10 Wrestling Moves More Dangerous Than You Realise
In which Mitsuharu Misawa's Burning Hammer is safer than Marty Jannetty's Rocker Dropper!
The most dangerous pro wrestling moves are the ones that only look dangerous.
Really, the Piledriver isn't as dangerous as one would think. Innovated by Wild Bill Longson, the murderous head drop is often wrongly associated with injury. It does happen, naturally - you're being vertically dropped on your head! - but it's safer than, say, the Pedigree.
The same goes for the Burning Hammer. Another ruinous super finisher popularised by AJPW pillar Kenta Kobashi, the man often accurately dubbed 'Mr Pro Wrestling' utilised the move on just seven occasions. Adopted by many King's Road enthusiasts, the move now resembles more of an Argentine facebuster drop, being kicked out of at the count of two for an egregious crowd reaction. It couldn't be more safe, but that's the point - it already was safe when Kobashi was doing it. Of the seven times he busted it out, not one injury occurred. That number likely wouldn't have changed had he made the move a traditional part of his moveset.
So, it's surprising, then, that other modernised variants of previous killers have become dangerous for such strange reasons. Another head drop manoeuvre, the Reverse Frankensteiner, almost resulted in an NXT UK talent having their leg chopped off, for example...
10. Reverse Frankensteiner
The Frankensteiner has seen countless variants since its 1980s origination and popularisation. Scott Steiner himself popularised the top-rope take on the move, itself already a safer version of the original incarnation; folk were hardly going to take spiked head-drops off the top turnbuckle from a man with tree trunks for legs.
Indeed the most prevalent variation is the reverse Frankensteiner. The move is safe in the hands of every stylistic user; naturally, it'll look miles more impressive if the wrestler-in-question is of a shorter stature, as Mark Andrews is. He leaps at his opponent's rear with grace and agility, snappily taking them to the mat with such force to create a believable match-ender out of a now-standard drop.
It's pro wrestling, though. Risk is never out of the question.
Wrestling Noam Dar to a no contest on the 27 March 2019 NXT UK, Andrews attempted the reverse Frankensteiner as he normally would. With Dar unable to grasp Andrews' ankles fully, he slipped, falling to the mat and, on his way down, pushing Noam's knee forward. The torque on which Dar's knee was moved allegedly caused a near-explosion of the knee's insides, which would've required his entire leg to be amputated. He was millimetres away from losing a leg and instead, his diagnosis was just a "wee bone bruise"!
Pro wrestling is absurd.