WWE Superstars Want the Piledriver Reinstated

The piledriver has been banned from WWE TV for some time, but according to Fightful, several wrestlers have pitched for it to return. In some cases, it has. Before recently, a standard piledriver was banned and only the tombstone was allowed. It was banned for over a decade. 

Last year, Rey Mysterio and Andrade began to use the Canadian Destroyer style of piledriver for their matches. It’s also appeared in NXT, notable through Adam Cole’s Panama Sunrise and during the NXT Cruiserweight title match at Worlds Collide. The Usos have also used a second-rope version of it. 

However, not everyone has been allowed to use it. Matt Riddle and Damian Priest used a destroyer on an NXT live event. When they got backstage, they were told not to do it again without clearance. Kevin Owens has pitched using the Package Piledriver as his finish “quite often”, but it never makes it to Vince McMahon. 

According to several WWE stars, the belief is that certain moves were able to go through because they don’t have ‘piledriver’ in the name, and the perception of them is different. 

The piledriver has appeared on WWE TV since the ban, but sparingly. It showed up during a CM Punk vs. John Cena match in 2013, a match between Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam in WWE’s ECW brand and in Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 23.