Piledriver (professional wrestling)
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs their opponent, turns them upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The technique is said to have been innovated by Wild Bill Longson.
The name is taken from a piece of construction equipment, also called a pile driver, that drives countless massive impacts on the top of a large major foundation support, burying it in the ground slowly with each impact. The act of performing a piledriver is called "piledriving". Someone who has recently been the victim of a piledriver is said to have been "piledriven".
Notable wrestlers who have regularly used a piledriver during their career include Jerry Lawler, Bret Hart, Ray Stevens, Harley Race, Paul Orndorff, Abismo Negro, The Undertaker, Kane, The Brain Busters, Buddy Rogers, Minoru Suzuki, Karl Gotch, Danny Davis, and Kazuchika Okada.
The piledriver is often seen as one of the most dangerous moves in wrestling. The reverse piledriver is directly responsible for shortening the career of Stone Cold Steve Austin when his opponent, Owen Hart, inadvertently botched the move, legitimately injuring Austin's neck at the SummerSlam 1997. Due to this, the move is banned in the WWE with the exceptions of Kane and The Undertaker due to their experience and having already established the Tombstone as a finisher. However, in recent years, certain variations of the piledriver have been allowed to be performed by experienced wrestlers and it is not banned in some other wrestling promotions such as All Elite Wrestling.
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. The proper way to execute the move, in most cases, is for the wrestler performing the move to tuck the opponent's head between their legs before falling to the mat. If done in this manner, the wrestler receiving the move will land with little or no contact made with the mat, and thus not run the risk of injury. If the head is not secured and is protruding from between the wrestler's legs, the wrestler receiving the move risks serious injury and potential paralysis, as they will likely land with the entire weight of their body on the top of their head. Perhaps the most famous example of an injury from an improperly performed piledriver came at the 1997 WWF SummerSlam event. In a match between Owen Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hart was to perform a reverse piledriver on Austin, who later said that he was not sure if the move was a good idea to perform, as he was unsure if his head could properly be protected. As Austin had feared, Hart botched the move and dropped Austin on top of his head. The impact jammed Austin's neck and left him temporarily paralyzed. He continued and finished the match, but stayed away from the ring for two months to recover from the injury. The physical demands of Austin's standing as one of the top stars in the WWF did not allow much downtime for him to rest and take care of the injury, and as his career progressed, the damage got worse. Austin underwent fusion surgery on his neck in 1999, but it never fully healed. By 2002, Austin's doctors told him that he risked permanent disability if he did not retire, and he finally did so in April 2003.The piledriver was officially banned in the World Wrestling Federation 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 continued to be his finishing move until his retirement in 2020. 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 Tennessee, as the move is banned in that state. In some promotions in the United Kingdom, the move can result in not only a disqualification, but also a fine. In Mexico, the piledriver is an automatic disqualification.
Because of the dangers of the piledriver, it is classed as a foul and is illegal in mixed martial arts under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.
Variations
Aided piledriver
Any double-team move in which one wrestler helps another to perform a piledriver on an opponent by pushing down on the opponent's legs for more impact. In a variation of the move, the second wrestler jumps off the turnbuckle while pushing the opponent's feet downward for even more damage; this is well known as a spike piledriver.Argentine piledriver
The move is executed from an Argentine backbreaker rack position. The wrestler pushes the opponent forward while holding the opponent's leg with one arm, and the head with the other arm, and then sits down, driving the opponent head first down to the floor. Super Dragon used this move throughout his career, calling it the Psycho Driver. He also has a cutthroat version called Psycho Driver III.Backflip piledriver
The user approaches an opponent from behind and grasps his torso with his legs, similar to a bodyscissors. The user then shifts their weight to suddenly roll backward until they are prone, pulling the opponent behind them so that their neck hits the ground in a fluid motion. An aerial version of this technique was innovated by Manami Toyota as the Victory Star Drop. Due to the high danger of this movement, it is not very common to see.Back-to-belly piledriver
The wrestler bends forward or crouches in front of their opponent, grabs hold of the opponent around the legs and stands up, lifting the opponent upside down facing the wrestler's back. The wrestler then either sits down or drops onto their knees, driving the opponent's head down to the mat. It was invented by Takao Omori as the Axe Guillotine Driver. Hangman Page would executed the move in a kneeling position called the Rite of Passage/''Dead Eye, while Genki Horiguchi and later Orange Cassidy use a sitout variation called the Beach Break.A variation on this, sometimes known as the sunset driver, sees the attacking wrestler hook the opponent's legs underneath their arms while holding the opponent up in the back to belly position. From here, the wrestler drops to their knees, driving the opponent's head into the mat. This move will often see the attacking wrestler hold the move after landing for a rana style pinfall attempt. Trent Beretta calls it the Crunchie''.
