At WrestleMania 18, Maven faced Goldust for the WWE Hardcore Championship in a brief three-minute match that ended in no contest. During the match, Maven sustained a back injury that would impact him for life.

In a recent YouTube video, Maven discussed how this injury contributed to his three herniated discs. "We had a spot early on... I would take a beal into the barricade. What I didn't know is how my body was going to fold... and would probably be the beginning of what would become a lifelong back injury," he said. "As soon as my body hit that barricade, I knew it had bent in a way it just wasn't designed to bend... In no way shape or form was it Goldust's fault."

Maven added that the adrenaline of performing at WrestleMania masked his immediate pain, delaying the realization of his injury until the following day.