A top AEW star has addressed ‘risky’ wrestling moves after a controversial spot at Forbidden Door between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega.
During their match for the IWGP United States Championship on June 25, Will Ospreay hit a Tiger Driver 91 on Kenny Omega.
The high-risk move drew criticism on social media and it has been reported that the match had been “meticulously planned.”
For those who haven’t seen the move in question, Dark Puroresu Flowsion shared the clip (which can be seen below), drawing comparisons to Misawa and Kawada.
During the post-show media scrum, Bryan Danielson addressed the use of ‘risky’ moves in wresting, although noted he wasn’t the best person to ask when it comes to that sort of thing given his career.
Sharing his perspective on such moves, Danielson said:
“I remember when I was in WWE and John Cena tore his pec taking a hip toss. And so there are these things, and I go and talk to our doctors.
“Legitimately, before matches and I say, ‘What do you think about this? Can I do this?’ and they are very frank with me. ‘No you can’t do that’ or ‘Yes, you can do this, but only under certain circumstances.’
“And I think for the safety of the performers, it’s the best thing for AEW to do that same kind of thing.”
Danielson would then turn his attention to the Tiger Driver in question, going on to say:
“I saw the Tiger Driver ’98, whatever you want to call it — that stuff does scare me because the potential for injury is so great.
“And I know specifically from a Kenny Omega — him and Will Ospreay are just fantastic — was it worth it? Did it actually make the match better, or is it just risky and part of their career? I don’t have the answer for that.
“We all did things, I did things to get noticed that I wouldn’t do today. You have to balance those things and those are two very driven men about wanting to put on the best pro wrestling matches they can.
“I don’t think it’s my responsibility to say who should do what because I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my career, but I think we should be working with our medical staff to approve certain things.”
Tiger Driver 91 from Will Ospreay! Shades of Misawa & Kawada. pic.twitter.com/IZJEewupVP
— Dark Puroresu Flowsion (@PuroresuFlow) June 26, 2023
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