Gallery 325
Pile Driver Position 2:
Falling

   


After raising your opponent into Position #1, the second step is to fall or drop to the mat.  Some Pile Drivers sit down on their butt to slam their victim on his head, while others drop to their knees, as Triple H is doing to the stud in red tights and boots.





This grappler didn't maintain his hug around his opponent's waist.  The white dude's legs are flopping around like a helicopter as he is driven head-first into the ring floor.

























Lawler was a master of this deadly move.  He looks great in white tights, falling back into the Sit Down variation of the Pile Driver.

This sketch captures the most famous moment in Lawler's career: when he drove Andy Kaufman's head into the mat.  Poor Kaufman was not a wrestler and was in terrible pain for years, thanks to Lawler's brutality.






The guys wrestling in their jeans are locked in mortal combat, with blood splattered on their clothes.  This guy is going for the kill, floating in mid-air several feet off the ground, as the photographers snap pictures of his victim's head crunching down into the canvas.

This brawny victim is pressing on the other man's knees, trying to minimize the painful impact his neck is about to feel.  His body is too massive and heavy, he can't raise his skull high enough to avoid crashing on the floor.




Another massive wrestler is about to regret building up that huge beach-ball belly, as all his weight is about to come crashing down on the top of his head.  I like how Mr. USA in the stars and stripes yanks down on his victim's singlet for additional driving force.

Mark Lewin also grabs onto the ass of his opponent's trunks to crack the poor dude's head into the mat with even greater force.  This is just plain evil, these old time grapplers were some ruthless studs!



 
It's hard to see in this dark photo, but Tommy Rich might be gripping the back of big Harley Race's trunks, stretching them out as he begins that devastating crash landing on the mat.

The Pile Driver seems to have different impacts in different areas of the world.  In the USA, a Pile Driver always wins the match, but the victim quickly recovers.  In Mexico, Pile Drivers are banned because they seriously injure their victims or even end their careers.  In Japan however, guys like Antonio Inoki easily shake off the effect of the Driver and even come back to win the match.





The stud in green from Ring Of Honor is able to escape the deadly effects of the Tombstone Pile Driver.  He tightly hugs his attacker, lifting himself up with his thighs pressing on the man's shoulders.  He has raised his head high enough so the other man's knees will absorb the impact!


"Stunning" Steve Austin is also a master of the Pile Driver, and has defeated many wrestlers with this dangerous hold.  He's about to finish off some dude in square cuts with his neck cracking Driver.