5 Events that changed WWE's history 

#2 Owen Hart Breaks Steve Austin's Neck

Owen Hart botched a Piledriver, breaking Austin's neck.

Piledrivers have always been high on the list of risky, life-threatening finishers to pull off. Nowadays, only a handful of superstars have the authority to even perform the maneuver.

This wasn't always the case though and Piledrivers were a common finishing move back in the day. It was also insanely hazardous and deadly when performed incorrectly.

Stone Cold Steve Austin found this out the hard way at SummerSlam 1997. Austin had everything going for him, he was hugely over with the crowd and geared to be the next Intercontinental Champion. His opponent for the night was Owen Hart who was recognized backstage as a diligent and safe worker.

This incident just goes on to prove that accidents happen with even the safest of in-ring performers and just how much of risk wrestlers put themselves under for the sake of the show.

As the story goes, Owens was supposed to hit Austin with The Undertaker's Tombstone Piledriver which is a reverse piledriver and much more dangerous than a normal one. Owen, however, botched up the move and landed the wrong way leading to Austin severely injuring his neck. The announce team didn't immediately realize things had gone horribly wrong and JR can be heard saying the move had shades of The Undertaker.

This injury obviously spelled disaster for the WWE. Even though Austin was injured, he continued to show up and interfere with matches, maintaining his popularity with the fanbase. It cannot be argued that the injury meant some major changes to the direction WWE and Austin were headed in. The botch shortened Austin's career considerably. He did go on to have a great run but his time was severely cut down by the grave injury to his neck.

While in the end, Austin managed to turn the tide in his favor and went on to become the anti-establishment babyface, the question remains as to where Austin's career would be if he had never sustained the injury.

Would his career have soared higher? Or was this injury the push that propelled him to the pinnacle of the WWE Universe's adoration?