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While fans and non-fans alike have spent decades arguing about how “real” pro wrestling is, there is no arguing that it is extremely dangerous. Sadly, WWE star Zoey Stark was reminded of that in horrible fashion on Monday night when she suffered a gruesome-looking knee injury on WWE Monday Night Raw.
Stark, 31, was competing in a triple threat match with opponents Rhea Ripley and Kairi Sane, the latter of whom was returning from injury in her own right. At one point mid-way through the match, Stark attempted to springboard herself off the ropes and hit a dropkick on a running Sane.
Unfortunately, the timing was off for the move and Stark landed well short of Sane. She seemingly attempted to turn her body to avoid injuring both wrestlers, but instead landed awkwardly, causing her right knee to collapse inward.
One of those spots where timing wasn’t there. Zoey then seemed to stop herself mid air in order to not hurt Kairi, while doing so hurt herself. Tough.
Speedy recovery to Zoey Stark 🙏 #WWERaw
— SwaydayWrestling (@SwaydayWrestlin) May 20, 2025
Rhea Ripley And Kairi Sane Send Well Wishes After Awful Zoey Stark Injury
Stark immediately screamed out in pain as the referee ran over to her. A member of the WWE medical team then quickly entered the ring as well and Stark was removed from the match. Ripley went on to win the match. But both she and Sane quickly took to X to send well wishes to Stark.
“Professional wrestling can be very real and dangerous… Tonight continued to prove that anything can happen.
Wishing @ZoeyStarkWWE a speedy recovery!” Ripley posted.
“I truly hope we get to face each other again when you’re ready. Wishing you a smooth recovery. #Respect,” wrote Sane.
Those were just two of the countless number of positive messages that flooded social media. Neither Stark nor WWE has updated her condition. Ultimately, it’ll probably be a few days before tests can be done to know the full extent of the injury. But it certainly didn’t look great. Here’s hoping that the appearance was far worse than the actual injury.