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Who is the safest wrestler? Most Dangerous Worker?
- Thread starter Mudlup50
- Start date
You're more likely to hear about the unsafe workers than the safe workers.
Has a lot to do with ability. The better feel that a guy has for wrestling, the less likely he is to hurt someone. Take baseball for example: the more repetitions of ground balls a shortstop takes, the less likely they are to boot a grounder in a game. Just apply that to in-ring maneuvers.
It also really helps to not be a big, goofy bastard - looking at you Ryback. Certain people are just born prone to be clumsy in general and some of them turn out to be professional wrestlers.
I've heard that Mark Henry is dangerous in the ring but that's not from a reliable source. So take that as you will. I do believe there was a segment where Henry was supposed to slam Lawler on the announcer's table and Jerry actually got somewhat hurt because it was supposed to be a gimmick table. I don't think you can fault Mark for that. Plus that was hearsay anyway.
I heard the Bret Hart thing about never injuring anyone and that was something he was proud of.
Besides those two and the already mentioned Ryback I don't really see much talk about who is safe and who isn't with the current roster that I can think of off the top of my head.
I heard the Bret Hart thing about never injuring anyone and that was something he was proud of.
Besides those two and the already mentioned Ryback I don't really see much talk about who is safe and who isn't with the current roster that I can think of off the top of my head.
Good Golly It's Ollie
Magical Girl
OSW Review talk a lot about Mike Awesome's powerbombs. They look frigging horrifying, the other guy was almost always taking the bump right at the top of the spine near the neck, or just the actual neck. Now I'm no scientist but I understand that a lot of important nervous centre shit is around that area of the body.
In general, it's considered terrible if you are a guy who doles out big bumps to others but don't take any yourself. It's worse in a booking sense as well because it makes you look stronger than the other guy, yet he's more at real physical risk. He could be said to have worked harder than you.
That said, accidents happen. Sometimes it is just a bad fall I guess.
In general, it's considered terrible if you are a guy who doles out big bumps to others but don't take any yourself. It's worse in a booking sense as well because it makes you look stronger than the other guy, yet he's more at real physical risk. He could be said to have worked harder than you.
That said, accidents happen. Sometimes it is just a bad fall I guess.
HatchetMan84
Pre-Show Stalwart
Many wrestlers have said that Bret Hart was the safest - he had never hurt anyone in any of his matches.
I've heard stories that Mabel (Big Vis / Big Daddy V), and Goldberg were pretty unsafe in the ring..
I've heard stories that Mabel (Big Vis / Big Daddy V), and Goldberg were pretty unsafe in the ring..
RoadWarriorBaigy
Dark Match Jobber
I've heard in a number of interviews that Big Show is one of the safest guys in the ring. Bret Hart has to go down as the safest in my view having never injured ANYONE. As for unsafe Swagger seems to injure a lot of guys and has anyone mentioned New Jack?...
Creepy Old Man
Championship Contender
Bret Hart says he never injured anyone, and I've never heard about him injuring anyone. I guess he's pretty safe. I've heard Shawn Michaels say (might have been on Wrestling With Rosenberg) that he always tried to protect his opponent, even when nobody liked him personally. Never heard of Shawn injuring anyone either.
Goldberg ended Bret's career, which is a huge black mark on his legacy. On a 1998 edition of Off the Record, Bret named Mongo McMichael as a guy who was unsafe in the ring, and probably the only guy he'd refuse to work with. Ryback is known to have been reckless with bodies, particularly CM Punk. Swagger is clearly unsafe, and on top of that, he's a dreadful performer with no heat or mic skills. Total dead weight.
Goldberg ended Bret's career, which is a huge black mark on his legacy. On a 1998 edition of Off the Record, Bret named Mongo McMichael as a guy who was unsafe in the ring, and probably the only guy he'd refuse to work with. Ryback is known to have been reckless with bodies, particularly CM Punk. Swagger is clearly unsafe, and on top of that, he's a dreadful performer with no heat or mic skills. Total dead weight.
Mustang Sally
Sells seashells by the seashore
I always thought of Undertaker as the safest. He worked so smoothly that his opponents never seemed to get hurt.....as opposed to 'Taker himself, who has a body full of injuries due to the working styles of his huge opponents.
