueling sport in which anything can happen, including some of the most gruesome spots imaginable.

While those may take different forms in WWE and All Elite Wrestling, both have had their fair share of jaw-dropping and wince-inducing moments in recent years.

These are the most gruesome moments in recent WWE and AEW history, dating back to 2022.

Disclaimer: The following includes images and videos of a graphic nature. Discretion is advised.

WWE No. 3: Bianca Belair's Broken Finger

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Compared to the other spots and moments on this countdown, Bianca Belair's broken finger, suffered in the Triple Threat Match for the Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 41, may seem relatively tame.

In reality, it occurred in a location that left her out of action for nearly a year, unable to return to the squared circle and safely do the basics of a job she had become elite at.

During the three-way bout with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky, Belair delivered a relatively routine Tower of Doom superplex to her opponents. When she hit the mat, she immediately nursed her left hand and it became clear that she had suffered some sort of injury.

She told Chris Van Vliet:

"I knew immediately it was broken, because usually in a match, something happens, and you don't feel it until after the match, your adrenaline wears off, and you're like, 'Ow, my finger.' But in the moment, I thought I broke all my fingers. So the ref, you can see the ref if you watch back, the ref comes to me. He's like, 'Are you okay?' I'm like, 'I just broke all of my fingers.'"

Months of failed attempts at healing the break, which occurred in the joint and knuckle area, led to her undergoing finger surgery in February, which she continues to rehabilitate from.

It remains to be seen when she will return to WWE. Her last appearance was at Evolution last July, but when she does, expect a reaction befitting a star of her magnitude.

Especially after her long, frustrating journey back to the squared circle.

AEW No. 3: Texas Death Matches

All Elite Wrestling

"Hangman" Adam Page has been at the forefront of two of the most violent and polarizing clashes in AEW history.

His Texas Death matches against Swerve Strickland and MJF were the culmination of rivalries that intensified until there was no other option but to risk his well-being to end them.

The contest with Strickland featured a hypodermic needle spot involving Page's mouth. Two years later, against AEW world champion MJF, Hangman found himself on the receiving end of the sickening spot.

Not to be outdone, he broke light tubes over the back of MJF and utilized barbed wire as dental floss, tearing his rival's gums.

Both matches upped the violence, crossing the line for some viewers.

Regardless, both bouts were ultra-violent affairs that lived up to the gimmick and served as effective feud-enders, all while setting the bar dangerously high for the next time Page and a top rival set foot inside the squared circle with that stipulation on the marquee.

Compared to the other two AEW entries on the list, the violence in both contests was relatively controlled.

WWE No. 2: Drew McIntyre's Splitting Headache

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Drew McIntyre and CM Punk waged war from the moment the latter returned to WWE in November 2023.

For nearly one year, they battled verbally and then physically, with each getting the better of the other at different points but neither declaring victory.

Then came their Hell in a Cell encounter.

The famed gimmick bout has been the burial ground for some of the industry's most heated rivalries and blood feuds.

It was appropriate then that, even in an era of WWE when blood rarely appears on purpose, The Scottish Warrior left plenty of it inside the cage.

With Punk already wearing the crimson mask, he blasted McIntyre with a toolbox. Blood poured from the Scot's head at an alarming rate.

It was the beginning of the end for McIntyre, who eventually missed a Claymore Kick, suffered a chain-assisted Go To Sleep and lost to his most hated enemy.

The violent contest elevated the rivalry between the two to epic proportions. But McIntyre's toughness and star power were amplified in the bout, especially after he received 16 staples to close the wound.

AEW No. 2: Moxley Meets Spike

All Elite Wrestling

During his run in AEW, Jon Moxley earned the reputation as the preeminent hardcore competitor, both dishing out the violence and enduring it when the moment called for it.

On the March 19, 2025, episode of AEW Dynamite, the world champion defended his title against Adam "Cope" Copeland in a Street Fight. The latest chapter in a revenge-fueled rivalry saw the combatants unleash weapon-filled attacks on each other, culminating in one of the most jaw-dropping spots in AEW history.

Having momentarily wrestled control of the bout away from his opponent, Cope delivered a suplex onto Spike, a nail-laden 2x4. Instead of bouncing up and selling the effects of the spot, Moxley sat up, writhing as the nails remained in his back.

They were visibly stuck in his back and had to be carefully removed.

Moxley recovered enough to win the match, but the images of him rising to his feet and walking around the ring with the board stuck to his back, remain etched in the minds of many AEW fans.

WWE No. 1: Cody Rhodes' Personal Hell

WWE.com

Cody Rhodes suffered a torn pectoral muscle ahead of his Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins.

The concluding contest in a trilogy of bouts with arguably the best wrestler in the industry, the recently returned American Nightmare was determined to take part before what would be a lengthy injury hiatus.

Informed by the medical staff that he could not tear it worse than he already had, he suited up and took to the unforgiving confines of the match's namesake structure for the most physically enduring contest of his career.

Removing his robe to reveal the extent of the damage, he was met with gasps and then stunned silence as his bruised right pectoral and arm were exposed. What followed was one of the gutsiest performances of any Superstar in WWE history.

Rhodes battled Rollins for 24:22 in a match awarded five stars by Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer (h/t Cagematch DB). The injured part of his body was not off-limits as his rival targeted it relentlessly.

The babyface gutted it out and won the match, earning the respect of the WWE fans and setting himself up for a monster comeback at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where he would win the men's match and cash his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 39.

AEW No. 1: Darby Allin's Glass-Shattering Plunge

All Elite Wrestling

No AEW star has made a habit of placing himself in high-risk situations more than Darby Allin. He has endured more pain and suffering, sometimes by his own doing, than any other competitor on the roster.

Case in point being Sting's retirement match at Revolution 2024.

With the AEW World Tag Team Championship at stake and his lengthy run as The Icon's final tag team partner nearing its end, Allin scaled a ladder inside the squared circle with the intent of leaping off of it and driving The Young Bucks through a pane of glass set up across two steel chairs below.

Things did not go as planned.

The Bucks moved, leaving Allin to crash through the glass below. Audible gasps and genuine concern for his well-being took precedence, with his back bleeding from the shattered glass and his stomach badly cut up.

AEW president Tony Khan told Ariel Helwani he believed the spot was the one time Allin went too far.

Allin recalled to Chris Van Vliet that he felt OK initially but was then informed by the official that he had been sliced deep enough that his insides were hanging out of his right side.

For a professional wrestler who has gone as far as being hit by a car and set on fire, it was the glass spot that remains the most gruesome of his career and one that is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.