EVERY Wrestling Move Banned By WWE (And Why)
2. Piledriver
At one time, the piledriver was one of the top heel finishers in professional wrestling. Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndoff, Ray the Crippler Stevens, Jerry the King Lawler, and Terry Funk were among the top stars of the 1980s who used the piledriver to polish off opponents. One of the great 1980s WWE storylines was when Jimmy Snuka turned babyface after Stevens gave him multiple piledrivers on the concrete floor. However, the piledriver all but disappeared from WWE in the new millennium.
A botched inverted piledriver performed by Owen Hart on Stone Cold Steve Austin at SummerSlam 97 is mainly to blame. A near career-ending injury to its biggest star was enough for WWE to pull the plug on the piledriver. It has been rarely used since.
The last time it was prominently used in WWE was in a 2013 match between CM Punk and John Cena. Punk delivered the banned move after creatively improvising with Cena during the bout.