As one of WWE’s most infamous moments proved, the Tiger Driver ’91 from Will Ospreay to Kenny Omega could have had serious consequences.
At AEW x Forbidden Door, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay went to war in one of the most intense battles wrestling has seen in recent years. The pair threw everything they could muster at each other and then some. By the end of the match, the crowd had been on its feet for over half an hour watching the two artists in the ring paint a brutal picture across a blood-soaked canvas.
As the match reached a chaotic final stanza, Ospreay hit Omega with a Tiger Driver ’91 with the AEW star landing high up on his head and neck. While Omega has talked down the incident and walked away unharmed, many fans and ex-wrestlers suggested this was through more luck than judgment.
Speaking in a new interview with Nick Hausman, former WCW star and veteran of the independent scene Crowbar gave his thoughts on the spot. The former WCW Cruiserweight Champion — who has a background in physical therapy — initially praised the match but suggested that it was so good, that it didn’t need a spot that carried so much risk.
“I watched a match, and as I said on my interview, an incredible match. Both of the guys — a lot of the wrestlers in this day and age they’re athletic freaks. They do incredible, inhuman athletic feats with flips and corkscrews and all this stuff. They have amazing body control. I’m a huge fan of both of those guys. So I don’t want to come across as I’m crapping on what they did.
I’m just saying that match was so effing incredible, that move, that risky move could have easily been omitted, and it wouldn’t have mattered one bit, the match still would have been friggin incredible. Both of these guys are respected and beloved by their fan base, their fans friggin love these guys, had that move not happened or been omitted there’s not one fan that follows these guys that would’ve said ‘that match needed that Tiger Driver ’91, they didn’t give it to me F-these guys, I’m done.’ That’s not going to happen”
WWE History Shows The Risks Involved In Wrestling
Expanding further, Crowbar recalled his time working in WWE from 1997 to 1999, and more specifically watching from the curtain the night Steve Austin suffered a broken neck during a match with Owen Hart.
At SummerSlam 1997, Hart hit Austin with a Piledriver and broke his neck due to his head being positioned slightly too low. After the accident, Austin was dogged by neck issues until he was forced to retire in 2002 having already completely reinvented his in-ring style.
Crowbar explained that the injury to Austin is proof that even with one of the safest wrestlers in the world things can go wrong, so the risk shouldn’t outweigh the reward.
“I was backstage and I watched live through the curtain when Owen Hart gave Steve Austin that Piledriver. You cannot find a more tactically sound, safe wrestler than Owen Hart, accidents happen. There’s a lot of variables, there’s mistiming, where no matter how good you get, there’s always the possibility of being a split second off with your opponent.
There’s baby oil, there’s sweat, there’s room to slip. And in a regular Piledriver, like with Owen and Steve Austin, you at least have the legs, in theory, to protect your head, there’s that space between your upper thigh and lower thigh and the mat, that Tiger Driver ’91 you’re getting dropped straight on your head, and you’re gonna hope the angle is good enough to protect you.
All I’m saying is it’s not something that I would have done. It looks tremendous. But in my opinion, the risk/reward on that thing just isn’t that good. These guys are already over, they’re already beloved, they’re already respected. I personally would love to watch these guys for years and years and years and years and be wowed by what they do. I just think it wasn’t needed. And the match was so effing good that it could stand by itself without that move. That’s all I’m saying.”
During the conversation, Crowbar also touched on the situation between Omega, The Young Bucks, and CM Punk, urging the two sides to get along, reminding them they’re in a very privileged position compared to the fans who pay to see them perform.
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