EVERY Wrestling Move Banned By WWE (And Why)

3. Vertebreaker

CM Punk Anaconda Vice
WWE

Shane Helms was making a name for himself in WCW just before the company was bought by WWE. Helms broke away from the boy band faction Three Count and captured the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. He was known for his devastating Vertebreaker finisher.

Helms went to WWE as a part of the WCW Invasion angle. He was one of a few WCW talent who was able to survive the invasion and carve out their own niche in WWE. Helms had a great run as the superhero character, 'The Hurricane', and even worked a program with The Rock. However, his Vertebreaker move was eventually banned.

During a 2019 interview with Fightful, Helms explained why the Vertebreaker was banned. He said WWE made the decision to ban all piledriver-like moves out of concern about the number of injuries being caused by them. Helms added that the only exception was the Tombstone piledriver being used at the time by The Undertaker and Kane.

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Contributor

I'm a pro wrestling content contributor for WhatCulture. I've been a fan since the early 1980s and have been writing about it for about ten years. I like taking a historical approach to pro wrestling and have a keen interest in the 1980s.