On the August 1st, 2017, episode of SmackDown Live, John Cena wrestled Shinsuke Nakamura in what WWE (and many of its fans) described as a ‘dream match’. But for some, that dream almost turned into a nightmare as the match reached its conclusion.
Right before Nakamura hit his Kinshasa knee strike for the pin and the win, he executed his signature Inverted Exploder on Cena to set up for that finisher. But something wasn’t 100% correct with that move: Cena took the move rather incorrectly and appeared to land square on his neck.
Many people watching were concerned for Cena’s health, and rightfully so. For Cena had just suffered what could very well have been his first head spike.
Head spikes and other moves that target the neck aren’t new to wrestling. In some promotions, it’s a common practice to make some moves more dangerous by making the victim land on their upper shoulders or neck on purpose.
These moves are known as head spikes and are intended to showcase brutality, toughness, and the willingness of the wrestlers involved to put themselves through incredible pain and danger just to win their matches.
John Cena’s head spike wasn’t the first, and it most definitely won’t be the last. But the ten head spikes and neck bumps listed here were so brutal and devastating that it’s difficult to see them more than once.
# 10 Mitsuharu Misawa’s Tiger Driver ‘91
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) during the 1990s was the home of the most dangerous and craziest wrestling moves on the planet. It combined traditional NWA-style grappling with stiff Japanese strikes, which led to a wrestling style known as King’s Road. A big component of King’s Road wrestling was the build-up of bigger and bigger moves, with certain ‘super-finishers’ being saved for special matches.
The Tiger Driver ‘91 was one such a move. Used mostly by Mitsuharu Misawa, the Tiger Driver ‘91 was a variation whereby the poor victim was dropped straight down onto their neck and shoulders. Misawa used this move throughout the 1990s, saving it only for those ultra-rare matches when his regular finishers weren’t enough to keep his opponents down.
Watching it now, it’s enough to make one cringe. The sight of a wrestler being driven downwards with barely enough time to break their fall with their shoulders makes this an ultra-dangerous move, to be sure.
#9 Brock Lesnar’s botched Powerbomb onto Hardcore Holly
There are differing accounts as to what happened here. One story argues that Hardcore Holly sandbagged Lesnar (that is to say, he deadweighted him on purpose to make Lesnar look weak), while the other argues that Lesnar was still relatively inexperienced and thus incapable of powerbombing someone of Holly’s size safely.
Either way, Lesnar dropped Holly square on his neck, which could be seen very clearly in the video above. The audience recoils in horror as this happens, and even the commentators react to this move with shock.
Holly ended up with a broken neck and spent thirteen months in recovery. He did get his ‘revenge’ match at the 2004 Royal Rumble PPV, but that only ended up being a six-minute one-sided affair for Lesnar. Not really the dramatic conclusion for a man seeking revenge for such a sickening head spike,
#8 The moonsault from hell
This is why aerial moves are called ‘high-risk’ so often.
The wrestler in this case, a man known as Charade, attempted a moonsault. However, something went horribly wrong in the rotation, and Charade landed directly on his head with the most sickening thud ever heard.
As soon as he landed, there was a brief ‘OOHHH’ from the audience, before the entire venue went completely silent. Everyone was shocked at what had just transpired.
Astonishingly, Charade not only survived the botch but he also continued the match as if nothing had happened, kicking out of a pin attempt moments after he landed so badly. He’d later recover after a period of only four months, which was miraculous in itself.
#7 Hayabusa breaks two vertebrae and is paralyzed instantly
Eiji ‘Hayabusa’ Ezaki was one of the greatest high-flyers of the 1990s, with his dazzling array of diving moves and impressive agility. Yet even an expert like him wasn’t immune to accidents. On October 22nd, 2001, Hayabusa lost his footing while attempting a springboard move of sorts and landed on his head in the process. When that happened, Hayabusa cracked two of his vertebrae, which paralysed him instantly.
Seeing a man go from an agile high-flyer to confined to a wheelchair in one single move is difficult. You can see the exact moment Hayabusa lost all motion and became incapable of doing much of anything. This led to the end of his wrestling career, but miraculously, Hayabusa did manage to walk again years later.
#6 Chris Benoit break’s Sabu’s neck with a suplex
Chris Benoit was once nicknamed ‘the Crippler’, and many people have pointed out that this nickname stemmed from this particular injury.
During a match at ECW’s 1994 November to Remember PPV, Benoit lifted Sabu up for what he thought was a Flapjack. However, midway through the move, Sabu tried to rotate himself while in the air so that he could land on his back instead. He wasn’t able to do so and landed square on his head, breaking his neck in the process.
As soon as he landed, commentator Joey Styles yelled his trademark ‘Oh My God’ catchphrase to sell the move. But as soon as Sabu rolled out of the ring clutching his head, something was clearly wrong and everyone turned serious. Even Styles himself suggested that Benoit might’ve broken Sabu’s neck.
This is one of those neck bumps that looks terrifying no matter how many times you see it. Sabu grabs his head and knows something's wrong immediately, and the suddenly-serious tone of the commentators and the audience makes it seem even more nerve-wracking.