It's harder to identify the most dangerous ring worker because opponents who get injured don't always do so because of who they're working with ....sometimes, their own ring styles are the factors that cause injury.
Still, if I have to pick one, I'd guess Brock Lesnar; as a guy who has fought "for real" and not have had to concern himself with whether his opponent can handle what he's giving, it's probably harder to tone it down when engaging in scripted fighting. Yes, we can point to the condition of Undertaker after he fought Brock, but the man was old and in pretty decrepit shape even before entering the ring with Brock.
When I think of Brock Lesnar as a dangerous opponent, I keep thinking of the confrontation against John Cena when Brock first re-joined WWE; remember how Cena wound up bleeding heavily from the mouth? It occurred to me that if that's what happens with Brock during a run-in, a real match might be a truly dangerous situation for anyone whom he opposes.
It's harder to identify the most dangerous ring worker because opponents who get injured don't always do so because of who they're working with ....sometimes, their own ring styles are the factors that cause injury.
Still, if I have to pick one, I'd guess Brock Lesnar; as a guy who has fought "for real" and not have had to concern himself with whether his opponent can handle what he's giving, it's probably harder to tone it down when engaging in scripted fighting. Yes, we can point to the condition of Undertaker after he fought Brock, but the man was old and in pretty decrepit shape even before entering the ring with Brock.
When I think of Brock Lesnar as a dangerous opponent, I keep thinking of the confrontation against John Cena when Brock first re-joined WWE; remember how Cena wound up bleeding heavily from the mouth? It occurred to me that if that's what happens with Brock during a run-in, a real match might be a truly dangerous situation for anyone whom he opposes.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
Mabel was considered a dangerous worker in his day, he injured a large number of people including crushing Taker's orbital... however because of that injury they switched gears on Taker and put him with the main eventers like Bret/Shawn/Austin and he became the great worker from working with them... so Vis got a lot of "leeway" cos it was a happy accident so to speak. Contrast that with Yoko who many including Bret felt was totally safe to work with, in his book he likened his big legdrop to "being hit with pillows", Vis clearly didn't have that.
Ziggler to me is one of the most unsafe guys, the Barrett spot stilll gives me the creeps... not only cos we know it snapped Wade's elbow but cos of what Zig was actually trying to do and not having the sense to know if he'd succeeded, he'd be dead... that head hits the barrier and his neck is gone... snapped... yet he was trying for it and Wade had to take the hit... He takes a lot of silly bumps that are not needed too.
Ryback is said to be very bad and that more than anything led to his depush...
Guys like Mongo McMichael would be guys Bret wouldn't want to wrestle, it wouldn't be personal just that he was too green to know better, Goldberg was still basically green when he ended Bret's career too... no question it was intentional but WCW was fast tracking too many guys, and WWE seems intent on doing it with Reigns too. Guys from Football backgrounds are not used to "reigning it in" and making tackles etc at full intensity.
I think Jericho has to get a mention as the safest worker... some of the spots he has pulled off over the years are pretty insane that no permanent injury has come of them. Shawn into the Jeritron for example and for Shawn to trust Jericho to "hit his wife" even though she moved and ended up taking the real spotit says a hell of a lot of how Jericho is thought of.
RVD is another that for his style has never really injured anyone, even when using Van Daminators or Van Terminators back in the day.
Safe working is a 2 way thing, it's not so much about not hurting your opponent but like Bret said in Shadows, you both walk out like you had a hard day but no more...
Ziggler to me is one of the most unsafe guys, the Barrett spot stilll gives me the creeps... not only cos we know it snapped Wade's elbow but cos of what Zig was actually trying to do and not having the sense to know if he'd succeeded, he'd be dead... that head hits the barrier and his neck is gone... snapped... yet he was trying for it and Wade had to take the hit... He takes a lot of silly bumps that are not needed too.
Ryback is said to be very bad and that more than anything led to his depush...
Guys like Mongo McMichael would be guys Bret wouldn't want to wrestle, it wouldn't be personal just that he was too green to know better, Goldberg was still basically green when he ended Bret's career too... no question it was intentional but WCW was fast tracking too many guys, and WWE seems intent on doing it with Reigns too. Guys from Football backgrounds are not used to "reigning it in" and making tackles etc at full intensity.
