WWE villain Kevin Owens used a piledriver on rival Randy Orton on SmackDown and fans still can’t get enough of it.
Under the stewardship of Head of Creative and Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, WWE’s storylines and rivalries have been given a little more room to develop and breathe.
That’s lead to plenty of praise from fans who’ve enjoyed watching finer details and longer-term storytelling as a result.
There has been perhaps no better example of less meaning more under the ‘Triple H regime’ than the segment on Friday night’s episode of the blue brand show between Owens and Orton.
Owens has recently turned heel – the wrestling terminology for a good guy or hero turning into a rouge villain – after months of simmering tension.
The Canadian had been aligned with Cody Rhodes and Orton but turned on the former after The American Nightmare’s teaming with Roman Reigns – and then swiftly turned his ire on The Viper, too.
That reached a peak on Friday when Owens attacked Orton with a move long since removed from WWE in the piledriver, which was for many years a staple in a wrestler’s offence.
It famously broke the neck of icon Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1997. In a match for the Intercontinental Championship against Owen Hart at SummerSlam, Austin was dropped on his head in an errant execution of the move, suffering compression of the spinal cord.
Austin went on to achieve global stardom in WWE but has always attributed the incident with cutting short his wrestling career.
In a big to protect wrestlers from injuries and harm, WWE years later gradually phased out moves like the piledriver and the curb stomp, as well as the excessive use of steel chairs.
The piledriver alone has been a lesser seen move, only generally executed in the last decade or so by The Undertaker, who had long perfected his Tombstone version of it.
Owens’ very safe execution of it on Friday was the first time it was seen on WWE television since 2013 since John Cena took one at the hands of CM Punk – so it’s unsurprising the company made a huge deal out of it, commentator Michael Cole playing up the drama of a ‘banned’ move being used.
Orton was seemingly written off television as a result, WWE posting on its X account the star had been ‘diagnosed with a cervical cord neurapraxia,’ and that there was ‘no timetable for his return.
That such emphasis was placed on the severity of the move to build the storyline has impressed fans who’ve continued since the show aired to praise the segment on social media.
One said: “Perfect use of it. Delivered safely and sold perfectly,” while another added: “Beautiful work, that was the stiffest looking, most protected piledriver you could hope to see or execute. Looked like it broke his neck but probably felt like coming off a fast rollercoaster. Professionals at work.”
A third quipped: “I respect what WWE is doing by selling their first piledriver in years by having Randy sell it like he almost died.”
“Perfect execution on the use of this move,” praise a fourth, adding: Between Cole calling it out being banned to the damage it did to Randy. This was a big deal!”
Orton has been on quite the run in WWE over the last year since returning from a legitimate injury lay-off that claimed 18 months of his career.
The star struggled with back issues before a crucial surgery helped ensure he could return to the ring.