#5 Kenny Omega’s top rope Dragon Suplex onto Okada
Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada made history earlier this year by becoming the second duo to ever have a match rated 6 stars by the Wrestling Observer. Only one other match achieved such a rating officially, and that one also had its own interesting neck bump (which we’ll get to later).
Omega and Okada did a lot of crazy things in their Wrestle Kingdom confrontation, including one spot that was as dangerous as can be. Omega executed a Dragon Suplex from the top rope, and Okada did in fact land on his neck.
Now, normally, when a wrestler executed a move like that from the top rope, the recipient usually rotates farther than normal so that they can land on their stomach instead of on their neck. But Okada took the move square on his neck and upper shoulders, which could’ve paralysed or killed him if it wasn’t done properly.
Though both men showed considerable skill in that match, a lot of fans have criticized both of them for doing that move. Many have argued that it was simply too dangerous and wholly unnecessary, while others insist that it was one of many great spots in a true spectacle of a wrestling match.
#4 The debut of the Burning Hammer
Japanese wrestlers are known for being crazier than their North American counterparts. The matches are longer on average, the pacing is more intense, the physicality is stiffer, and the bumps are nastier. Nowhere was this truer and more frequently-seen than in All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Kenta Kobashi was one of the top stars of the promotion during the 1990s and excelled at dishing out severe punishment when necessary. He had a wide array of believable and credible finisher that could put away most opponents. But by 1998, most of his opponents had developed counters or strategies to survive his existing finishers.
So Kobashi upped the ante even further by debuting the ultimate finisher: the Burning Hammer, an inverted Death Valley Driver where the victim is dropped head-first to the canvas with little protection whatsoever.
Although this move has been used by others several times – including most recently by Brian Kendrick in a match against Kota Ibushi which only got a 2-count – Kobashi always won with this move. Nobody escapes the Burning Hammer when Kobashi does it...nobody.
#3 Kenta Kobashi gets dropped on his neck three times in a row
Japanese wrestlers are known for being inhumanly tough, but Kenta Kobashi might be the standard bearer for them all. Once described as ‘the perfect wrestler’ Kobashi excelled in taking inhuman amounts of punishment just as much as he was at dishing it out. To prove this, he took an insane amount of bumps over the years, including several devastating ones on his neck.
In a match against ‘Dr. Death’ Steve Williams in 1993, Kobashi found himself out-powered by the Oklahoma native when Dr Death nailed Kobashi with one of his finishers, the Dangerous Backdrop. This is basically a super-high-angle Back Suplex, where the victim lands on their head and neck. Kobashi took three of these in a row.
Each one of these Dangerous Backdrops lived up to the name, but it was the second one that was the most disturbing of them all. If you listen carefully, you can hear two distinct ‘thuds’ in quick succession, with the first being the sound of Kobashi’s head landing on the mat before the rest of his body.
To prove just how insanely tough he was, Kobashi got up from that second and most vicious Backdrop only seconds afterwards, desperate to crawl to the ropes. Although he lost the match, he showed the entire world exactly why he was such a great wrestler when he survived three devastating neck bumps in quick succession.
#2 Owen Hart Piledrives ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was in the middle of a massive push when this terrible accident happened. Owen Hart hit a sitting version of the Undertaker’s Tombstone Piledriver, but Austin’s neck was lower than the safety threshold. So when Owen sat down, Austin took the damage directly on his neck and even suffered temporary paralysis when it happened.
This move would have drastic consequences on the years that followed. While Austin’s meteoric rise to superstardom still happened, it didn’t last as long as it could have. In the immediate weeks after this happened, Austin had to vacate his titles and couldn’t compete as often and at the same level as before.
By the end of 1999, complications from this neck bump were so bad that Austin had to step away to get surgery. Even though he stayed with WWE until mid-2002, the injuries and problems were taking their toll on him. Austin wrestled his last official match at WrestleMania XIX against the Rock and has been officially retired from wrestling ever since.
#1 The debut of the Ganso Bomb
When it comes to sickening neck bumps, nothing can top the debut of the Ganso Bomb, the most dangerous wrestling manoeuvre of all time.
The story goes like this: on January 22nd, 1999, then-AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Toshiaki Kawada was defending his title against his rival Mitauharu Misawa. Early on in the match, Kawada broke his arm and had difficulty lifting throughout the match. He also had a problem with Misawa constantly reversing out of his Folding Powerbomb finisher, and thus needed a solution.
Thus, when Kawada went for another Powerbomb, he didn’t get Misawa up all the way, and instead held Misawa’s legs up while his head lay dangling. Seconds later, Kawada dropped to his knees, driving Misawa head-and-neck-first into the canvas, without any protection whatsoever. Even more astonishingly, this devastating neck bump only got a 2-count.
If an ordinary person tried this, they’d kill someone very easily. Heck, even a trained wrestler could’ve killed someone if they tried this move. But this is AJPW we’re talking about. Those guys have superhuman toughness, and taking neck bumps is just another part of the job.
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