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WWE has some of the most talented wrestlers in the entire pro wrestling industry, and this has helped them continue to be the largest wrestling promotion in the world by getting the highest viewership.
Over the years, WWE Superstars have worked hard to come up with impressive wrestling moves to add to their arsenal which has made them unique and loved by the WWE Universe. Cesaro’s swing, Ricochet’s 630 Senton Splash, and Adam Cole’s Panama Sunrise are a few of the incredible moves that leave us in awe every time we see them pull them off.
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However, not every move that is pulled off in the ring can be consistently done without causing any harm or injuries to the men and women involved, because of which the company has to step in every now and then to ban a few moves which are deemed too dangerous to perform in the ring.
A top AEW star just called one of his colleagues 'spoiled' and 'narcissistic' HERE.
While some moves have been completely banned for a long time, such as a steel chair shot to the head, others have been banned and then unbanned when the concerned Superstar can execute it safely. On the other hand, several moves are only unbanned for experts who have proven that they can do them better than anyone else.
In this article, we will look at the 6 moves that were banned by WWE after Superstars suffered legitimate injuries while performing them in the ring.
#6 Muscle Buster
Samoa Joe is a great athlete, and even though he has been away from the ring for some time now, no one can deny the effects he has had one his opponents over his wrestling career.
Known for his lethal submission maneuver known as the Coquina Clutch, another one of Joe’s signature move that led to a pinfall victory was known as the Muscle Buster. During his time in NXT, Joe continued to use the Muscle Buster to put away his opponents.
However, things went very wrong during a match with Tyson Kidd in which Joe pulled off the move resulting in a life-threatening injury for Kidd. Kidd claimed that he was lucky to survive and we’ve seen Joe shelf the move ever since.
Joe used the Muscle Buster before joining WWE too
Reports suggest that the move was banned by WWE, even though the accident wasn’t seen as Joe’s fault. He had been using the maneuver safely for several years, and it was just Kidd’s misfortune that led to the injury.
While Joe has claimed that he feels no need to use the move anymore, and will bring it out when he needs it, it can be said that WWE would prefer to not have Joe perform the move anymore as it could trigger some negative reactions from the WWE Universe.
#5 Bucklebomb
The Bucklebomb is one of the most painful-looking moves we’ve ever seen in WWE. The move is a version of the powerbomb where instead of slamming one’s opponent on the mat, the WWE Superstar would throw them into the turnbuckles to cause an even bigger impact.
Seth Rollins used this move generously but ended up injuring more than one wrestler during his career. Finn Balor was one of the victims (although the powerbomb was delivered onto a barricade outside the ring) who dislocated his shoulder and required surgery after the two men met at SummerSlam with the WWE Universal Championship on the line.
Sting's career came to an unceremonious end after he suffered a severe neck injury as an aftermath of the bucklebomb at WWE Night of Champions 2015.
Seth Rollins isn't the only Superstar whose Bucklebomb caused injury
Most recently, Nia Jax botched the move against Kairi Sane and injured the Japanese-born Superstar, resulting in the authorities pulling the plug on the maneuver. According to Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer Radio:
“That was the one that caused it. There were people who were wanting it banned before that. It was one of those things where there were people against it. When that thing happened it was kind of like that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and Vince McMahon banned it.”
The Bucklebomb may seem like an effective move, but it looks to be a bit risky as both wrestlers have to be well-positioned for its safe execution.
#4 Piledriver
The Piledriver was once seen as the most impressive and effective move in wrestling for a long time. It was popularly used in the '90s but was banned by WWE soon after it started to cause some injuries to Superstars.
At SummerSlam in 1997, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin suffered one of the worst injuries we’ve seen in a wrestling ring after the move was executed incorrectly. Owen Hart, who was known as a very safe worker in the ring, attempted the Piledriver on Austin, but The Rattlesnake’s head was too low and as soon as his head hit the mat, his neck compressed and broke.
Austin was temporarily paralyzed by the move, and it took him a while to get some feeling back in his limbs and pin Hart to pick up the victory. The move took away years of Austin’s wrestling career, and led to the move being scrutinized and later banned.
The Piledriver is used outside WWE too
Only veteran WWE Superstars Kane and The Undertaker have since been allowed to perform the Tombstone Piledriver as they have been able to do so safely for several years.
Superstars such as Kevin Owens and Matt Riddle have tried to bring the move back to the ring, but they have been unsuccessful at convincing Vince McMahon to allow them to use it.
#3 Diving Headbutt
Concussions have always been the bane for WWE Superstars who look to extend their careers as long as possible.
