Hulk Hogan Says Just Say No to the Piledriver
Hulk Hogan has been absent from the wrestling business for three years now, but even as such, his [...]
Hulk Hogan has been absent from the wrestling business for three years now, but even as such, his word still carries weight within the industry.
On Saturday, Hogan spoke out about the use of one particular move: the piledriver. Hogan took to his Twitter page to explain why he doesn't like the dangerous move.
I don’t really like the pile driver because it’s so dangerous and could end someone’s career. I’ve been on the receiving end and my hands have been numb for over 20yrs because of it. Mr. Wonderful pushed me so far I lost it and gave him some of his own medicine brother HH pic.twitter.com/rAIVnIdsx8
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) July 14, 2018
Hogan and Paul Orndorff had one of the highest profile wrestling feuds of the mid-1980s, capped off by a cage match on Saturday Night's Main Event in January 1987 that followed a Toronto show the two headlined drawing 76,000 people. Hogan's revelation that piledrivers left his hands numb for the last 20 years is a new one, though. Ordorff did use a piledriver as a finisher in the 1980s.
Of course there are many instances of piledrivers derailing the careers of wrestlers, notably "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Austin was wrestling Owen Hart at the 1997 edition of SummerSlam in East Rutherford, New Jersey when the move went wrong, leaving him with what was described at the time as a stinger.
Austin was able to finish the match, barely, and missed several months of action following the scare. His neck bothered him for the rest of his career, resulting in the star missing most of 2000 due to neck surgery. He eventually retired following WrestleMania XIX in 2003.
WWE has all but banned the use of the piledriver in recent years. Wrestlers need permission to use the move these days, that is unless you are The Undertaker. He continues to use the Tombstone, a move Hogan also took back in the day, as his finisher in the ring, though Undertaker wrestling and using the move is a pretty rare occurrence these days.
Rumors continue to persist that Hogan is on the verge of being brought back to the WWE following his exile from the company in 2015 after the revelation that he had used racial slurs on an unauthorized sex tape. Hogan has since apologized for the comments and WWE appears to be slowly warming back up toward the Hulkster and putting him on the payroll once again.