5 World-Famous Wrestling Moves Created Entirely By Accident

One of the most controversial wrestling maneuvers in modern wrestling history is the Diving Headbutt. 

Though it might not seem like a particularly shocking move on television, the truth is that it can cause serious long-term damage if executed incorrectly. Given the move’s dubious history of having been created by mistake, the likelihood of accidents happening is quite high.

Harley Race invented the diving headbutt after timing a diving splash incorrectly. Though he didn’t hurt himself too badly the first time he used the move, subsequent users have suffered extensive problems from it. Daniel Bryan, who used the Diving Headbutt as a signature move in recent years, has been suffering from ‘concussion issues’, which has resulted in his return to regular action in WWE being delayed indefinitely.

But that pales in comparison to the effects of this move on Chris Benoit. One of the most-frequently cited causes for Benoit’s final action was brain damage that resulted from too many head injuries, and a major cause of said injuries was his overuse of the swan-dive Diving Headbutt.

Keep in mind that the whole point of the Diving Headbutt is to use gravity to accelerate and amplify physical contact between one person’s head and another. Simple headbutts alone can do a lot of damage; this botched move clearly did much more because it was done from an elevated position.