10 Last WWE Stars To Take Banned Wrestling Moves

6. Stephen Richards - Vertebreaker

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WWE

Originally invented by joshi star Megumi Kudo, who christened it with the infinitely more poetic name Kudome Valentine, Shane Helms' Vertebreaker was an absolutely sick double-underhook inverted piledriver that had lawsuits and headlines written all over it.

'Sugar' Shane sprinkled his WCW successes with the move, the company not really caring either way how patently dangerous it was. It was only when he moved to WWE, following the company's purchase of Turner's assets in 2002, that it started to make suits squeamish.

Helms explained to Sean Ross Sapp of Wrestling Inc. that the Vertebreaker was banned in the company because, oddly, the roster was generally larger in stature than his previous opponents. Though he'd never injured anybody with the move, the risks were considered greater. That said, he still busted it out on rare occasions, until WWE issued their edict. Seemingly the last man to brave the bloody Valentine was Stevie Richards, on an episode of Sunday Night Heat in October 2002 - that's if we disclude naughty Seth Rollins - a man with more banned moves than Twitter fans - using it against AJ Styles during a 2016 house show.

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Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.