10 Wrestlers Who Got Run Over By Vehicles On-Screen
In pro wrestling, characters can be attacked anywhere, at any time, and with any weapon imaginable. This doesn’t include just furniture, sporting equipment, and food, but also actual functioning vehicles including cars, golf carts, and other more ridiculous variations. While sometimes these vehicular attacks happen off-screen, more often than not fans are actually able to see these incidents to some extent.RELATED: 10 WWE Wrestlers Who Used Vehicles For Their WrestleMania Entrances The list of wrestlers who have been hit by vehicles as part of pro wrestling angles is long, so let’s take a look at just 10 of these unlucky souls — not just in WWE, but other companies including Impact Wrestling, AEW, and one particularly outlandish Japanese promotion.
10 Sammy Guevara
One of AEW’s great homegrown talents, Sammy Guevara is known for taking crazy bumps in some of his regular matches, which includes getting hit by a golf cart at what appeared to be full speed — twice. The first time was in a Street Fight on the 5/6/2020 episode of Dynamite thanks to a cart driven by Matt Hardy and Kenny Omega in what proved to be an iconic moment. The other happened at All Out 2022 as Ortiz and Ruby Soho terrorized Guevara with the vehicle yet again just before a mixed tag team match.
9 John Cena
On the 7/14/2008 episode of Raw, John Cena teamed with Cryme Tyme against his rival JBL alongside Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. The match ended in a disqualification, but the post-match offered a memorable moment as JBL and John Cena fought all the way to the parking lot, where JBL intentionally drove a car into an unconscious John Cena in what could only be interpreted as an attempted vehicular homicide. Six days later, JBL beat Cena in a parking lot brawl at The Great American Bash.
8 Sanshiro Takagi
Fans of Japan’s DDT Pro-Wrestling are very familiar with the promotion’s penchant for zany, comedic matches happening in places that aren’t wrestling rings. In March of 2020, DDT held a show at Saitama Super Arena that opened with a six-man match between a trio of DDT loyalists — MAO, Yuki Ino, and rising AEW sensation Konosuke Takeshita — against a mutineering team that included famed comedy wrestler Danshoku Dino.
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Eventually the fight made its way to a parking garage, where DDT founder/wrestler Sanshiro Takagi ended up getting hit by a van. It was revealed that the driver was MAO, who revealed his true allegiances by abducting Takagi and driving off.
7 Roddy Piper
The year 1996 brought a frankly homophobic feud between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Goldust leading to WrestleMania 12, the idea being that Piper was out to “make a man” out of his provocatively androgynous opponent. Their ‘Mania bout was a “Hollywood Backlot Brawl,” starting with a pre-taped segment of Piper and Goldust fighting off-site. Before the brawl turned into a car chase, Goldust ended up driving his car into Roddy Piper — a moment that, according to Goldust himself, happened entirely by accident.
6 Jerry Lawler
One of the most controversial and shocking moments in wrestlers being hit on cars happened way back in 1990 for the Memphis-based promotion United States Wrestling Association. In one segment, “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert was (kayfabe) fired on-screen, leading to him beating down the promoter in the parking lot. When Jerry “The King” Lawler came out to save the promoter, Eddie Gilbert drove a car surprisingly fast into Lawler, who bounced off the hood. Fans watching on television were legitimately worried about Lawler, who had to return to television early to reassure everyone.
5 Daisuke Sasaki
DDT Pro-Wrestling offers such varied moments in pro wrestling ridiculousness that it’s not that surprising that they have a second notable instance of vehicular violence with a different type of vehicle. In April of 2015, DDT held a show at Izu Granpal Amusement Park in Shizuoka, which offers water slides, go karts, and other attractions. Of course, the wrestlers made full use of their location, fighting on pretty much every attraction imaginable, including a go-kart track. With Kota Ibushi behind the wheel, Daisuke Sasaki attempted to Irish Whip referee Yukinori Matsui, only for Matsui to reverse and send Sasaki into Ibushi’s speeding kart.
4 Mickie James
These days, Mickie James has been on her “Last Rodeo” retirement in Impact Wrestling, competing in matches until somebody’s able to defeat her. But it’s not her first rodeo, as the four-time Knockouts Champion has enjoyed several stints in the Impact Zone, including in 2015 as her husband Magnus was feuding with James Storm’s faction, The Revolution.
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On one episode of Impact Wrestling, security footage aired of a meeting between Mickie James and James Storm at a train station. Mickie refused an offer to join The Revolution, so Storm pushed her in front of a train.
3 Kevin Owens
January 2021’s Royal Rumble was held in St. Petersburg, FL’s Tropicana Field with no fans in attendance, so Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens were able to make full use of the stadium as Owens challenged Reigns for the Universal Championship in a Last Man Standing match. The match had several memorable moments — including an infamously botched ending — one of which involved Reigns hitting Owens with a golf cart. This was one of WWE better-staged stunts in recent years, as Reigns surprised viewers by driving the cart into frame from off-screen.
2 Mick Foley (as Santa Claus)
It’s been noted that Santa Claus has taken a surprising number of beatings and attacks on WWE television, including once in 2012 as portrayed by hardcore wrestling legend and Christmas enthusiast Mick Foley. For a special Christmas Eve episode of Raw, the show began with Alberto Del Rio accidentally hitting Santa with his car, leading to a Miracle on 34th Street Fight between Del Rio and John Cena. It appeared that Foley perhaps wasn’t in the best physical condition to actually get hit by a car, so WWE did some creative editing with the pre-taped show to portray the incident.
1 Steve Austin
In the fall of 1999, Stone Cold Steve Austin was set to take on The Rock and WWE Champion Triple H in a three-way Survivor Series, but Austin was in dire need of neck surgery, so WWE came up with a creative way to write him off. Entering the arena at Survivor Series, Austin was hit by a car by a mystery assailant. After his return in April 2000, all was soon revealed: Rikishi drove the car under orders from Triple H, setting up a feud between Austin and Trips.
