WWE official reacts to banned move being used at King and Queen of the Ring
WWE's inaugural King and Queen of the Ring PLE appeared to be a massive success for the company. There's a general consensus that the overall in-ring product has improved in the new era, and that has led to superstars using a few surprising moves.
The new era of WWE has also included the use of some previously-banned terms and moves. The Vertebreaker is a modified piledriver that was banned in the early 2000s as part of a mandate to eliminate all piledriver-type moves, except for The Tombstone, due to safety concerns. In a viral moment from Saturday's Champion vs. Champion main event, Cody Rhodes nailed Logan Paul with a Vertebreaker. The match was produced by Michael Hayes and Shane Helms, who once used The Vertebreaker as a finisher. Helms has now publicly reacted to the spot.
The Hurricane was not allowed to use The Vertebreaker when he joined WWE, but almost 15 years later, Seth Rollins shockingly used the move, also known as a reverse Gory Special or a Kudo Driver, on AJ Styles at a 2016 live event. Following Rhodes' win on Saturday, many fans pointed to how well the inexperienced Paul took the risky double underhook piledriver. Helms took to X and responded to a clip of the move.
"Perfect technique," Shane Helms wrote.
Numerous fans and wrestling personalities weighed in through replies to Helms' tweet, with many crediting the 33-year veteran with popularizing the move, executing it correctly, and helping some of the younger stars learn the move.
WWE King and Queen of the Ring producers revealed
The WWE Producers for the first-ever King and Queen of the Ring Premium Live Event have been revealed. In addition to Michael Hayes and Shane Helms producing the Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes main event, Fightful Select reports that Hayes produced the KOTR finals between Randy Orton and King Gunther.
The QOTR tournament finals saw Nia Jax defeat Lyra Valkyria to become the 2nd Queen of the Ring. Tyson Kidd produced the match, as he often books women's division matches. Kidd also produced the Kickoff pre-show match, which saw Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair retain the Women's Tag Team Championship over Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae.
Liv Morgan's big Women's World Championship victory over Becky Lynch was produced by Shawn Daivari. Jamie Noble produced the Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat with Chad Gable, Bronson Reed, and defending champion Sami Zayn.