People say that wrestling is fake. Yes, it’s scripted, but some of the moves performed by professional wrestlers are extremely dangerous manoeuvres to pull off.
Some critics argue that in pro wrestling, wrestlers can choreograph their moves, learn how to fall correctly, and avoid serious injury. When it comes to moves that involve spiking (driving a wrestler’s head into the mat) it becomes a lot more difficult to protect yourself.
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All it takes is one miscalculation and a person’s career could be shortened or ended in an instant. WWE have even taken the stance of banning certain moves involving spiking.
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Here, we take a look at 5 moves in wrestling that involve spiking.
Remember, these moves are extremely dangerous so forgive us for stating the obvious, but “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!”
#5 The Brainbuster
Even the name can give you an idea of how dangerous this move is. The move actually sounds just as bad as it hurts. Japanese wrestlers use this move a lot more in comparison to North Ameriaca. It is so dangerous that it is rarely seen in the United States and almost never in the WWE.
The move starts off as a vertical suplex, but the opponent holds his victim in the air vertically and then drops them on the back of his neck. It’s a move that likely costs the victim a few brain cells if it is not executed properly.
#4 The Piledriver
An interesting fact about this move is that the Piledriver was created as a total accident. Its creator was Toshiaki Kawada, who attempted to powerbomb his opponent, Mitsuharu Misawa, but he failed in doing so.
Misawa kept countering Kawada’s powerbomb by not allowing himself to be lifted in the air. Eventually Misawa relented, but again tried to counter Kawada’s power bomb while in the air with a Hurricarana. Kawada, unaware of the counter, slammed Misawa on the back of his neck. The audience appeared stunned, which obviously was good enough for Kawada to use it a few times more in the future.
Stone Cold’s career was shortened due to a neck injury he suffered at the hands of Owen Hart and a Piledriver. The move is seen as so dangerous, it has permanently been banned from the WWE.
#3 The Canadian Destroyer
This move isn’t just dangerous, the move is a thing of beauty. The Canadian Destroyer will be the most impressive move you’ll ever see. The move was created by Canadian Wrestler Petey Williams and involves one too many back flips and piledrivers to be used within the WWE today.
To perform the move, Williams would place his victim in a Powerbomb position. He would then flip over his opponent’s back and Piledrive them backwards.
What makes this move even worse is that the move is banned in part because the unlucky victim is unable to protect his head, neck or spine from serious damage while taking the move.
#2 Double Underhook Back-to-Back Piledriver
This move can be otherwise known as the “Vertebreaker” and for good reason.
The move involves a wrestler manoeuvring behind his opponent, bending forward, wrapping his opponents arms around their back and then lift them up in the air. He’d then drop the wrestler onto the back of their shoulders and neck.
Many wrestling fans had got a shock while watching a live broadcast of WWE with the Hurricane performing the move. It is unusual to see a smaller wrestler within the WWE be given such a task to complete with the company usually leaving these kinds of moves to the stronger wrestlers who can pick up and stabilize their opponent.
It was hard to tell what was scarier, watching The Hurricane perform the move or witnessing his opponent land gracelessly on the mat.
#1 Poisoned Frankensteiner
Originally the move was invented by Scott Steiner, but the Japanese took the latter’s version and made it much more lethal.
The two versions of the move differ extremely. With Steiner’s version, the opponent would be able to control how his victim landed when he flipped them frontwards off the top rope. The victim could roll forward and out of harm’s way.
However, if an opponent performs the Poisoned Frankensteiner, they wrap their legs on the back of the opponent’s neck and pulls them in a backwards Hurricanrana-like motion in which the victim lands directly on their head.
The worst thing about this move is that the person receiving the move is completely unable to control how they hit the mat, which can lead to serious injury if the move isn’t executed properly.