I think Jericho has to get a mention as the safest worker... some of the spots he has pulled off over the years are pretty insane that no permanent injury has come of them. Shawn into the Jeritron for example and for Shawn to trust Jericho to "hit his wife" even though she moved and ended up taking the real spotit says a hell of a lot of how Jericho is thought of.
RVD is another that for his style has never really injured anyone, even when using Van Daminators or Van Terminators back in the day.
Safe working is a 2 way thing, it's not so much about not hurting your opponent but like Bret said in Shadows, you both walk out like you had a hard day but no more...
Aquaman6686
Mid-Card Championship Winner
The Big Show is known backstage for being one of the safest guys to work with. That's why when WWE brings in a celebrity for a high-profile match, they usually work with Big Show, who knows how to make moves look great while protecting his opponent. As others have said, Bret Hart is also known as being one of the safest guys, and Chris Jericho is another one.
Most dangerous I'm not really sure. I have no opinion there.
Most dangerous I'm not really sure. I have no opinion there.
Ziggler is more of a danger to himself than anyone else. Its not his fault Big Show threw him on top of Barrett.
RVD is most certainly not a safe worker.
He injured Triple H in the first Elimination Chamber.
"When Rob Van Dam hit me with the Frogsplash off the top of the cage, his knee went across my throat. It caused swelling on the inside of my throat, which closed my airway down. I don't know the percentage, but they (the medical staff) said your throat's normally at two, and it was at less than one... They needed to keep me overnight because they were afraid that if it swelled anymore, my airway would close off, and before I would be able to tell anybody, I wouldn't be able to breathe and I could die. While they were making sure that didn't happen, they were also trying to find out whether or not I had torn my trachea, which, if I did, I couldn't drink or swallow. I basically sat bloody in the hospital with my gear on until about eleven or noon today. I was still in my gear. I was still covered in blood with confetti on my back."- HHH
Caused Sheamus' leg injury.
He often catches his opponents with stiff kicks. He knocked Abyss's front teeth out of his mouth. He's given Edge a cracked jaw. He injured a few guys when he came into the WWF in 2001, And I know there's more Im forgetting.
Hardcore Holly was a stiff worker but he also wanted people to be stiff in return. I've heard of Jericho, Bubba Ray and Chris Benoit being stiff as well but not particularly dangerous. (That is not an invitation for anyone to make Benoit jokes or comments in any way. Stay on track.)
Rey was kind of dangerous near the end of his run. I don't know if it was the knee brace or what the deal was.
If were talking the safest workers of all-time I have to mention Bret the Hitman Hart.. I cant think of a wrestler who had anything bad to say about the hitman his style or anything.. Everyone top to bottom loved working with him,and he took extreme pride in dedicating himself to his craft.. You never see that anymore hardly.. Absolutely loved the hitman..
As far as unsafe goes,i always hear about how Ryback is unsafe and you can see it.. He is clumsy,very strong and does not know his own strength or he knows it and doesn't care.. This is why we haven't see him as of late IMO he has been told time and time again to tone it down but he refuses or he thinks its a joke..
As far as unsafe goes,i always hear about how Ryback is unsafe and you can see it.. He is clumsy,very strong and does not know his own strength or he knows it and doesn't care.. This is why we haven't see him as of late IMO he has been told time and time again to tone it down but he refuses or he thinks its a joke..
Hmmmmm Ryback is injured and is off recovering from whatever he had.
For the topic of the thread, I've heard Swagger can be a bit too rambunctious, Hardcore Holly is legendary and recently Kenta apparently kicks like a mule.
As for the safest, don't really know. Is wrestling all that safe to begin with? LOL
Nate DaMac
Fuck erbody but me
I heard Bubba Ray on Jericho's podcast talking about Jericho giving him the worst concussion he's ever had but after watching the match, I don't really see how it was Jericho's fault.
Sheamus is a guy who has hurt some people. He chipped Christian's tooth and gave him a concussion within like 5 seconds. Also, Batista's style of work is what cause a lot of Edge's neck problems thought hey were pre-existing.
