10 Life-Saving Wrestling Moments

2. Luke Harper Saves Mustafa Ali

Braun Strowman
WWE

At WrestleMania 35, a rushed over-correction of a miscommunication almost ended horribly for Mustafa Ali.

Luke Harper held Ali in place to tease an elimination via vertical suplex. The plan - that went awry - was for Braun Strowman to put the exclamation mark on the spot in a moment of worked improvisation. Only, Strowman suffered a lapse in concentration and continued to brawl aimlessly. When Harper barked the instruction, Strowman looked to be much too quick to receive it. This sent Harper and Ali sprawling to the outside far quicker than they were prepared to fall, and only Harper's deft footwork, wits and raw strength saved Ali from an awful fall taken with such an acute distance between the ring apron and the commentary table.

What's more incredible about the save is that Brodie Lee could not have been in the most assured and confident of places at the time.

In one of Vince McMahon's most prominent Mr. Burns moments, having ignored Luke Harper for a long time, he suddenly decided that the man had to be installed in the match immediately. McMahon was said to be mystified that Harper wasn't in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal - after he buried Harper's match with Dominik Dijakovic at Axxess.

Confused but not shaken, this was the measure of an absolute pro.

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!