Over-the-shoulder back-to-belly piledriver
This move begins with the wrestler facing the opponent. From there, the wrestler will pick up the opponent and place them over their shoulder so that the opponent's head is dangling over the wrestler's back by the waist of the wrestler. The wrestler then holds the opponent in place by holding their leg with one arm and applies a headlock to the opponent with their other arm, bending the opponent across the attacker's back. The wrestler then drops to a seated position, driving the head and upper back of the opponent into the ground. This move was innovated by Mariko Yoshida, who named the move the Air Raid Crash, and was popularized by Fit Finlay, who dubbed it the Celtic Cross, Cima, who uses it as the Schwein, Nova, who called it Kryptonite Krunch, Sheamus who dubs the move White Noise, Tommaso Ciampa uses the move calling it Air Raid Crash, and Taichi as Black Mephisto. A common variation was popularized by Hiromu Takahashi, where he puts his opponents into a Fireman's Carry, before Swinging his opponents into the over-the-shoulder back-to-belly Piledriver, calling it the Time Bomb.Another variation of the move called the Air Raid Crash Neckbreaker or Reverse Neckbreaker has the wrestler performing the move drop the opponent's head on their knee rather than the ground. Frequently used by Kazuchika Okada, Colt Cabana and Toni Storm.
Pumphandle back-to-belly piledriver
The user of this move first starts by putting the opponent into a pumphandle position, then lifting them into the air perpendicular to the ground and upside down, rotating them so that their back is against the chest. The user then proceeds to fall to a seated position, while dropping the opponent onto their head, neck, and/or shoulders. This move was popularized by Super Dragon, who called it Psycho Driver II.Belly-to-back piledriver
Also known as a Texas, Sit-out, or traditional piledriver, this is the classic and original piledriver technique. From a position in which the opponent is bent forward and the opponent's head is tucked between the attackers thighs in a standing headscissors, the wrestler grabs around the opponent's midsection and lifts so that the opponent is held upside down facing in the same direction as the wrestler, the wrestler then drops to a sitting position with the opponent's head falling between the wrestler's thighs down to the mat.A Flowing or Snap version of this move exists which sees the wrestler perform this in one quick motion all at once for greater impact. Toni Storm uses this version as a finisher called Storm Zero.
Kneeling belly-to-back piledriver
A variation of the piledriver where instead of dropping to a sitting position as in the basic belly-to-back piledriver, the wrestler drops to a kneeling position. It is often referred to as an Inverted Tombstone.Cradle piledriver
The cradle piledriver is a variation of standard piledrivers which sees the attacking wrestler grapevine the opponents leg with their arm. The most common of which is similar to a Texas piledriver. This move sees the attacking wrestler, from a position in which the opponent is bent forward against the wrestler's midsection, reach around the opponent's midsection and lifting them so that they are held upside down facing in the same direction as the wrestler, the wrestler then hooks their arms around one leg of the opponent before dropping to a sitting or kneeling position with the opponent's head falling between the wrestler's thighs down to the mat. It was invented by Karl Gotch, known as the Gotch-Style Piledriver and is commonly used by NJPW wrestler Minoru Suzuki. It was once used by Jerry Lynn, and Deonna Purrazzo also uses this move, known as the Queen's Gambit.This variant can be used on other types of piledrivers, including the cradle tombstone piledriver variation: instead of wrapping both of their arms around the opponent's waist, the wrestler wraps one arm around the waist and places their other arm between the opponent's legs, grabbing hold of their other arm. The wrestler then drops down on their knees, driving the opponent down to the mat head-first. This Variation is used by Hiroyoshi Tenzan as the Original TTD and he also uses a Sitout Variation called the TTD . Kenny Omega also used the move as Signature Maneuver.