Danger and Precautions
The piledriver is generally considered a dangerous maneuver in wrestling because of the potential impact on the head and compression of the neck. A properly executed standard piledriver has the opponent's head barely touching the ground, if at all. When the head is not in the proper position, serious injury or paralysis can occur. Perhaps most famously, at the 1997 WWF SummerSlam pay-per-view, Owen Hart botched a reverse piledriver in his match against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin suffered a broken neck and, while he would still go on to his main event push, the injury ultimately contributed to Austin's in-ring retirement in 2003. CM Punk delivered one against John Cena in 2013 for the No.1 Contender spot against The Rock for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 29 with no prior permission.
The piledriver was banned in WWE in 2000, unless the wrestler has special permission to use the move. In a discussion in 2007, Stephanie McMahon said that only two wrestlers were allowed to use the move, "two of the stronger guys"Undertaker and Kane. In fact, The Undertaker's tombstone piledriver continues to be his finishing move. The piledriver is also banned in many other promotions and certain cities. It is also considered an automatic disqualification in professional wrestling matches held in Memphis, Tennessee, as the move is banned in that city. In some promotions in the United Kingdom, the move can result in not only a disqualification, but a fine. In Mexico, the piledriver (called a martinete) is an automatic disqualification.
Read more about this topic: Piledriver (professional Wrestling)
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