Speaking of Stone Cold Steve Austin, before his first WWF title win in 1998, he would wrestle Owen Hart at Summerslam for the Intercontinental Championship in August 1997. The piledriver is a move now banned in WWE matches, unless your name is Glenn Jacobs or Mark Calaway, that is. Both Kane and the Undertaker, two giant men, have special dispensation from the office to use the tombstone piledriver as one of their finishing moves. Back in 97, Owen Hart was cleared to use the piledriver during his match with Austin, and you can see the result in the above clip. What you may not be able to see is that Austins head was too low down. Hart didnt have anywhere near the size of the Brothers Of Destruction, and when he performed the move, Austins head collided with the mat. Austins neck would be broken in this botched move. Temporarily paralysed, he lay there unable to move while Hart, realising to his horror that something terrible had happened, stalled heelishly for time. Austin recovered sufficiently to make the planned pin to win the title, but wasnt able to keep it, having to vacate it shortly afterwards. Austin would be sidelined for around three months, returning at Survivor Series 1997 to win back the championship from Hart, who would capitalise on the notoriety of the injury by wearing a parody of Austins own t-shirts of the time, stating Owen 3:16 I Just Broke Your Neck. Stone Cold would go on to become the biggest star in professional wrestling history, but this injury would shorten his career by several years, helping to prompt his retirement in mid-2003. What are your favourite botches from WWE wrestlers? Let us know all about them in the comments
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.