One move that was considered the reason behind a lot of concussions was the Diving Headbutt. A Superstar would climb up to the top rope and drop down headfirst onto their opponent to use their skull to create an impact. However, it seemed like the deliverer of the move took more damage as compared to the recipient as their head took the impact of the move.
The move gave several WWE Superstars concussions
WWE Superstars such as Chris Benoit and Daniel Bryan used the move before concussions started to get the better of them.
Richard Berzer wrote in 'A Fool for Old School...Wrestling, That is', (page 68) regarding the damage Benoit took while performing the move:
"Performing this maneuver for the length of his 22-year career, the resulting concussions appear to have been the primary cause of Benoit's descent into madness, murder and suicide."
On the other hand, David Shoemaker had the following to say about how much damage the diving headbutt did to Benoit's brain:
His brain was destroyed by years of diving headbutts that probably concussed him a little every time and of being hit in the head with steel chairs—Benoit was notoriously one of the only guys who would take shots to the back of his head, which is demonstrably more dangerous to your brain.
Bryan’s concussions and neck problems prematurely ended his WWE career before he was able to make a miraculous comeback to the ring, however, the diving headbutt maneuver once again threatened to end his career.
Lars Sullivan was the latest Superstar who used the move regularly before WWE decided to ban the move in the interest of the safety of its Superstars. After noting that Sullivan did not use the move on Rey Mysterio after attacking him, Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer Radio had the following to say:
"The key here is that he did not do the diving headbutt. So maybe after a week of people saying the guy's too big he’s gonna end up hurt [they pulled it].”
We’ve seen the move taken off television for some time now, and it is safe to say that WWE made the right decision by shelving the move in the interest of their employees’ safety.
#2 Shooting Star Press
The Shooting Star Press is one of the most impressive looking wrestling moves that’s reserved to only the high-flyers of the company. Neville and Evan Bourne are two former WWE Superstars who performed this maneuver to perfection almost each and every time and proved to the world that they’re indeed some of the best high-flying wrestlers in the industry.
However, Brock Lesnar, who was known to use the move during his time in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), decided to pull it off at WWE WrestleMania XIX against Kurt Angle.
Lesnar ended up botching the move by a fraction that resulted in him landing on his head, taking most of his bodyweight to his neck, and ending up with a concussion.
WWE's only Olympic Gold Medalist later took the blame for asking Lesnar to perform the move, and said the following about the spot:
“That was my idea, I will take responsibility for Brock doing that. At the time I had to leave (WWE), it really wasn’t in the plans for me to drop the title at WrestleMania. I had suffered a broken neck and was going to have surgery, so I wanted to do something that people would remember. I asked Brock to do the Shooting Star Press, which he had done many times in OVW. I just thought it would be a great way to end the show.”
While Lesnar was able to continue with the match and ended up winning it, his attempt landed the move in the banned moves list for quite some time.
Lesnar isn't the only Superstar in WWE who has botched the move
Before Lesnar, Billy Kidman, Justin Gabriel, and a few other wrestlers had botched the move too, resulting in injuries either to themselves or their opponents.
While we have seen some lighter weight Superstars continue performing the move in recent years, it is largely a no-go area for most of the other Superstars.
#1 Styles Clash
AJ Styles is one of the most renowned wrestlers in the world today, and the former WWE Champion has some unique moves in his arsenal that help him remain one of the best wrestlers in the world.
While Styles’ move known as the Styles Clash is one of the most technical moves on television today, it was once banned by WWE due to the risks that were involved in its execution.
After using the move for several years in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Total Nonstop Action (TNA), the move was banned by WWE in 2016 after Vince McMahon was informed that Styles botched the move while executing it against former WWE Superstar Yoshi Tatsu in NJPW and he was injured in the process.
A former Superstar helped Styles bring the move into WWE
The Phenomenal One was then made to stick to the Calf Crusher and The Phenomenal Forearm for the initial few years of his WWE career before Chris Jericho stepped in.
He revealed that Vince wasn’t even aware of what the move was before he banned it, and he pushed him to allow Styles to start using it in WWE. Jericho stated the following in a radio show:
"And that's the one when I basically got the Styles Clash unbanned because it was banned. And I was like, I knew that Vince had heard that somebody got hurt by the move, but I know he probably didn't even know what the move was, he just knew the name. So I pitched it to him as that cool move that AJ does where he drops you on your face, we did it at WrestleMania, we did it a couple of times."
While we see Styles safely deliver the move to several of the smaller Superstars in WWE today, it is interesting to note that it is one move that was banned for being too unsafe at first but is being used by the same WWE Superstar currently.