It ain't Ballet.
JoeyJoeJoe
Championship Contender
Hart, Michaels, Jericho, Flair, Kane -- You don't hear many stories of these guys hurting others. There's always the risk but from what I've heard, these guys were pros and always took care of whoever they were with.
When it comes to injuries, I always think of ECW. Guys like Awesome, Taz, RVD, and Sabu were putting themselves and others at huge risk.
The worst to my mind had to be guys like New Jack and Vic Grimes, whose stupidity in the ring is legendary.
When it comes to injuries, I always think of ECW. Guys like Awesome, Taz, RVD, and Sabu were putting themselves and others at huge risk.
The worst to my mind had to be guys like New Jack and Vic Grimes, whose stupidity in the ring is legendary.
MartialHorror
Mid-Card Championship Winner
I've heard Bad News Brown claim that Brett Hart wasn't as safe as everyone says, at least in his early days. Although he and Hart weren't on good terms, so who knows whether or not it's true.
I've also heard Mabel was unsafe, nearly crippling Diesel.
I've also heard Mabel was unsafe, nearly crippling Diesel.
Mustang Sally
Sells seashells by the seashore
I always believed that, too. I remember Chris Jericho taking one of RVD's spinning kicks; the type that could land anywhere on the opponent's body and with RVD having no control over the impact delivered. The shot opened a deep cut over Jericho's eye and I distinctly recall the look of disgust on Chris' face.....the type of look that said: "I knew this was gonna happen with this guy."
Especially as he got older and heavier, RVD seemed to deliver the kicks in a more clumsy, dangerous fashion......and had the idea he was dangerous to work with.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
I never really heard about the Trips injury, but even then it may have been positioning rather than a botch on RVD's part... Trip's role in the company means he can spin things how he likes.
The Barrett/Ziggler spot was Zig's fault... Show threw too hard but both Truth and Barrett could have caught him flush, the injury occurred cos Zig was trying to twist in mid air so it would appear his head would hit... That took R-Truth out of the catch and Barrett had to basically save his life by taking the hit... look again, you can see him twisting his body out of the normal position.
The Barrett/Ziggler spot was Zig's fault... Show threw too hard but both Truth and Barrett could have caught him flush, the injury occurred cos Zig was trying to twist in mid air so it would appear his head would hit... That took R-Truth out of the catch and Barrett had to basically save his life by taking the hit... look again, you can see him twisting his body out of the normal position.
The only two notorious Swagger spots I can think of were the kick to Ziggler, and the time that Alex Riley sandbagged him (due to Swagger knocking him loopy with a stiff elbow to the back of the head). Other than those two moments, Swagger has been solid.
I really never saw this so what match is it?
Randomer91
New Member
Didn't Swagger also cause Barrett's most recent injury?
chuckmdubya
For all you humanoids out there...
I saw it mentioned above, but I have never heard of the Undertaker hurting anyone. Also, as far as I've seen, he's the only one that's still allowed to piledrive people. It looks like the Tombstone is safer than the regular piledriver, though.
This may be because he doesn't wrestle often and therefore doesn't piledrive often.
Big show probably is really safe. A guy that big that has to be safe. If he's rough, he's guaranteed to hurt everyone and won't be working for long.
I've seen the interview where Nash is saying Mabel / Viscera was really bad for dropping all his weight on peoples back. I have heard rumors that Ken Anderson is rough and that Cena complaining about it had lot to do with is release. I have also heard rumors that Taker didn't wanna work with Lesnar because he was rough.
And the of course there is the infamous D-LO Brown. I have never been able to find video of that happening online.
This may be because he doesn't wrestle often and therefore doesn't piledrive often.
Big show probably is really safe. A guy that big that has to be safe. If he's rough, he's guaranteed to hurt everyone and won't be working for long.
I've seen the interview where Nash is saying Mabel / Viscera was really bad for dropping all his weight on peoples back. I have heard rumors that Ken Anderson is rough and that Cena complaining about it had lot to do with is release. I have also heard rumors that Taker didn't wanna work with Lesnar because he was rough.
And the of course there is the infamous D-LO Brown. I have never been able to find video of that happening online.
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