12. Vertebreaker/Kudome Valentine
Have you ever looked at a wrestling move and thought, ‘are these guys really trying to kill each other?’ If so, odds are you were thinking about this ridiculously impractical and unbelievably dangerous Piledriver variation.
The Vertebreaker is a back-to-back Piledriver, where the unfortunate victim is held up only by their arms. The person delivering the move has no idea exactly how high off the ground the victim’s head is. So when they go to sit down, it’s basically a crap shoot if the victim won’t be dropped directly on their neck.
Like most ‘head-drop’ moves, the Vertebreaker was created in 1990s Japan, when the industry was in the midst of a ‘can-you-top-this’ craze. Japanese wrestlers male and female were all trying to see who could come up with the most shocking finisher, and for a long time, Megumi Kudo held that title with is devastating finisher.
The Vertebreaker was banned in WWE in 2003 and has seen rare use on the independent scene since. Given how the wrestling scene, in general, seems to be moving towards a ‘safer’ philosophy, finishers like this one might soon be a thing of the past.