1. Home
  2. WWE
  3. 10 wrestling moves WWE banned

Sheamus-randy-orton

Courtesy of whatculture.com writer Mark Bradley:

Professional wrestling can easily be summed up as the world’s most violent soap opera. The guys in the ring spend years learning and perfecting their craft, honing their skills between the ropes to ensure the complete safety of their opponent and the total enjoyment of the audience.

A great example of a crowd pleasing manoeuvre, Randy Orton’s finisher the RKO (pictured above) is a high impact, visually pleasing move that carries little to no risk for both Randy and his opponent. But some moves aren’t always as safe.

There are techniques in wrestling that the WWE generally do not allow, as they are deemed far too dangerous for even the highly trained professionals to do.

Take a look outside the WWE however and you’ll find plenty of what could only be described as clinically insane daredevils willing to attempt these feats for a shot at wrestling glory.

Grab a hold of your seats and get ready to wince repeatedly as we count down ten moves that no sane individual would even consider attempting.

10. Piledriver

A move that was a match ending mainstay in the 1980?s, nowadays only the Undertaker and Kane are permitted to administer these during a match and even then, it tends to be the safer Tombstone variant.

The reason it’s so dangerous is that the opponent’s head needs to be firmly tucked between the attacker’s legs or you risk severe damage to the opponent’s neck and spine. Just ask Stone Cold Austin.

It was Summerslam 1997 and Stone Cold was to go one on one with the late great Owen hart. During the match, Hart delivered the piledriver to Austin and did not sufficiently tuck Austin’s head in.

The impact as Austin’s head was spiked into the mat broke his neck and temporarily paralysed him, it was a miracle that he managed to roll Owen up and pin him to finish the match.

The incident significantly shortened Austin’s career and from that point onwards, the WWE banned almost everybody from performing it.

It was a standout surprise then, during a particularly incredible match between CM Punk and John Cena on Raw when Punk busted it out, shocking even the announce team.

Punk’s expression after the move says it all: everything but the kitchen sink.

Check out the rest of the list here!