Multiple WWE Superstars suffered serious injuries at the hands of Seth Rollins' Buckle Bomb.
WWE, which bans and censors with the best of them, has reportedly banned the Buckle Bomb per Mike Johnson of PWInsider (h/t Wrestling Inc.). The news has since been confirmed by Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.
The move returned to popularity on the mainstream wrestling stage when it was re-popularized by top star Seth Rollins, who has used the maneuver throughout his tenure in WWE. The move, and Rollins himself, has come under fire after in the past amid an unfortunate string of accidents resulting from the modified power bomb.
At SummerSlam 2016, Finn Balor’s first and only world championship on the main roster was cut short after suffering a long-term shoulder injury while taking the move into a barricade. The stakes were much more dire or WWE Hall of Famer Sting, whose in-ring career came to an end after also taking the move at Night of Champions the prior year.
Sting, who suffered spinal stenosis as a result of the ill-fated spot, maintains that Rollins should shoulder zero blame for the botched spot.
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has not been as forgiving to Rollins over the years, publicly labeling the top star as unsafe. During my 2016 sit-down interview with Hart, the WWE Hall of Famer referred to Rollins as a “reckless” performer, specifically noting an errant knee to John Cena on a July 27, 2015 broadcast of Raw that broke Cena’s nose.
Hart doubled down on his remarks with the following follow-up comment following Rollins’ aforementioned injury to Finn Balor at SummerSlam:
“I take no great pleasure in saying ‘I told you so,’ but if you’re a professional wrestler and you keep hurting opponents and or yourself, clearly you’re doing it wrong. I wrestled a very realistic and physical style and not once in 23 yrs did I ever hurt one opponent ever. Seth Rollins needs to improve his technique and become the safest wrestler in the business. I have great respect for Seth. I believe he’ll improve and hopefully stop hurting the talent before someone gets killed.”
Nia Jax has been plagued with similar criticism—although to a much more extreme degree—after a series of injury incidents, including a recent scare involving a Buckle Bomb attempts on Kairi Sane. Perhaps this mini-scandal was the straw that broke the camel’s back as it pertains to the Buckle Bomb.
The Buckle Bomb marks the second signature move of Seth Rollins to be put on ice after Rollins’ Curb Stomp finisher was banned in 2017. According to Rollins, Vince McMahon felt the move was unbecoming of a top star representing the company. The move was unbanned in 2018.
With an unofficial slogan of “never say never,” and Vince McMahon’s mind liable to change as the wind blows, expect the Buckle Bomb’s reported ban in WWE to be a temporary one.
Released WWE producer Shane “Hurricane” Helms has weighed in on the decision, suggesting the execution of the move is to blame for causing multiple injuries, not the move itself:
