5 Wrestlers Who Regretted Inventing Wrestling Moves

To be the best, you have to use your head. Harley Race took this adage literally, making a bonce-first bounce the staple of his offence as he gradually eclipsed Lou Thesz's NWA Championship record in the late '70s and early '80s.

Though the skull-crushing head bob brought a slew of gold his way, Race famously expressed huge contrition about inventing the move - and not because of the damage it caused his own cranium.

Though the headbutt ultimately forced Race into an early retirement, those who adopted his move fared much worse. Tom 'Dynamite Kid' Billington's hard-hitting variant caused such a degree of accumulative spinal erosion that he ended his life in a wheelchair, whilst the damage caused by Chris Benoit repeatedly dropping on his head thousands of time throughout his career was cited as a factor in his tragic demise.

Daniel Bryan, though he escaped relatively lightly compared to Billington and Benoit, called time on his career earlier than expected after a spate of concussions brought on in part by regular headbutts. Bryan has since made a miraculous return to the ring, but the move is still part of his arsenal. If anyone can work a safe headbutt, it's the GOAT - but for the sake of future imitators, he'd do well to follow Race's advice.