January 2006: Batista suffers a torn triceps during a match with
Mark Henry at a WWE live event. As a result, The Animal surrenders the World Heavyweight Championship on January 10 in Philadelphia;
Theodore Long holds a Battle Royal to determine a new champion while Batista undergoes surgery and is out of action for six months.
Summer 2006:
After losing the gold at
WrestleMania in April, Kurt Angle suffers a multitude of injuries throughout the summer, most seriously a torn groin muscle in August. Later that same month, Angle is released from WWE.
October 2006:
Rey Mysterio, who won the gold from Angle, suffers a serious knee injury at the hands of
Chavo Guerrero. Mysterio, only three months removed from being champion, is put on the shelf indefinitely; as of this article, he still has yet to return.
April 2007:
King Booker, who defeated Mysterio for the gold but lost it to Batista at Survivor Series in late-November, is knocked out of action by then-champion
Undertaker. Thanks to a Tombstone on the announce table, Booker suffers a sprained and strained neck. He was never seen on SmackDown again, as he was drafted to
Raw on June 11, and has since returned to action on Monday nights.
Later that same month, Undertaker suffered a torn biceps just weeks after winning the gold. Edge swooped in, picked the bones and took the title while The Deadman took a trip to the disabled list; Edge, however, solidified the curse theory by relinquishing the gold due to injury on Tuesday night
