WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas has recalled a disturbing in-ring injury from his career and a reaction he says showed a lack of concern from Vince McMahon.
Speaking with Wrestling Shoot Interviews in 2023, Atlas reflected on an incident from December 1990 involving Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels while they were teaming as The Rockers. During the match, a version of their Rocker Dropper finisher went wrong, leaving enhancement talent Chuck Austin seriously injured.
According to Atlas, Austin lacked the necessary training to safely take the move and landed on his head, suffering a broken neck that resulted in immediate paralysis. Atlas said the seriousness of the injury was clear in the moment, making the response from those in charge all the more troubling.
Atlas claimed Vince McMahon showed little sympathy for Austin’s condition, instead focusing on the interruption to the show. Recalling the moment, Atlas said McMahon’s words have stayed with him ever since.
“When Shawn Michaels and Mart Jannetty hurt that kid, yeah I was there and I remember Vince [McMahon] said ‘Get him out of the damn ring he’s holding up the show.’”
The story adds to the long list of difficult and controversial accounts surrounding injuries in wrestling during that era, and Tony Atlas’s comments paint a grim picture of how serious incidents were sometimes handled behind the scenes.
When Did Vince McMahon Buy WWE?
Vince McMahon purchased the company that would become WWE in 1982, buying Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father, Vincent J. McMahon. At the time, the promotion operated as a regional territory under the National Wrestling Alliance banner.
After taking control, Vince McMahon began aggressively expanding the business nationally, a strategy that ultimately transformed the company, now known as WWE, into a global sports entertainment powerhouse.
McMahon then sold WWE to UFC parent company Endeavor, and the two companies merged under the TKO Group Holdings Inc. banner in 2023. McMahon still held shares in the company until he sold his final shares in April 2024.
